I have now spent about 30 hours inDonkey Kong Bananza.I've completed the main story and have done two of the somewhat annoyingly difficult post-game challenges. Still, from where I am now, I don't think the collecting aspect hits the mark as well as it did in Super Mario Odyssey, the development team's prior 3D platformer.
I probably won't be spending my immediate time going back and collecting every Fossil and every Banana (I'm not a freak like our Editor-at-Large, Dalton Cooper), and it's largely due to the way that DK finds these "hidden" objects: by just smashing everything!
This article contains some SPOILERS for Donkey Kong Bananza
7 Beginner Tips For Donkey Kong Bananza
Start your time in Donkey Kong Bananza’s underground world the right way with these helpful pointers for the early game.
Collecting Stuff in Donkey Kong Bananza Isn't That Fun...
Not only are there way too many fossils, but there are way too many Bananas, and none of them feel impactful. It's fun to hear DK say "BANANAAA" over and over again, but once the dopamine hits wear off, I struggle to find a reason to go back and get everything like I did in Super Mario Odyssey.
The Power Moons and the Purple Coins and the overall secrets that the 2017 platformer offered were far more interesting and compelling, and delicately played across each Kingdom like a proper "Nintendo seal of quality" experience.
Even after I 100%'d Super Mario Odyssey back in the day, I still replayed the game and even went back a few days ago to start it up one more time, and found myself having such a good time and having no trouble at all refamiliarizing myself with the snappy and nearly perfect controls. As I solved puzzles and collected a couple of Power Moons in the gorgeous Sand Kingdom, I just kept thinking about how dull and tedious the collecting in Bananza gets after a couple of dozen hours.
And listen, I really like Donkey Kong Bananza - I totally agree with the score we ended up giving it, which is a solid 9/10. Still, our reviewer, Dalton, knocked it for its lack of difficulty and mission variety, and combining that with the insane number of collectibles just sets the game on a different level from Super Mario Odyssey. And I know people are going to head to the comments to say that "Bananza isn't even a Mario game! Why are you comparing!?" Well, Bananza is essentially a spiritual successor to Mario Odyssey, incorporating many elements while making it its own thing — plus, you can't forget that it's the same development team.
I might turn on Donkey Kong Bananza once in a while when I'm on a flight or something just to grab a Banandium Gem here or a Fossil there, but I don't think the collect-a-thon magic that Odyssey conjured up is ever going to leave my brain.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 91 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- July 17, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
