Donkey Kong Bananza Review

The team behind Super Mario Odyssey spent this generation on one very hard idea: what if you could break the level itself. In Donkey Kong Bananza almost every surface is destructible voxel terrain, so you punch through walls, dig straight down into the ground and reshape the space to reach whatever caught your eye. It is the rare mechanic that keeps paying off deep into the game rather than fizzling after the tutorial, because the designers keep finding new ways to hide reward behind the dirt.

Around that core is a generous, confident platformer. Levels are stuffed with secrets that the destruction makes it a joy to uncover, the transformations shake up traversal, and a young Pauline riding along gives the adventure a warm, light story. It looks superb, holds a smooth frame rate, and never leans on the gimmick when a straightforward challenge would land better.

This is the best 3D platformer in years and one of the strongest reasons to own a Switch 2. It asks nothing of you but curiosity and rewards it constantly. If you have any love for the genre, or for watching a studio at the top of its form, do not miss it.