This Kong’s got a funny face…
Credit:
Nintendo
As the game progresses, you’ll also unlock a handful of animalistic “Bananza” transformations from a menagerie of gigantic animal DJs (don’t ask). These temporarily grant DK new powers—a quick-dashing zebra or a fluttering, hovering ostrich, for instance. The game builds some specific gatekeeping challenges around each transformation, of course, but the extra locomotion options become a welcome part of your toolbelt when simply exploring generic areas.
Running around and smashing up the world isn’t all joy, though. Problems arise when you dig into thick patches of dirt, crafting a narrow, Kong-sized tunnel surrounded by opaque earth. The camera system does its best to deal with these tricky scenarios, making the ground opaque and highlighting only the notable features around you. Still, it’s easy to lose track of where your digging has taken you and how to get back to the surface, especially when the best way out of a jam is to “dig up, stupid.”
Oooh, Banana!
All this terrain destruction and digging is in service of the game’s primary goal: collecting a bunch of giant bananas. These are roughly as plentiful as the Power Moons scattered across Super Mario Odyssey and roughly as varied in their availability. Some sit out in the open, waiting to be stumbled on. Others are hidden in some of the game’s most out-of-the-way underground crevices and practically require the use of collectible in-game treasure maps to find. Many are hidden in elaborate challenge rooms that test your precision platforming, terrain destruction, or combat skills.
Unlike the Power Moons in Mario Odyssey, though, hunting down bananas is largely optional to progress down the succession of elaborate, wide-open, high-ceilinged layers (read: “levels”) on a quest toward the planet’s core. Instead, bananas are primarily used to unlock upgrades in a surprisingly deep skill tree or grant DK more health, more punching power, or longer Bananza transformations. Other collectibles can be used to buy stylish and protective outfits to further increase DK’s endurance.