Nintendo’s upcoming platformer Donkey Kong Bananza appears to be a significant technical showcase for the Nintendo Switch 2, but recent technical analysis indicates that the game may also be pushing the hardware to its limits. Set for release on July 18, 2025, the game has been subject to detailed performance reviews, which highlight both its visual achievements and its compromises in performance stability.
Donkey Kong Bananza operates with a single display mode, applying dynamic resolution scaling across both docked and portable playstyles. In docked mode, the game scales from a resolution floor of 1008p up to 1552p, reconstructed to a native 2160p display output. Portable mode follows a similar approach, with dynamic resolution scaling between 648p and 1080p. The game compensates for hardware limitations by reducing several visual elements in portable mode, including draw distance, post-processing effects, and select textures and shadows. However, the overall visual presentation remains remarkably similar between the two modes, suggesting Nintendo EPD has optimized the experience for consistency across both settings.
Interestingly, in portable mode, the game emphasizes larger environmental assets to balance the reduced draw distance. This leads to a slightly different visual presentation that some may find appealing. In addition, loading times are reportedly among the fastest recorded for a Switch 2 title, reflecting strong optimization in certain technical areas.
From a gameplay perspective, Donkey Kong Bananza builds upon the foundation laid by Super Mario Odyssey, introducing a unique voxel-based destruction system. This mechanic allows players to interact dynamically with environments, demolishing structures and engaging with the terrain in ways not typically seen in Nintendo platformers. While this feature brings a fresh sense of excitement, it also introduces moments of performance strain. The game generally maintains a stable 60 frames per second during standard gameplay, but it suffers occasional drops during heavy destruction sequences or camera transitions, especially in cutscenes and when collecting new bananas. The map menu also exhibits notable performance inconsistencies, though this does not directly impact gameplay.
Earlier reports confirmed that Donkey Kong Bananza began development on the original Nintendo Switch before transitioning exclusively to Switch 2. A side-by-side comparison presented by Nintendo EPD highlighted significant visual upgrades between the two systems. The Switch 2 version benefits from denser foliage, improved lighting, higher-quality assets, and a more detailed environment.
Producer Kenta Motokura and designer Daisuke Watanabe both acknowledged that the transition to Switch 2 allowed the team to fully realize their creative ambitions. The larger memory pool and improved processing power enabled them to introduce features previously impossible on the older hardware, such as destructible environments with detailed physics and more interactive elements within the game world. Programming lead Wataru Tanaka specifically credited the voxel system for enabling more dynamic gameplay, though he admitted that it demands significant system resources.
While Donkey Kong Bananza demonstrates what the Switch 2 can achieve, its performance suggests that even Nintendo’s next-generation hardware faces challenges when balancing ambitious game mechanics with stable performance. Nonetheless, the game’s fast loading times, visual fidelity, and creative design indicate a bold step forward for the platformer genre on Nintendo hardware.
