Donkey Kong Bananza Direct: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate It?

Was never a Donkey Kong fan, Mario was my platformer of choice. But this thing looks exquisitely delightful! Top marks. Absolutely going to nab this, and the amiibo.

Outstanding and preordered before the direct. Enough said. PS the Diddy and Dixie news just energised me more.

10/10. I'm willing to bet that it will be one of the best platformers ever. Sculpt mode and amiibo functionality sucks but it really doesn't impact the fantastic core gameplay that was shown.

I kind of just tuned in because I felt like I had to stay up to date on the newest games, but I ended up not being able to get my eyes off the screen because they were announcing so much cool stuff!
By the end, I felt more excited than I was watching the Mario Kart World Direct.

Not gonna lie, the minute they went PLUS DK CAN TURN INTO A ZEBRA I started laughing

That was the wackiest direct ever

Terrible. It's just like with Mario Kart World - they only showed us stuff we already know and nothing new.

All joking aside, it was great! As with Odyssey, they saved all the best and most interesting stuff for the second preview and once again, that choice paid off.

Loved it. Really cool that Pauline is given a role in this game. Beautiful graphics. Looks like a ton of fun.

@roy130390 What's wrong with sculpt mode? I thought it looked like a really fun way to use the mouse functionaity. I can see someone not being interested, but saying it sucks feels harsh. I will agree that locking a fantastic Pauline skin behind an amiibo is a little mean.

It's a musical. It's a gosh darned musical. I'm emotional. 10/10

The Pauline reveal was super cute! Makes the game look even more fun! The transformations are cool too! Zebra and ostrich DK had me going...Say whaaaat?

Game is going to be awesome no doubt! Can't wait to see what they do with Mario and Zelda next!

I want it now!

Did you here all the DKC music? Awesome!

@CobaltFan they might do what Odyssey did and make it available in the game, with the amiibo being used to just unlock it early.

I’m not sure how the next Mario can top DK at this point. DK can break terrain and throw it, move fast and climb any surface. And Mario’s supposed to be the nimble/parkour guy!

He’s gonna need another unique invention like FLUDD to keep up.

Superb showing, and I'm totally on board with getting it day one. Im curious about game length and difficulty, but even if it was a 10-20 hour mash and bash collectathon, I'd be very happy with that. Anything more is bonus.

It's good to see that after the fiasco that was the Mario Kart World Direct, Nintendo still knows how to do Directs focused on a single game. 9 out of 10, really solid.

They were one kremling away from being outstanding.
In all honesty though it was absolutely brilliant and the game looks incredible. My last concern is the difficulty and if the real platforming is there. It could be from what we've seen. Other than that it looks like they are determined to show the Astro guys they still the kings of 3d platformers.

I just hope that the banana collectibles arent as tedious to get as the moons in mario odyssey.

Maybe a little too much "Donkey Kong Odyssey", hopefully a better Odyssey.
Rating 8 for me so far.

9/10

I went from having no interest in this game to thinking I may want to get it at release. Still on the fence as this isn't a genre I normally play but the game looks so charming.

@CobaltFan I'm still giving it a 10/10 haha, I simply don't think that it will entertain me for more than 2 minutes. Honestly, I don't think that anything would be lost without it. That's just my opinion. As for the ammibos, it was actually the other functionalities that seemed useless as you can grab material from the stages.

Can't wait to play this. Love the challenge levels. Everything looks lovely!

Time-displaced Young Pauline?

De-aged current Pauline?

Pauline II?

It was perfect and I felt really hyped during the direct. Teaming up with Pauline was a cool surprise. Seriously, I could sometimes not believe how cool and fun the stuff looked on the screen.

Oh Nintendo, you always make me feel like a little boy again, thank you!

10/10 direct. Before, I had almost no interest in getting this, and was just gonna save up for Splatoon Raiders. The direct completely validated the game and is making me excited for when it comes out.

Got another Nintendo all timer on our hands here. Haven’t marvelled at a game with childlike wonder in a very long time. I love that it’s pulling from all corners of the Kongverse, from Rare to the arcade games, as well as being a new direction for the series that’s natural as it is jaw dropping. If DK gets demoted to Mario spin off character for another 10 years after this, I’ll go - wait for it - bananas.

I gave it a 9/10. Honestly a much better direct then the MKW direct because of just how much new stuff they shown in it.

Game looks great. Young Pauline is adorable.

Looks to be the best Donkey Kong game.....period. I guess in the end, Nintendo wasn't.....MONKEYING AROUND! And this game will definitely.....drive you BANANAS!

9 for me, the only reason I did not gave it a 10 was due to the kremlins not being there

10! I knew this would be as big as Cappy being revealed as a ghost in Mario Odyssey or Mario 3D World being bigger than just a 3D Land on home console, and I was not disappointed. The game looks gorgeous and lots of fun. Returning characters seem like a mixed bag but maybe they still have more surprises in store. I love all the side content. Really satisfying to see Pauline continue to get her long-overdue time to shine even more so. I won’t let any concerns about lore bog me down.

With Bananza already confirmed to have a music player, I have a good feeling this game will have remixes as good as Mario Kart World’s, only with Donkey Kong music.

Well, I was hoping for some substantial gameplay reveals and it 100% delivered. Never bought a DK game before but I'll be all over this one, looks like loads of fun! In so many ways it seemed like what a light-hearted game about the Incredible Hulk would be if Pixar made it. 10/10 from me.

I was already excited to play this on day one, but the Pauline and game share with switch 1 features makes it a perfect game to also play with my daughter!

This is a minor gripe and a personal opinion, but I'm not a big fan of Pauline's design.
Her eyes are too much for me.

Canon-wise, I'm hoping (confidently) that this is a retcon. I don't think Pauline is time-displaced. I think Cranky just fought Mario over something else before. This is game is going to end on heartbreak, I tell ya! See how they mentioned how only one of them can get their wish at the end? Obvi DK is gonna use the wish for Pauline. This sets up that he encounters her at a later stage in life, and maybe he's gone mad from being locked in the underground or something. Remember that the arcade DK is based off of King Kong. King Kong climbs the building with the girl because he thinks he's protecting her.

Game looks vibrant, and silly and fun, can’t wait!

8/10 I'll be getting the game but the game is too open-ended with the smash mechanic for my taste and way too overstuffed with collectibles. I prefer straight objectives.

@axelhander Smolline.

Absolutely wonderful! ‼️

Got so happy about this Direct!
Gonna enjoy this game

Game
Of
The
YEAR

I don't like most of the actions and I don't like most of the locations. But I can see I'm in a small minority.

I wasn't really interested before, but I'm pretty darn interested now. Looks like a fun game!

Looks amazing 😻

I kinda don't know if I like Nintendo retconning Pauline.... I mean it's nice she's given more character than the other Mario girls daisy and rosalina. But idk

Not a fan of the animal transformation mechanic. It doesn’t really make sense. Having them as a buddy was much more logical.

Gameplay wise things look very good though!

10/10 for me. Excellent Direct. My body is ready for DK Bananza!

A very easy 10, the game looks outstanding and it's great to see Pauline and DK together again without that evil little Mario trying to steal her away

I dunno, Breath of the Deep Rock Moana Kong is looking better than I expected.

It was so PEAK. Didn't expect it to knock my socks off.

I made a little TLDR/recap video if anyone's interested haha

Possibly one of the best single-game Directs I've ever seen. It's what that Kart World Direct wishes it would be.

Everything about this looks incredible. My body is ready. And I need that amiibo.

Sorry, I watched the Donkey Kong Direct late after I have watched ELIO this evening and I can say the gameplay feature of DK Bananza looks pretty interesting with the open world style, Photo made, outfits alternative, Teleport, etc.
I will give the score 8 from 10.

Game is looking good, DK Bananza is the only NS2 exclusive game I really want right now (I'm gonna get MK World at some point but I was never that much excited for it). Good direct overall.

It was a great direct! I was very sceptical from what we had seen so far and was not thinking of buying it and now it is a day one instead.
Don't get me wrong, the destruction is something I don't care about but there are definitely other things to do that look awesome (Odyssey way of doing things)

If this is Nintendo's answer to AstroBot, LFG!!

So much. And all was fantastic.
Funny enough though, it was something they had showed last time and emphasised more on this time that has me most excited more than the new. Those challenge rooms. Oh, they really tickle my fancy. I hoped there are a large number of them.
Super Saiyan and the animals look amazingly fun. Music was spot on. Everything looked great.
When it ended I was more than satisfied and can't wait. Only thing I wasn't keen on was the song.

Only downside is that Funky isn't there to strap you up with magnums. #protectthe2nd.

Other than that, peak.

Yep, I'm sold. Gonna pre-order now!

I gave it an 8. Love the overall vibe of it. I'll definitely buy it once I get an S2, but this game alone is not a system seller for me.

Direct was a 10. Incredible.
I love DK, have been a big fan since DKC. I didn’t really enjoy DK64, so I wasn’t really excited about this game. I was maybe a 6/10 initially. Game looked interesting, fun, but I didn’t see anything initially that made it a day 1 purchase.

This direct was probably the 1st I’ve seen that has moved my hype from a 6 up to a 10. Now I have another day 1 purchase, how will I make the time to play all these games?

I already had my sights set for this game for the 3d Donkey Kong novelty. Now that I've seen more, I'm absolutely all in. I have to buy it in preparation for getting the Switch 2.

I’m not struggling to think who said it was abysmal

This direct moved me from “I’m getting this game day 1” to “IM GETTING THIS GAME DAY 1!”

10/10. Might be my favorite Direct that Nintendo has ever done, mainly because the game looks awesome. I was already hyped enough that I pre-ordered it the day I pre-ordered Switch 2, I figured it would be good but it seems now like this could be a legitimate Game of the Year contender. The action looks sublime and there could be a fairly deep story as well. Really looking forward to getting to play this.

@JimNorman Can you help a fellow out. From the article:

"Pauline's attacks can be controlled in Mouse Mode, and you can even share locally to a Switch 1 system using GameShare — how neat!"

My understanding is Switch 2 Mouse Con don't connect to Switch, I'm guessing different Bluetooth protocols or some such, so how can player 2 use Mouse mode to control Paulina on the Switch using Gameshare? Or do Switch 2 Joycon work on Switch when using Gameshare? Would be nice but that isn't what I've read. I suppose a firmware update could fix it though. Maybe it's just a poorly worded sentence?

I was already looking forward to this game thinking it had potential but now it has GOTY potential for me. My favorite game all time is Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and I've never found a decent successor despite all the sequels that game had, they were never the same. But this has potential. It's everything I want in a game. 3D. Collectibles. Some semblance of a story. Platforming. Voice acting. Violence. Random minigame distractions.

If it's long enough, and judging by everything we just saw it is, and plays well enough, which Nintendo is usually pretty good at, I don't see why this couldn't become an all time classic for me. And it releases 3 days before my 60th birthday. Yes I've been gaming a long time, since Pong.😂

Was good but i wanted to discover myself that pauline was the rock and be more suprised.

I gave it a 9. Before I was thinking of getting it eventually down the line but now I will get it pretty soon.

@LazyDaisy
I suppose, the next Super Mario game will be quite different than DK Bananza, so there'll really be no reason to "top" it. 🤔

I need some fun in my life and Nintendo is still top in providing that fun factor. Pick up and play video games that just put a big smile on your face.

Outstanding, Nintendo is definitely giving its customers another very good reason for them to buy a Switch 2. This title, MKW and MP4 are going to be the true spearhead of the console.

To be honest, the game looked like something completely different than what was shown initially by many journalists who went over to try the Switch 2 before its release and told us what they saw.

Now that we've seen what Bananza is really about, I'm sold. Preordered.

How could I put it on simple personal words? I loved it!
It brought me faith again on standalone Directs, this is Peak Nintendo and one of the best uses of current-gen hardware. The only concern I have is if all these content teased won't matter if it's going to be as short as Mario Odyssey, which was it's only and biggest flaw. Please make that higher price worthwhile, I hope it's truly packed with content.

@SirLink
You didn't watch the reveal trailer, didn't you?

So glad I have a switch 2.
I was reserved about DKB, but for me a massive 3d Nintendo platform fan.
Easy 10/10 after this direct.
Can’t wait for July.

You got me there Nintendo. That was nearly perfect direct. Pre-ordered the game. My daughter was so hyped when she saw Pauline and we look forward to play it together.

@Michael0916 I did and felt disappointed. This is something completely different.

@maulinks That's so funny! That's the moment that did it for me too

I was already going to get it, but damn, they REALLY sold me here. Game and presentation look amazing. I like the story with Pauline. The transformations look awesome. We saw a little glimpse of Diddy and Dixie, too. I’m all in.

Very pleasantly surprised. Was getting it either way, but can't wait now.

This was outstanding! its basically mario odyssey but DK.

Looks unbelievable, can’t wait until July 17th!

Here's hoping you can choose Japanese language so we don't have to listen to Pauline's whimmy wammy voice.

Game looks great. Two thoughts:
1. I think they gave away too much showing the transformations, I really hope there’s a surprise one they haven’t revealed.

2. Sculpt mode is going to result in a lot of…naughty bananas.

Great, as expected! Loving Zebra DK. I wonder though how big the game will be. 160 Banandium gems isn't a great amount if you compare it to the moons of Mario Odyssey, but there are also the fossils (and you also need chips to buy gems, so we'll see).

And it looks like its a prequel, where Pauline wants to become a professional (jazz) singer!

@rjejr it's fine and i am 53 and have been gaming since the atari days

Its nice to see Pauline brought back into the greater Mario/DK roster of characters, from this to Odyssey, to MK World

day one for me most definitely

Ugh using eels to entice me.

That’s low nintendo.

I think they need to get more switch 2 in stock in UK. There are people wanting them now, let alone when DKB releases.

Top Banana.

This smashed what everyone expected.

Still not a fan of the visual design of the environments, which look convoluted and random, without any sense of a real place. That's the price of all the destruction, I guess. And by now, I could go without skill trees in any game for a few years. No deal breakers, though, because the rest looks really fun and promising, especially the movement, which is super important. Is it just me, but would the game be perfect for some Joycon-shaking to smash the world and throw some rocks? Could be a genuine workout.

It's not what I would have wanted from a Donkey Kong game. But that won't keep me from appreciating it as a good game on it's own.
After the direct, I thought, this would be more fitting as a 3D-outing in the Wario Land-Series in terms of style and mechanics. But I guess, he's not that popular for a triple-A launch window game to push the console sales.
Now, that I have to accept that it is what it is, the final verdict will probably depend on how engaging and challenging it is. I found Super Mario Odyssey (and Wonder) a little bit shallow and easy.

As for the direct itself, yeah, it did a great job in showing what the game has to offer, whichout spoiling it.

Looks great... but also a bit tedious to break stuff all the time.
I'll wait for reviews... and probably a sale.

This direct really sparked my interest! But that fur...it looks horrible up close, like poor graphics feathers...

It was outstanding. I excepted it to be good but woaaaaaaah

It's the best standalone game direct they ever made. It's basically Odyssey 2. That's what I wanted for 8 years now. Finally.

I almost wish I didnt watch it, only because some of the surprises would've hit way harder organically. Still, I'm way more excited for it now than I was in April (as someone who got to try the demo).

And not to dwell on the pricing discourse, but the amount of stuff seen in this Direct really puts further scrutiny on MKW's $80 price of entry, when Bananza is looking like a more "complete" game at launch for $70.

@X68000 As a new Fire Emblem fan. . .I've heard worse. . .

SHUT UP, MAE, YOURE SO ANNOYING!!

Bananza feels like the sequel to Mario Odessey that we’ve been waiting for!

@maulinks same but ostrich 🤣

I initially was skeptical about the Switch 2 when it was announced but then decided to pre order it as soon as I saw the trailer for this game. And damn was I right to do so!

Looks amazing & I will get it, but I still prefer the side scrollers. From DKC 1,2,3, Returns, Tropical freeze. But hey that's just me.

New skins for MKW? Both only have 1

9/10

I’m missing a hard mode or something of that calibre if I think of Odyssey, where the only difficult challenges were super late game.
But yes, looks like a system seller.

A zebra and an ostrich. Just let that one sit for a minute... 😂🦍🦓

I was shocked at how incredible it looks, still too rich for my blood.

I had been pissed that it was supposed to be a DK Direct instead of a general one. But they "overexceeded" my expectations. I'd known the game was going to be good, but the Direct blew me away.

Looking like a proper follow up to Odyssey. I love how the DK games made by Nintendo themselves are about punching the ***** out of everything lol

@Lady_rosalina One theory I've heard is that, just like how Cranky Kong is arcade DK, maybe the blond Lady from arcade DK is Pauline's mother (and maybe Jumpman is Mario's father, haha). Probably not going to happen, but I'd be down for it.

(Not that Nintendo has ever kept a solid canon, but it's still fun.)

@ekwcll "it's fine"

What's fine? Oh, don't bother answering that, it's fine.😂

Watching this game gives me anxiety. It feels so frantic and chaotic in every way.

Definitely one of the games I'll be picking up whenever I get a switch 2!

Looks Really great definitely getting it
The only thing was not sure about is some of the story felt like Nintendo ripped off Godzilla Vs Kong going to the center of the earth
But it dose looks fun to play😃

While gameplay looks fantastic, the worlds that were showcased feel... a bit samey, unlike Mario Odyssey, which I think is a fair comparison.

Wow. I'm extremely impressed! It's surreal how much more cinematic and movie-like the game suddenly feels as soon as it adds Pauline with full VoiceOver and music! Pauline's songs are surprisingly sentimental and emotional, and remind me of the movie Belle. I was not expecting that, and the music plus the Wreck It Ralph dynamic suddenly makes the game extremely compelling!

I love how all the little touches strongly resemble Mario Odyssey, from the way you talk to NPC's to how similarly DK changes his wardrobe, as well as collecting music tracks on a dedicated music player. It really helps make Bananza feel like a game from the Mario universe.

The transformations are a huge curve ball and a pleasant surprise! Anyone else notice how pressing the D-pad to switch between transformations on the fly seems reminiscent of Pokemon Legends? Even the abilities feel similar, like traversing over water, to flying, to running faster.

General platforming also looks really fast and fluid in this game! You can already tell it's going to take the advanced combos from Mario Odyssey to a whole new level.

Interesting to see how some of the technical achievements from TOTK also seem to have bled into Bananza, from seamlessly falling through a sinkhole to the physics engine letting you use almost anything as a tool/weapon.

Between Mario Kart World representing a stellar multiplayer title and now DKBananza offering a stellar singleplayer experience, this game finally looks like a tentpole AAA Nintendo title. If this game sells well it could become a new spearhead for the entire system just like Mario Odyssey!

As I had hoped, they absolutely cooked here. This is exactly what this game needed to be. A fully fledged 3d platformer completely stuffed with gameplay ideas. Mario kart is great and all, but this is the true showcase of what the switch 2 is capable of. Can’t wait, this game looks incredible

Can't wait for odyssey 2, seriously that is meant as a compliment in every way. I really hope this has a hard mode, or some gnarly end game challenges

Great! It seems a bit too much like Mario Odyssey, but that’s not a bad thing.

Odyssey was my favourite Switch game but I feel it won’t hit the same. 100% I am going to pick it up and I hope it plays even better than Odyssey.

I love all the banana hype, banana puns, Pauline, I think the DK flair is 100% on point, and I love the music!!

I'm a big fan of the general insanity of the DK lore and timeline so this Direct intrigued me. I wonder if there's some Yoshi's New Island type time travel stuff going on because Pauline here is a child but DK and his family are their current ages. The evil characters identify themselves as Kongs which is interesting too lorewise. I wonder if they are ancestors from the distant past. I feel like they could be from the past because one of them looks like an orangutan and one could be based off of the minkey enemies from the original trilogy, both species said to be exiled from the Kong clan for being traitors. I'm more here for the lore than the gameplay as you can tell lmao.

To me is not system seller, but i'm gonna buy at the same time i bought the switch 2

@Pikachu_Mariachi haha yeah, emotional and a bit scared Really looking forward to this game!!

Looks fun, just hope they can make the platforming interesting. The rock surf and throw mechanics look awesome, but being able to climb up most of the walls and the destruction mechanic seem kinda ehhh unless they can do some really cool stuff with it. Fingers crossed!

Awesome, it looks a like they put the effort they will put for a Super Mario game

@JimNorman Hey thanks. Sometimes my reading comprehension isn't the best.🤪 Does seem weird anyway Nintendo would even bothering promoting that this is Gameshare capable considering how little player 2 gets to do, and even less so on Switch w/o the mouse pointing. I did watch the Vid again last night and realized player 2 can play as Pauline w/o using the mouse, I misunderstood the first time I watched the Direct and thought mouse mode was required for Pauline, so that's on me. Thanks again.👍

Crazy good Direct. To be honest, for me it proved that DK should have been the launch title over MK World.

It looks like Donkey Kong Odessey to me. Which is a good thing. It's really interesting that they went for actual voice acting (sorta) for this one. Now they just need to do the same with Pokémon.