Donkey Kong Bananza: First Impressions

[Bomberman]

Donkey Kong: Bananza has come out, and the game is already fantastic. The game was developed by the Mario Odyssey team and it shows.

The levels are called layers and they are huge and filled to the brim with collectibles/content to keep you engaged for hours. About every layer in the game has sub-layers which makes the levels huge in comparison to Mario Odyssey. Nearly everything in the game can be smashed, and it is very satisfying to go around and destroy the terrain. The way you can navigate the levels is fun and engaging. You can climb most surfaces, dig almost everywhere, punch almost everything, etc. There is no stamina for any of these actions which is awesome.

The different bananza forms you acquire in the game are cool as well and can change the game-play quite well. I will admit, the bananza forms in the beginning of the game do make combat very easy, and I often find it too easy. The good news is that the difficulty does ramp up the more you play.

The performance is pretty dang good for what I've played on handheld. There are some dips rarely, but they are not noticeable when I played. I have not played through the whole game, so this could change, but I am very content on how the game plays, looks, and feels.

The collectibles have a purpose which I appreciate. Fossils are used for outfits. Bananas are used for skill points. Gold is used for general shopping (items, rest areas, maps, etc). Finally, banana chips are used for banana exchanges as well.

The outfits also have a purpose in the game other than it to make you appear different. They can change stats, or have some sort of boost to DK/Pauline's abilities. While I do think Mario's costumes look better than DK and Pauline's outfits, I would rather have outfits that have purpose than just aesthetic.

I did mention a skill tree, and its alright. You can learn new abilities which is nice, but most of the abilities you upgrade do not feel much different. I still appreciate it being here, and I would like more skill trees in the future.

The story has also been interesting for a 3D platformer, and I would say is better than Mario Odyssey's story. The characters are way better, and Pauline is fully voiced as well. There are some surprises along the way, and I heard the ending is spectacular.

The music here is fantastic with new tunes and familiar ones that sound just as good as the originals. Music in this game is also a collectable, and so far, I've only gotten music disks from beating enemies. There are some other callbacks to the previous DK games, and they are really cool to find.

My only complaint about the game so far are the boss fights. Bosses are way to easy and simple to beat in the beginning of the game. Again, I haven't played the whole game, but I have heard the bosses do get better. My other complaint is that sometimes the camera is wonky when digging underground. These issues are not that bad, and do not change my feelings for the game.

Overall, this is a must buy for the Switch 2. I think it is the best new game the console has gotten thus far, and is totally worth the $70. The physical copy is NOT a game key card, so the entire game is on the cartridge.

[BLUEVOODU]

Welcome back @Bomberman -->. This is a great review.  So far, how has this game held up in terms of performance on the Switch 2?  Has it been the case that the Switch 2 has been able to keep up?  OR does this 1st gen game get sluggish at all?