Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza Overview Trailer, published July 3, 2025, introduces a destructible underground adventure starring Donkey Kong and Pauline. The game launched July 17, 2025, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. Here’s what the trailer shows and how its main features fit together.
What is Donkey Kong Bananza?
Donkey Kong Bananza is a 3D platforming action adventure. Donkey Kong and Pauline explore a vast underground world by running, jumping, climbing, smashing and digging through destructible terrain. Nintendo’s Overview Trailer presents the game’s premise and core mechanics; Nintendo’s June 18, 2025 Direct announcement provides further details.
What happens in the trailer’s story?
Donkey Kong discovers golden bananas on Ingot Isle, but a tempest sends him underground. There he meets Pauline, who has been transformed into Odd Rock. The two set out toward the Planet Core while facing the Void Company, a mining operation pursuing the same goal. The trailer frames the journey as an alliance between a powerful explorer and a singer whose abilities help them push deeper into the world.
How does smashing the environment work?
The underground terrain is not just scenery: Donkey Kong can break it apart to uncover items and open paths. He punches, grabs and tosses objects, climbs, rolls and dives through earth, and can tear off chunks of ground to throw or ride. Nintendo also describes Hand Slap as a way to help locate hidden items. The result is exploration built around changing the landscape rather than only finding a route through it.
#1 Best Overall
- Explore a vast underground world—by smashing your way through it!
- A brand-new 3D platforming action adventure starring Donkey Kong and Pauline
- Bash through just about anything in groundbreaking exploration! Crash through walls and carve tunnels—the more you smash, the more areas open up to you
- Pair up with Pauline to use Bananza Transformations: smash through obstacles with the raw strength of Kong form, gallop with incredible speed as a Zebra, and more
- Team up with a friend in two-player co-op as Donkey Kong and Pauline! Blast foes and terrain alike with Pauline’s voice as you explore together
Abilities that change how you explore
- Break and dig: Destroy terrain to expose secrets or create new routes.
- Move through the world: Climb, roll and dive through earth as you navigate underground areas.
- Use the terrain: Tear off chunks to throw or ride, turning parts of the environment into tools.
Nintendo’s descriptions feature varied environments, including canyons, forests, tundra and lagoon areas. The particular landscapes vary across its summaries, but the common thread is a wide underground world to explore and reshape.
What do Pauline’s Bananza transformations do?
Pauline’s singing activates temporary Bananza transformations. Collecting gold builds Bananergy, which allows her to sing and trigger a transformation. Nintendo highlights three forms, each suited to a different kind of challenge:
Rank #2
- Embark on a brand-new Donkey Kong adventure exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2.
- Explore the Underground World with dynamic environments and hidden secrets.
- Battle VoidCo and its minions using DK’s signature strength and powerful punches.
- Team up with a mysterious new companion with unique gameplay abilities.
- Recover the Golden Bananas across thrilling, action-packed levels.
- Kong form: Adds strength for forceful action.
- Zebra form: Brings speed and short dashes.
- Ostrich form: Enables flight and lets Pauline drop Egg Bombs.
These forms give Pauline a distinct role in the adventure: her singing changes what the pair can do, while Donkey Kong’s physical abilities help them break through the environment.
Can you play with someone else?
Nintendo describes local co-op with one player controlling Donkey Kong and the other Pauline. Its store listing specifies one to two players on one system and also lists local or online GameShare. Online GameShare through GameChat has additional requirements, so it is not the same as simply joining local co-op.
Rank #3
![Donkey Kong Bananza Standard - Nintendo Switch 2 [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Xv8olm5RL._SL160_.jpg)
- Uncover a wide variety of environments, like forest, canyon, and lagoon, as you delve underground
- Reshape the world as you tear through it, with the help of…an Odd Rock?
- One-system play: The listing supports one to two players on a single system.
- Online GameShare via GameChat: Nintendo says each participant needs a Nintendo Switch 2, internet access, a Nintendo Account and Nintendo Switch Online. Availability varies by country; check Nintendo’s listing for your region.
Release and Nintendo Switch 2 details
Donkey Kong Bananza released July 17, 2025, and is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. Nintendo lists TV, tabletop and handheld play modes, a 9 GB file size, and an ESRB rating of Everyone 10+ with Fantasy Violence and In-Game Purchases. The physical edition is also listed by Nintendo. Its game page includes DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC; check the current listing for availability and price.
Sources: Nintendo of America’s Overview Trailer; Nintendo Direct announcement, June 18, 2025; Nintendo game listing; Nintendo physical listing; Play Nintendo.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- The next evolution of Nintendo Switch
- One system, three play modes: TV, Tabletop, and Handheld
- Larger, vivid, 7.9” LCD touch screen with support for HDR and up to 120 fps
- Explore a vast underground world—by smashing your way through it!
- A brand-new 3D platforming action adventure starring Donkey Kong and Pauline
Rank #4
![Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush Standard - Nintendo Switch 2 [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51qtRWiIToL._SL160_.jpg)
- Full version of game required to use DLC. Sold separately.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
