Well, well, well. We're just fresh from taking in everything that Nintendo's Donkey Kong Bananza Direct has shown us about the incoming Switch 2 game, and there's quite a lot of very exciting things to discuss!
Amongst these are the game's all-new Kong cast members alongside Donkey Kong's brand new 'Bananza Transformation' abilities. As shown in the action-packed 15-minute Direct (which has now got us properly buzzing for a game some of us weren't 100% sold on), this new iteration of DK has a bevvy of smart tricks and evil faces up its furry sleeves.
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We got a look at a handful of new characters to add to the burgeoning cast of Kongs that've accumulated over the decades. Here it's the turn of the apparent villains of the piece, 'Void Company'. These three brand new characters are Void Kong, the leader guy, Grumpy Kong, who seems quite angry about something, and Poppy Kong, who likes to stretch.
According to the Direct, these villains are blocking up the sinkholes that Donkey Kong and his sidekick, Pauline, need to use to travel down through the worlds that make up the game's amazing-looking levels. We are, after all, on an adventure right to the earth's core, and so the miasma being inflicted by sinkholes must be cleared by our heroes. Sounds like a job for a big, smashy ape and a singer, alright.
Also shown off were Donkey Kong's all-new 'Bananza' transformational abilities. We are loving the look of these and the fact they can be switched between freely when you've got them activated (by collecting up golden coins). It seems as though this game is going to go large on letting players mess around, experiment, and break things as they see fit.
The gameplay introduced three transformations, each one based on one of the game's 'Elder Kongs' (that's boss dudes to you and us). So, we've got Ostrich Bananza, a flying transformation that allows you to drop egg bombs on foes. Then we have Zebra Bananza, a speeding variant of DK which can blast across fragile surfaces. And finally Kong Bananza, which is a souped-up version of DK that can do even more damage than normal.
Bananza transformations work on a timer, so you can't run wild as you'd like, but we sure do like the look of how crazy this new adventure seems to let players get. And we already can't wait to use DK's new swing ability to leather Void Company around the chops with a big old chunk of concrete. In a non-violent way, you understand.
Liking the look of what you've seen of Donkey Kong Bananza in the latest Nintendo Direct? Let us know!