If you weren’t already convinced, there’s a chance the massive Donkey Kong Bananza Direct that Nintendo released earlier this week has you rethinking your opinion on the upcoming Switch 2 game. With a wealth of new information, from the return of classic characters to the reveal of Pauline as your adventuring companion, there really was a lot to sink our teeth into. One thing that stood out to me in particular was the gameplay, and not just how fun or flashy it looks, but how much of an evolution it looks to be over Super Mario Odyssey.
For those unaware, there’s a very high chance that Donkey Kong Bananza is being developed by the team responsible for 3D Mario games. The two games share striking visual similarities, gameplay mechanics, and even UI elements seem extremely familiar to Mario’s last 3D outing. As much as I loved Super Mario Odyssey, it had one glaring problem with its collectible system that Donkey Kong Bananza seems to have corrected.
Donkey Kong’s collectible extravaganza
Let’s quickly run down how Donkey Kong Bananza is approaching its gameplay loop. In the game, Donkey Kong and Pauline will be travelling deeper and deeper into vast underground environments on the hunt for the villainous VoidCo, and on their journey they’ll be collecting Banandium Gems. These glowing, crystallized bananas serve a similar purpose and design philosophy to the Power Moons from Super Mario Odyssey. They’re available to find all over the map in abundance, with tasks to obtain them ranging from challenging trials and boss fights to simply stumbling open them buried in a wall. These will then likely aid progression, as collecting the large Banandium Gems from boss fights will allow players to continue through to a new area.
Alongside Banandium Gems, Donkey Kong Bananza adds a bunch of extra collectibles, all with different purposes. Banandium Chips are scattered across the map and can be traded for Banandium Gems, Gold can be earned and exchanged for gameplay-assisting items, fossils can be found in walls that can be exchanged for new fashions for both Donkey Kong and Pauline – and these new outfits themselves can add new stats. There’s a lot more to collect in Donkey Kong Bananza than in Super Mario Odyssey, and that will be where we’ll find Mario’s biggest problem.
Mario’s shallow Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is a large, expansive and beautifully designed game. Despite that though, I’ve always found it to be at least a little bit shallow. It’s a lot of fun collecting Power Moons, but they don’t do anything once you’ve progressed past the amount you need to progress the story. It only takes a few dozen Moons to collect at any given area before you’ll be able to take off to the next, meaning the dozens more Power Moons that remained in areas where there were over a hundred to find are just empty collectibles.
Sure, there are a few big milestone rewards like if you collect every Moon, but nothing changes for Mario. He doesn’t get stronger, Cappy doesn’t get new abilities at any point, and there aren’t even any significant cosmetic differences to be earned besides a different color sail for the Odyssey ship. There’s a lot to find, but there’s not a lot to do with any of it.
How Bananza adds meaning to the madness
That’s where Donkey Kong Bananza steps it up – because Banandium Gems actually do something when you earn them. As players find Banandium Gems, they will unlock skill points for every five they collect. These skill points can then be spent on both upgrading Donkey Kong’s existing abilities and learning new ones to navigate the world and cause even more destruction as he goes. It’s a genius idea, and it fixes the Power Moon problem completely, because finding Banandium Gems will benefit you everywhere else now too.
The skill points you earn from your collected Banandium Gems will be useful in unlocking new abilities that allow you to find more of the other collectibles on offer, which in turn creates a gameplay loop that’s consistently rewarding for your efforts. If we use our Banandium Gem skill points to deliver stronger punches, we can then use that new power to find fossils easier, which can be exchanged for new fashions, which will give boost varying stats to make exploring, fighting and surviving even easier for Donkey Kong.
It may seem simple on paper, but making the main collectible system of Donkey Kong Bananza double as a skill tree completely fixes the biggest problem that many had with Super Mario Odyssey, without needing to decrease the amount of collectibles or making challenges harder. Players will be more rewarded now for their discoveries, whether that’s a simple Banandium Gem stuck inside a wall or a trio of them waiting for you at the end of a combat challenge, there’s a reason to do it beyond merely completing a checklist. It’s an easy solution, but it’s enough to have us going bananas.
What do you make of Donkey Kong Bananza’s collectible system, and how do you feel about the way it evolves from the Power Moons in Super Mario Odyssey? Let us know your feelings in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news and Donkey Kong Bananza coverage before its release exclusively on Switch 2 next month.
