It feels fair to say that Nintendo has been knocking it out of the park consistently for almost a decade now. The original Nintendo Switch has sold over 150 million units since its 2017 launch. The eight years since have seen Nintendo deliver some of the greatest first-party video games ever. And theNintendo Switch 2 sold 3.5 million unitsin just four days, making it the fastest-selling Nintendo console of all time. The Switch 2 has been out for almost two months now, and whileMario Kart Worldwas a great launch game, the console has finally found its flagship title inDonkey Kong Bananza.
Mechanically rich, surprisingly deep, and a true visual feast,Donkey Kong Bananzais currently the highest-rated new game on the Nintendo Switch 2, and for good reason.Bananzahas given theDonkey Kongfranchise an all-new direction to go in, but it’s following close behind the likes ofSuper Mario Odyssey,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, andPrincess Peach: Showtime!with regard to one part of Nintendo’s current strategy.
Donkey Kong Bananza Carries Forward Nintendo’s Recent Penchant for Variety
Recent First-Party Nintendo Games Have Put Gameplay Variety Front and Center
Nintendo has often gone out of its way to develop a set of innovative mechanics for its first-party offerings, whether it’sthe firstSuper Mario Bros.' side-scrolling screen,Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s titular four-dimensional shifts, orSplatoon’s core conceit of a competitive game revolving around paint. But in recent years, Nintendo hasn’t stopped at just making the innovative mechanics, it’s gone above and beyond when it comes to their implementation.
Arguably more so than ever before, modern Nintendo puts a great deal of effort into providing players with plenty of variety during their adventure. For instance, inSuper Mario Odyssey, players are given a plethora of different creatures they can inhabit, each one shaking up the 3D platformer’s gameplay.Zelda: Breath of the Wildoffers a ton of variety with its many different Shrines and itsSheikah Slate abilities, andZelda: Tears of the Kingdomoffers even more with its Ultrahand power that lets players create just about any contraption they can think of.
Even less universally loved Nintendo games have taken part in this modern Nintendo strategy of putting variety at the forefront of the experience.Princess Peach: Showtime!, for instance, revolves around the concept of transforming into 12 different personas, each one significantly changing how the game is played.
Donkey Kong Bananza Is The Latest Participant in This Recent Nintendo Trend
Donkey Kong Bananzais yet anotherfirst-party Nintendo gamethat embraces variety at every turn. Though the core gameplay loop ofDonkey Kong Bananza’s overworld exploration stays pretty much the same throughout its runtime, there’s a great deal of variety in the environments players find themselves in, both from a visual and gameplay standpoint. For example, while the Resort Layer is a series of lush tropical islands that require the player to use rainbow-colored Liftoff Ore to soar into the sky, the Landfill Layer is a dark pit of dirt that the player needs to gradually dig their way through bit-by-bit.
There’s also a ton of variety to be found inDonkey Kong Bananza’s bonus stages. Some bonus levels temporarily turnDonkey Kong Bananzainto a 2D side-scroller, some turn the game into a top-down puzzle game, and others focus solely on letting the game’s combat shine.
Every minute ofDonkey Kong Bananzabrings something new to the table, and that consistent momentum goes a long way in makingDK Bananzafeel like a fast-paced, joyful adventure.
