As Nintendo continues to produce fresh takes on some of its most iconic franchises, the influence thatThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomhave had on its approach to game design is increasingly obvious. The industry in general has undoubtedly been impacted by these particularZeldagames, but Nintendo itself has continued to utilize its ground-breaking open-world formula in its games, withDonkey Kong Bananzanow being the most recent example. The main difference with it, though, is how it takes the grace and calm ofTears of the Kingdom’s design and goes utterly bonkers with it for one of the most chaotic yet fulfilling open-world adventures yet.
The heart ofDonkey Kong Bananza’s gameplay is in its name, as it fully expects players to go bananas with its intuitive and rewarding mechanics. It’s highly unique in its design, and yet it clearly has its roots deep inTears of the Kingdom’s design philosophy. Much like howTears of the Kingdomencourages experimentation and creative problem-solving,Donkey KongBananzalets players unleash mayhem in similar, if hilarious, ways. However, whereasTears of the Kingdominvites players to create the door to discovery,Donkey Kong Bananzadares players to break it down.
Donkey Kong Bananza Channels Zelda: TotK’s Exploration Philosophy, Then Tears It to Pieces
Both Games Embrace Open-Ended Discovery Through Creative Tools and Traversal
If there’s one thing that is clear when it comes toTears of the Kingdom’s design, it’s that it’s meant to make players feel like the sky’s the limit. If that’s not quite literally evident in its increased verticality over its predecessor, it certainly manifests itself in the open-ended, curiosity-driven, more personal approach it takes to exploration and progression in the open-world genre. This especially comes into play withTears of the Kingdom’s Ultrahand ability, which allows players to approach solving problems from a number of different angles. Many of the problems players encounter in the game have an undefined number of solutions, as players often use Ultrahand to create those solutions.
Donkey Kong Bananzatakes a similar approach with its own open world, in that it drops players into the game and presents them with one simple instruction: Press Y to Punch. From here, some players might simply move forward in pursuit of the main objective, but there’s a massive part ofDonkey Kong Bananzathat doesn’t want that. Instead, it piques the curiosity of players by presenting them with a world that is almost entirely destructible. As players tear into the world using Donkey Kong’s massive indestructible fists, secrets reveal themselves that aren’t otherwise shown on the map unless players manage to find maps leading to those secrets within the terrain. In that way, it borrowsTears of the Kingdom’s core design philosophyof open-ended, curiosity-driven discovery.
Much like howTears of the Kingdomencourages experimentation and creative problem-solving,Donkey KongBananzalets players unleash mayhem in similar, if hilarious, ways.
That’s not all either, asDonkey Kong Bananza’s transformationsallow players to approach problems in their own way, much likeTears of the Kingdom’s Ultrahand allows. These “Bananza” transformations grant Donkey Kong unprecedented strength and unique traversal abilities that he doesn’t have organically, but their main appeal comes from their resistance to the fixed problem-solving of traditional platformers. Instead,Donkey Kong Bananzaencourages players to approach problems with flexibility and thoughtfulness, just as they might inTears of the Kingdom.
Donkey Kong Bananza Trades TotK’s Grace for Pure Destructive Freedom
There is a noticeable difference between these twoopen-world games, though, and that’s in how their creative freedom is executed. WhereTears of the Kingdominvites players to be slower and more intentional in their approach,Donkey Kong Bananzatells them to go bananas and see what they can find. In a manner of speaking,Donkey Kong Bananzais the chaotic rage room toTears of the Kingdom’s meticulously designed, pristine mansion. “Spam Y” is essentially the name of the game here, and it’s almost never an effort wasted.
It’s a welcome change of pace, and somehow, it still feels like the laid-backcozy gamethatTears of the Kingdomproves to be at times.Donkey Kong Bananzarefrains from putting pressure on its players in the same way thatTears of the Kingdomdoes, so even when they’re repeatedly hitting the same chaos-inducing button, it’s still a stress-free time. In short,Donkey Kong Bananzais clearly unhinged by comparison, but it’s for the better in the end.
