Donkey Kong Bananza arrived to an overwhelmingly positive critical reception, swiftly earning a Metacritic score of 90 based on 89 professional reviews and securing a “Mighty” rating on OpenCritic, where it ranks in the 91st percentile of all scored games. These numbers place it among the best reviewed original releases of 2025, trailing only behind select remastered Zelda titles and a handful of indie standouts in aggregate rankings. The consensus among critics is clear: Nintendo’s gorilla driven adventure is a technical showcase for the Switch 2 and a triumphant return for a longtime franchise icon. It has been a long wait, but here we are.
Major outlets praised Bananza’s bold gameplay innovation and sandbox scope. Eurogamer Spain highlighted how the game transforms the simple act of destruction into a layered mechanic assigning distinct buttons for smashing in different directions and weaving platforming, puzzle solving, and exploration into a seamless whole. IGN Spain awarded it a perfect 10/10, calling it “a brilliant successor to Super Mario Odyssey” and commending both its audiovisual polish and the depth of its level design, which manages to feel fresh even as you carve tunnels and reveal hidden areas5.
Press Start gave it a perfect 10 / 10, calling Bananza “a destructive experience that is both intoxicating and addictive,” lauding how it blends innovative terrain-wrecking mechanics with Nintendo’s classic charm, even if Pauline’s storyline remains somewhat underexplored. CNET’s Scott Stein raved that Bananza is “my favorite Switch game since Super Mario Odyssey” and we are sure many Nintendo fans will agree.
Global aggregators and individual critics alike lauded the title while noting minor flaws. Shacknews awarded it a 9/10, reveling in over 20 hours of content and recommending the game to both platforming purists and collectathon fans—while also flagging occasional frame-rate drops in docked mode. Dexerto similarly praised the game’s riotous fun and variety of challenges, though it cautioned that some performance hitches during boss battles might temper the experience until day-one patches arrive.
A handful of reviewers pointed out areas where Bananza could have pushed further. Some noted that the extensive underground segments tended to merge into similar-looking caverns, and that boss encounters often lack the bite expected from a Nintendo platformer, making the game feel easier than its Nintendo 64 predecessor or modern Mario outings. These critiques, however, stand in stark contrast to the overwhelming acclaim, serving more as footnotes to an otherwise stellar adventure than as dealbreakers for most players.
All told, Donkey Kong Bananza has cemented itself as an essential system-seller for the Switch 2 generation. With near unanimous 10/10 scores from outlets like IGN, The Washington Post, and Eurogamer Portugal alongside a perfect 91% media recommendation rate on OpenCritic it stands as one of the best received Nintendo titles of recent memory and a new high water mark for 3D platformers in 2025.
