As we discussed last night on the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast, we’re VERY excited for Donkey Kong Bananza, especially after that incredible Nintendo Direct that peeled back the many layers of the game and the surprises that lay within. Pauline’s arrival is just one part of a massive banana-fueled gameplay experience, and the reaction to the Direct has been insanely positive.
Don’t believe us?
If you go to the video of the Direct, you’ll find that it has over 3 million views and well over 100K likes! For the record, that’s more than the Mario Kart World (read my review!) Direct that we got in April!
And it’s clear that Nintendo has high hopes for the title, as over in Japan, they dropped not one, not two, but FOUR commercials for the game, including showing lots of new footage of DK and Pauline together! Here’s the full set for you to watch:
Nintendo Japan released the first Donkey Kong Bananza commercial. It has some new footage!
— Stealth40k (@stealth40k.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T21:50:26.249Z
The second Donkey Kong Bananza Japanese commercial.
— Stealth40k (@stealth40k.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T22:11:53.126Z
The third Donkey Kong Bananza Japanese commercial.
— Stealth40k (@stealth40k.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T22:15:09.099Z
The fourth Donkey Kong Bananza Japanese Commercial
— Stealth40k (@stealth40k.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T22:16:02.069Z
As in all of that wasn’t enough, Stealth also confirmed that Donkey Kong Bananza has a store demo in certain locations, including Nintendo NY (and more than likely, Nintendo San Francisco):
I'm seeing nothing but extremely positive reactions to this new 15 minute demo.
Visually stunning, plays great, huge environments.
Nintendo should put it on the eShop!
— Stealth (@Stealth40k) June 20, 2025
Stealth also got to play it, and he said it was incredible, and possibly even the “best-looking game” that Nintendo’s ever made! High praise indeed.
When you add this all up, we might all be in for a fun experience when the game arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 on July 17th!
