Nintendo Switch 2 Reviews A-Z

I have mixed feelings about Donkey Kong Bananza. On one hand, it ticks all the boxes you'd want in a 3D Donkey Kong adventure. It has 15 worlds to explore, a slew of moves, fresh new ideas, and a destruction quotient that's off-the-charts. So why am I not loving it?

In order to exhibit the raw power of the Switch 2, Bananza is a demolition showcase. Not only can Kong punch through just about everything in sight, but he can tunnel up, down, and through walls. Doing so unearths gold nuggets, bananas, fossils, discs, and endless other collectable artifacts. You can practically reduce each stage to rubble.

The smash-em-up mechanic is amazing for the first ten minutes or so. Burrowing can be disorienting as Kong himself is often obscured by dirt and rock. In addition, the endless item collecting gets a little old. I don't have the patience to dig for every last item. You need gold nuggets to enable the "bananza" power-up but they're fairly ubiquitous.

The stages feature all the obligatory locales (beach, desert, forest, ice) and they extend in all directions (especially up). Fortunately a helpful map always marks your next destination. There are a lot of ways to travel quickly including gameways and a new "turf surf" move. Just grab a chunk of ground and use it to surf over the muddy landscape.

I didn't find the stages to be particularly interesting. In fact, I found them to be quite ugly, cluttered with endless junk to bust up. Most are populated by rock monsters that fill you in on what your current objective is. For completists there's plenty of bonus stages to complete, including a few that call to mind Donkey Kong Country (SNES, 1993).

What puts this game over the top is that Nintendo polish. The attention to detail is outstanding, with a cute storyline, charming animations, and upbeat musical numbers. There's a lot to explore, the difficulty is low, and the boss encounters are mercifully short. Donkey Kong Bananza has moments but I'm less-than-thrilled with its "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach. © Copyright 2025 The Video Game Critic.

Mario Kart World harkens back to the days when a new console would launch with at least one "must have" title. This game qualifies. I didn't think Nintendo could substantially improve upon Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch, 2017) but they knocked this one out of the park.

The number of competitors per race has been doubled to a whopping 24. This elevates the mayhem to new levels, especially out of the gate. To fill out the huge field Nintendo had to pad the roster with unlikely racers like the piranha plant, Vampire Luigi, Toad with a hamburger on his head, and obligatory "kid" versions of the main cast. One character that really stands out is Pauline with her shapely red dress and heels. Hubba hubba!

True to its name, Mario Kart World expands the scope of the franchise with connected tracks spanning one massive continent. You may notice a certain haziness on the horizon. While in the past this "fog" might indicate a hardware limitation, in this case I think it's intentionally used to emphasize a sense of distance.

The vehicle selection includes all sorts of crazy cars and motorcycles. Flying off of a ramp causes your vehicle to sprout wings, allowing you to effortlessly glide through the air. Likewise while traveling through water your vehicle transforms into a speedboat of sorts. The simple three-button controls are accelerate, slide, and "use item". I noticed when power-sliding it takes a while for the turbo boost to kick in, probably to prevent players from "snaking" through the course.

Some tracks have fixed themes like a tropical island, ghost town, or a Chinese village. Others have contiguous segments covering a variety of themes. One minute you may be splashing up a jungle river, then you're rolling through a pirate ship, and then you find yourself in a zebra stampede on a savannah. The visuals are beautiful. When speeding near a roaring waterfall you can practically feel the spray.

The variety also extends to the soundtrack. One minute you're listening to big band music, then guitar rock, and then an Irish jig. Some of the music was inspired by past Mario Kart games. The same can be said of the tracks which reprise familiar locations like a farmyard or the rickety wooden planks of a haunted level.

The addictive grand prix mode offers eight circuits with four tracks each. The difficulty is fairly low, especially for Mario Kart vets. The knockout mode adds drama as competitors who can't keep up are gradually eliminated. Free roam mode lets you freely explore the track locations, locating Peach Medallions while performing random "missions". The more you play, the more characters and vehicles become unlocked.

If you enjoyed any of the past Mario Kart games, Mario Kart World blows them out of the water. Whether playing solo or having your peeps over for split-screen mayhem, this is arcade-style, pick-and-up-play perfection. This game in of itself could justify owning a Switch 2. © Copyright 2025 The Video Game Critic.