Last week I was able to spend 4 hours playing Donkey Kong Bananza, and you can read my hands-on preview here, which is the 2D side-scrolling level I really wanted to call out to.
Between previous hands-on sessions and online gameplay footage, Donkey Kong Bananza’s new 3D environment was seen in detail, but it was a small breath of wild-style challenge-level scattered around the map.
I was able to experience three 2D side scrolling challenge levels, but all of this was completely different. The first is a more traditional 2D level, with plenty of barrels to use to avoid, and an environment that you can use to destroy enemies, destroy and find hidden areas, and you can continue to use Bananza’s powerups at these levels too.
The second was trying to collect many gold gems within the set time limit, with bonus levels similar to those in the Donkey Kong Country Games. The iconic bonus level soundtrack also existed here.
The last one was very interesting, and I merged 3D and 2D elements up to cross the 2.5D plane, using 3D motion and destruction. This was something I was really excited to see what else this game has at challenge level.
Donkey Kong Bananza is exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 on July 17th. Amazon has the cheapest price at $99 and offers free shipping here.
