Despite DK’s new look, Cranky, Diddy, and Dixie Kong all show up in Bananza, all three looking like they walked straight out of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Diddy and Dixie even recount their experience rescuing DK in DKC 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, directly confirming some kind of… eugh, Donkey Kong timeline. So there’s that to chew on.

Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.

The superb Nintendo Switch 2 game just hit stores last week, but you can save 10% on the physical edition for a limited time.

Nintendo designed this world with strict beginnings, middles, and ends that you can’t really circumvent without the right knowledge. This design approach doesn’t take away from its brilliance. Far from it,

The Switch 2′s technology grants “Donkey Kong Bananza” destructible environments, in a perfect crystallization of Nintendo’s game design philosophy.

Super Mario Odyssey turned a Nintendo hero into a fashion icon. The Switch 2 platformer should have done the same.

Donkey Kong Bananza isn't a challenging game when it comes to difficulty, but it offer a special learning curve that Nintendo shouldn't shy away from.

The Nintendo Switch 2 console only has two high-profile original games that you can get right now: Mario Kart World Tour and Donkey Kong Bananza. Although both are great games, Donkey Kong Bananza has staunchly entrenched itself as one of the best games of the year and an absolute must-buy game for any Switch 2 owner.