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Neither Donkey Kong Bananza nor Mario Kart World uses NVIDIA DLSS, according to technical reporting published on July 17, 2025. Digital Foundry’s reported analysis identifies AMD FSR 1 with SMAA in Donkey Kong Bananza; the reporting does not identify Mario Kart World’s alternative rendering pipeline. Nintendo has not publicly explained why DLSS was omitted from either game in the sources cited here.
Does Donkey Kong Bananza use DLSS?
No, according to the technical analysis summarized by TechRadar. The July 17, 2025 report says Digital Foundry found that Donkey Kong Bananza uses AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 1 (FSR 1) with Subpixel Morphological Anti-Aliasing (SMAA), rather than DLSS. TechRadar reproduces Digital Foundry analyst John Linneman’s assessment that the game combines “AMD’s FSR1 with SMAA, a post-process anti-aliasing.” Read TechRadar’s report.
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This is third-party technical reporting, not an official Nintendo rendering breakdown. Nintendo’s developer interview discusses the game’s move to Switch 2 and its performance goals, but does not confirm the DLSS finding or explain a decision to omit it.
Does Mario Kart World have DLSS?
The same TechRadar report says Mario Kart World also does not feature DLSS. The cited reporting does not name an alternative upscaling or anti-aliasing method for that game, and the sources here do not provide an official Nintendo rendering breakdown.
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| Game | Reported DLSS use | Other rendering method identified | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donkey Kong Bananza | No, according to the July 17, 2025 report | AMD FSR 1 with SMAA | TechRadar’s account of Digital Foundry’s technical analysis |
| Mario Kart World | No, according to the same report | Not identified in the cited reporting | TechRadar report; no official Nintendo breakdown cited |
Nintendo lists both titles as first-party Switch 2 exclusive software: Mario Kart World launched June 5, 2025, and Donkey Kong Bananza launched July 17, 2025. Those platform and release details do not establish which graphics techniques either game uses. Nintendo’s August 1, 2025 Switch 2 software presentation lists the games and dates.
What upscaling does Donkey Kong Bananza use instead of DLSS?
Digital Foundry’s reported finding is AMD FSR 1 alongside SMAA. FSR 1 is an AMD upscaling technique, while SMAA is a post-process anti-aliasing method; the report describes them as a combination in Bananza. The cited coverage does not provide a resolution comparison or performance uplift, so those figures should not be inferred from the named techniques alone.
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Why doesn’t Nintendo use DLSS in these games?
The reason is not established in the sources cited here. Nintendo has discussed why Donkey Kong Bananza benefited from Switch 2 hardware, but it has not connected those development choices to the reported absence of DLSS.
In Nintendo’s Ask the Developer interview about Donkey Kong Bananza, the team describes revisiting a game originally built for Switch and using Switch 2’s greater memory and processing capacity to support more objects and destructible terrain. The developers also say 60 frames per second mattered to the feel of the destruction. Producer Kenta Motokura said Switch 2 “made the game possible.” These comments explain the platform transition and creative ambitions, not why the game uses FSR 1 and SMAA rather than DLSS.
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Nintendo hardware lead Tokuhiro Dohta has separately been reported as saying the company uses DLSS upscaling and expects to continue using it as it develops games. That general statement does not identify the implementation in either named title. Game Developer’s report notes that Dohta did not specify how Bananza or Mario Kart World used DLSS.
Quick Recap
What the reporting does—and doesn’t—establish
- Established by technical reporting: both games reportedly omit DLSS; Donkey Kong Bananza reportedly uses FSR 1 with SMAA.
- Not established for Mario Kart World: the alternative upscaling or anti-aliasing method.
- Not established for either game: Nintendo’s reason for omitting DLSS. The available statements do not support attributing the choice to the games’ development timeline, engine limits, missing motion vectors, performance constraints, or a specific image-quality trade-off.
- Important distinction: Switch 2 supporting DLSS does not mean every Switch 2 game implements it. A general statement that Nintendo uses DLSS is not confirmation that a particular game does.
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