Today’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct brought us a wealth of information regarding the new console, including looks at several games that will be arriving on the console in 2025. Closing out the big show was our first look at a brand new Donkey Kong game, Donkey Kong Bananza.
Donkey Kong will be crashing his way onto the Nintendo Switch 2 in a big way with his brand-new redesign that was revealed earlier this year. Sure, he looks friendlier, but this first look at Bananza shows that our pal DK still packs quite the punch. On an island buzzing about the discovery of the Golden Bananas, the evil VoidCo struck, stealing bunches of Golden Bananas and making their way into the Underground World. Donkey Kong Bananza follows Donkey Kong as he ventures to retrieve the Golden Bananas from VoidCo, traveling through the vast Underground World and smashing just about everything in his path.
It’s clear from this morning’s trailer that Donkey Kong Bananza is going to be a wild ride, and it looks gorgeous to boot. Bonanza is a 3D action-platformer, and we see DK with a new friend riding on his shoulder as he pummels his way through bedrock, wields boulders as both a weapon and a ride, and rides minecarts in classic Donkey Kong fashion. Also spotted are some 2D platforming sections a la Donkey Kong Country.
Best of all, Donkey Kong Bananza won’t keep us waiting too long after the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, as it will be releasing on July 17th, 2025, just over a month after Switch 2 lands in our laps. This will be the first new 3D platformer Donkey Kong since Donkey Kong 64 all the way back in 1999, and I’m excitedly waiting for July to get my hands on it. Want some more information? Go ahead and check out the official Donkey Kong Bananza website.
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Written by Jaxson Tapp
As a lover of gaming and the written word, Jaxson currently fills his time not only with playing games, but also writing about them. Ready for anything, Jaxson’s passion for puzzle games, JRPGs, tough platformers, and whimsical indies helps him bring a well-rounded opinion to Nintendo Wire’s reporting.
