‘Donkey Kong Bananza’ Could be the Next Killer Game the Switch 2 Needs

More than a decennary aft the acclaimed Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, DK is returning with Donkey Kong Bananza to adhd immoderate much-needed assortment to the Switch 2 lineup.

The Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console successful Nintendo’s history; days aft release, it had already sold much than 3.5 cardinal units crossed the world. Its archetypal motorboat lineup—though filled retired with third-party games similar Cyberpunk 2077 and Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut—has been airy connected Nintendo first-party games, relying heavy connected Mario Kart World to merchantability console bundles.

Although the Switch 2’s backward compatibility means the bulk of its Switch room is easy accessible, the Switch 2 doesn’t person overmuch successful the mode of exclusive games. It fundamentally exists arsenic a hardware upgrade, alternatively than a must-own successful bid to play a caller procreation of titles. Donkey Kong Bananza, launching July 17, is the console’s adjacent dense hitter: an action-adventure crippled starring the tie-wearing gorilla, made by the developers down Super Mario Odyssey successful 2017. The crippled signals a invited displacement successful Switch 2’s lineup, moving from contention with friends into much classical exploration and puzzle solving.

Odyssey’s DNA is each implicit Bananza’s colorful, expansive world. Donkey Kong is connected the hunt for giant, aureate bananas arsenic helium makes his mode to the planet’s halfway with the assistance of a young vocalist named Pauline. (An big mentation of Pauline is besides contiguous successful Super Mario Odyssey.) During a demo lawsuit held successful New York, WIRED spent immoderate hands-on clip with the game, including exploring antithetic environments successful its subterranean layers and the game’s co-op mode.

Much of Bananza is astir smashing things. The environments are highly destructible, from apical to bottom, and it’s therapeutic to walk your clip windmilling DK’s hammy arms done the level itself. The much you destroy, the much apt you are to find treasure oregon much areas to explore, truthful it’s worthy treating the game’s satellite similar a rage room. The demo we played included immoderate airy puzzles, astir of which progressive pulling retired chunks of explosive materials to interruption unfastened caller paths oregon termination enemies—straightforward, but inactive satisfying.

Donkey Kong’s sidekick Pauline is an important portion of his adventure, some successful communicative and practice. Her singing powers tin temporarily alteration DK into different animals, similar an ostrich that grants you the quality to glide done the air. The crippled has a airy leveling strategy that you tin descend points into to grow DK’s powers, including his carnal abilities. Pauline, too, is playable, albeit successful a antithetic way. She’s perpetually glued to DK’s back, and she attacks by absorbing elements astir her and shooting them backmost retired successful word-shaped attacks.

Pauline, connected apical of playing a smaller relation successful co-op, is besides trickier to control. Where DK tin beryllium maneuvered astatine the player’s discretion, Pauline is astatine the mercy of wherever it is DK wants to go. During a brag fight, this proved particularly tricky. While my DK-playing spouse ran around, I tried to complaint up attacks and occurrence them disconnected accelerated capable to onshore a hit. Our demo focused connected the console’s rodent controls, which made the full acquisition consciousness acold much frantic than focused for maine arsenic idiosyncratic who prefers to usage a controller.