We Played Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch 2!

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Episode Summary

Title: We Played Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch 2!
Release Date: April 3, 2025
Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Blessing Adeoye, and Andy Cortez

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Introduction

In this episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, hosts Tim Gettys and Blessing Adeoye Jr. delve into their hands-on experience with the newly announced Donkey Kong Bananza on the Nintendo Switch 2. Recorded during the Nintendo Switch 2 event in New York City, the discussion provides a comprehensive analysis of the game’s features, initial impressions, and its place within the broader Nintendo ecosystem.

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Game Announcement and Initial Excitement

Tim kicks off the conversation by expressing his growing excitement about the array of games showcased for the Switch 2, including Metroid Prime 4, Beyond, Mario Kart World, and the much-anticipated hardware itself.

Tim Gettys [00:21]:
"Talking to you about it is, like, making me even more excited than I was earlier."

Blessing echoes this enthusiasm, highlighting the significance of experiencing a new Nintendo console and the opportunity to play a fresh 3D Donkey Kong title.

Blessing Adeoye Jr. [00:37]:
"It's a fun debrief on what was such an eventful day and what was such a good day of getting to experience a new Nintendo console."

---

Donkey Kong Bananza: A New 3D Platformer

The hosts discuss the development team behind Donkey Kong Bananza, speculating its origins with the Mario Odyssey team. Despite Nintendo’s reluctance to confirm the development squad, the game's mechanics and design elements suggest a familiar creative lineage.

Tim Gettys [00:57]:
"That seemingly is from the Mario Odyssey team. They would not confirm when anyone I was talking to was just not going to tell me."

Blessing notes the game's resemblance to DK64, emphasizing the continuity and evolution of Donkey Kong as a character.

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Gameplay Mechanics and Destructible Environments

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the game’s destructible environments and the innovative mechanics introduced in Donkey Kong Bananza. Blessing praises the depth and complexity of the destruction mechanics, comparing them to Red Faction for their physics-based interactions.

Blessing Adeoye Jr. [02:00]:
"I'll say with confidence. DK64 is not a terrible video game."

Tim shares his mixed feelings about the destructibility, expressing concern that the freedom to destroy might devolve into chaotic button-mashing, detracting from the gameplay experience.

Tim Gettys [07:00]:
"The destructibility stuff wasn't fun to me. It felt like being able to just destroy anything and just punch everything. It felt like noise very quickly."

Despite initial reservations, Blessing remains optimistic about the game’s potential, appreciating the intricate design and the variety of surfaces and enemies that interact uniquely with Donkey Kong’s abilities.

Blessing Adeoye Jr. [02:36]:
"DK64 gameplay is better than Conker gameplay."

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Art Style and Character Design

The episode delves into the artistic direction of Donkey Kong Bananza, with Blessing highlighting the character’s new, more expressive art style. This evolution allows Donkey Kong to embody a more aggressive and dynamic persona, aligning with the game’s theme of destruction and exploration.

Blessing Adeoye Jr. [24:34]:
"The change to Donkey Kong's art style as well I think allows him to be a bit more expressive."

Tim appreciates the visual fidelity and the thoughtful design choices that respect the character’s legacy while pushing him into a new 3D space.

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Technical Performance and User Experience

The hosts examine the game’s technical aspects, noting its impressive performance on the Switch 2 hardware. Despite some criticisms regarding camera angles and the frequency of destructible interactions, the overall execution stands out positively.

Tim Gettys [16:21]:
"If you take that all the way. If you guys went so hard on this concept of Donkey Kong and destructibility in the levels. There's got to be some great ideas here in terms of what you're going to do with the game design."

Blessing commends the game’s stability and smooth performance, emphasizing that the technical prowess of the Switch 2 shines through in Donkey Kong Bananza.

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Comparisons and Expectations

The conversation draws parallels between Donkey Kong Bananza and other flagship Nintendo titles like Mario Odyssey and Kirby’s Forgotten Land, discussing how each game carves out its unique identity within the 3D platformer genre.

Tim Gettys [10:16]:
"This feels like the Kirby and the forgotten land of the year, right?"

Blessing relates the game’s exploratory nature to Wario Land, suggesting that Donkey Kong Bananza caters to players who enjoy tinkering and interacting deeply with the game environment.

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Community Reactions and Final Thoughts

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts share their final impressions and optimistic outlooks for Donkey Kong Bananza. While acknowledging some initial hesitations, both Tim and Blessing express confidence in the game’s ability to redefine Donkey Kong’s legacy and appeal to a new generation of gamers.

Tim Gettys [23:31]:
"This is Nintendo's first take on a 3D Donkey Kong game. I'm excited."

Blessing Adeoye Jr. [25:24]:
"This is Nintendo's first take on a 3D Donkey Kong game. Original 3D Donkey Kong game. Right."

The episode concludes with an encouragement for listeners to share their excitement and thoughts on Donkey Kong Bananza and its predecessor, Donkey Kong 64.

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Conclusion

Kinda Funny Gamescast delivers an in-depth and candid analysis of Donkey Kong Bananza, balancing enthusiasm with critical insights. The hosts’ diverse perspectives provide a well-rounded view of the game’s potential, highlighting its strengths in design and gameplay while addressing areas for improvement. As Nintendo continues to expand its 3D platformer repertoire, Donkey Kong Bananza emerges as a promising title poised to make a significant impact on the Switch 2's gaming library.

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Notable Quotes:

• Tim Gettys [00:57]:
  "That seemingly is from the Mario Odyssey team. They would not confirm when anyone I was talking to was just not going to tell me."

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. [02:00]:
  "I'll say with confidence. DK64 is not a terrible video game."

• Tim Gettys [07:00]:
  "The destructibility stuff wasn't fun to me. It felt like being able to just destroy anything and just punch everything. It felt like noise very quickly."

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. [24:34]:
  "The change to Donkey Kong's art style as well I think allows him to be a bit more expressive."

• Tim Gettys [10:16]:
  "This feels like the Kirby and the forgotten land of the year, right?"

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. [25:24]:
  "This is Nintendo's first take on a 3D Donkey Kong game. Original 3D Donkey Kong game. Right."

---

Join the Conversation:
Share your excitement and opinions on Donkey Kong Bananza in the comments below or follow the Kinda Funny community for more in-depth discussions and updates on the latest in gaming.

Transcript

[Tim Gettys]

Foreign. What's up, y'all? Welcome back to another Tim Gettys and blessing. Adio. Yay. Junior Reaction to what we got to play at the Nintendo Switch 2 event in beautiful New York City. Plus, how you doing?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm doing real good.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm doing real, real good day.

[Tim Gettys]

And I feel like it keeps getting better. Like, I. I've loved. We're now sitting here talking about all the games we're playing, whether It's Metroid Prime 4, Beyond, Mario Kart World, the GameCube games. We got to do just the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware in general. And I think talking to you about it is, like, making me even more excited than I was earlier.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's a fun debrief on what was such an eventful day and what was such a good day of getting to experience a new Nintendo console. But now we get to break it all down and kind of do our own therapy of. Oh, yeah, let's talk about what we just experienced. We got to experience a new 3D Donkey Kong game.

[Tim Gettys]

A new 3D Donkey Kong game. A 3D. A Donkey Kong 3D platformer.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

That seemingly is from the Mario Odyssey team. They would not confirm when anyone I was talking to was just not going to tell me. You know what I mean? Nintendo doesn't want to tell us who made you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Got to keep all their games equal. I mean, got to keep it all equal.

[Tim Gettys]

But it seems to be the Odyssey team. And in addition to that, whether it is or is not, it's fine. Because the. This seems like to be the placement of a 3D Mario. Right? Like, we all expected a 3D Mario at this direct, and we didn't get it.

[Roger Piccor]

Yeah, we got this.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We got this. I mean, I want to ask you if, like, do you think we'll still get another 3D Mario? But we'll say. We say that.

[Tim Gettys]

No. No. The answer is yes.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I mean, this is not.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, absolutely.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's what I meant.

[Tim Gettys]

Absolutely not. No. But I've been theorizing. Oh, three to Mario is going to include playable Donkey Kong. I was wrong, but I was on to something. Playable Donkey Kong. They're putting focus on our boy. Bless. I know you love Donkey Kong 64.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Tim Gettys]

What did this announcement do for you? And then tell me about your thoughts on the game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

The announcement was hilarious to me because I never thought we'd get another 3D Donkey Kong after Donkey Kong 64. It's wild because DK64, it's not a terrible video game. All right, let's Start.

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

No laughing back there. Roger. No laughing back there.

[Unknown]

No confidence.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay, here's the thing. I'll say with confidence. DK64 is not a terrible video game.

[Tim Gettys]

He's right.

[Roger Piccor]

It is not.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's not a terrible video game. It's not even a bad.

[Tim Gettys]

It's just not the best. Sorry, it's. Here's the easiest way to say it. It's the worst of the rare platformers.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And I don't even agree with that, really. I think DK64 is fucking phenomenal and that the world is wrong. But that's. That could be a whole.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay, no, but real quick. I mean, do you like what? Do what?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's better than Conker.

[Tim Gettys]

You think so?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

As far as gameplay and control, conquer is fun as, like, oh, it has a fun multiplayer mode and it's funny. But, like, the gameplay of Conker isn't all that. Let's be real, guys.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, it's not.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. DK64 gameplay is better than Conker gameplay.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay, but how's the gameplay of Donkey Kong Bonanza?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I like it a lot.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Here's the thing is it's. You mentioned, like, is this by the Mario Odyssey team? It gives me the, like, vibes of, like, it is.

[Tim Gettys]

Or is that money that it is.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It feels like it's by the Mario Odyssey team in the way that this is a collectathon, right? Where you have golden bananas. Let's freaking go. If you're a DK64 fan, you have golden bananas that you're collecting, right? And the ways in which you encounter them, the ways in which you find them feel very Mario Odyssey moon. Like, in the sense of, oh, man, I look behind this wall. Oh, there's a golden banana here.

[Tim Gettys]

This brown big thing.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

There's a big, you know, bundle of bananas here. All right, cool. Like, you are going around collecting these collectibles and they are spread out all over the place. Right. I think the thing that impressed me the most starting off with this is how much destruction there is, the destructible environment, and how the game revolves around that. Even watching the trailer, right. I think I was so enamored with just the Donkey Kong of it all that I didn't. I wasn't thinking about how much destruction there was going to be in this game. But you start off the game and it is dig around, like, punch the ground, punch the walls. Like, it feels like I'm playing Red Faction and I got a rocket launcher. I'm just, like, trying to make tunnels or whatever, right? Like, there's so much destructible environment stuff in this game. And the game revolves around the design of that. And it gets interesting and it gets a little bit complex in that. Where you have different surfaces that act different ways. We started off in a cave that just has a dirt ground. And so you're just breaking through and it's easy, right? Or like you can press R2 to pick up a lump of ground and throw it at somebody, right? Pick up a rock and throw it at somebod. Later on in the demo, I'm on a different surface that's more of a tougher surface. And I died because I was like, trying to beat an enemy by picking up a piece of the ground and throwing it at them. And I looked at the person that was demoing the game with me and I was like, hey, like, is why isn't the thing working for me to pick it up? And he's like, oh, you might be on a tougher surface. And I was like, oh, it's like that. And like, it kind of moves, goes on as far as you have certain enemies that might be. Have a concrete shield. And so you need to pick up a. An explosive surface to throw at them. Like, they kind of go deep with the different geometries. And like, I don't know. I was very impressed by that stuff. I thought it was really cool. But going into like, just the concept of the game itself, the style of it, the Donkey Kong of it getting a golden banana Pants. Yes. He has what?

[Tim Gettys]

He's wearing pants.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, he's wearing pants. Right. And open, like collecting golden banana. And it being like, oh, banana. Like it has given me all the shit that I.

[Tim Gettys]

Those are like voice things. And it was just blessing that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, no, it's like, it's literally. Yeah. In the game. It says it like that. Which is a DK64 reference. But, Tim, what did you think of.

[Tim Gettys]

I am very all over the place with this one. Yes, obviously. 3D platformers, huge fan. Nintendo platformers, huge fan. Donkey Kong, huge fan. Donkey Kong 64, not a huge fan. But that notwithstanding, seeing this trailer, I was so hyped and so much of what I saw in that trailer, I was like, oh, my God, I can't believe this is happening. This seems to be the Odyssey team. But it's Donkey Kong playing a different character. What fun are they going to have with it? Seeing some like 2D inspired locations like that look more like tropical freeze and stuff. I was hyped for that. Like, all that stuff seems great. And then when I got my hands on the controller. My first impression was, oh, wow, this is a brilliant controller design. You have jump on the A, which on Nintendo is like the circle, the right button, right button, but then the call, the face buttons by the direction. The up, left and down all correlate to smudging, like punching or like digging the different ways. So you're either like digging up to the side or down. And that's so intuitive. And, like, immediately I was like, I haven't played a game that works like this, but I get it. You know what I mean? And I thought that was really awesome. Having the different shoulder buttons do the different type of Donkey Kong moves, you'd be familiar with it all just makes sense. Being able to climb walls, being able to just do all the Donkey Kong stuff, it feels right. This feels like they translated Donkey Kong rolling, you know, all of that into 3D in a great way. And there was so much stuff that I really, really loved. I loved the amount of secrets there seemed to be, how open the area was and how it's one of those, if you want to get there, you can find a way there.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I was surprised.

[Roger Piccor]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

There was a moment in my demo where the demoer mentioned that of we got to an area, like the first layer of a level, essentially, and we open a map and, like, you kind of see a big area and he's like, dude, you can go anywhere. I was like, oh, that's awesome.

[Tim Gettys]

And you kind of like go through and if you find the right area, you can dig all the way down. Then you're in a different area. You're like. And then the demo kind of stopped there.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

They wouldn't let us go.

[Tim Gettys]

The sub layer or whatever. But how many sub layers are there? Like, it felt vast and big and felt like there was going to be a lot there. Now, my thing is, I didn't love my time with this game and I'm very surprised by that. This seems like a very up my alley thing. The reason is the destruction stuff wasn't fun to me. It felt like being able to just destroy anything and just punch everything. It felt like noise very quickly. It felt like stuff that I'm like, I'm just hitting buttons and things are happening as opposed to, like, I know what I'm trying to do and I'm doing it, you know? Like, I think of Mario Odyssey and I think about how he moved and how Cappy allowed you to jump on him and you roll and jump and all that stuff. Mario Duncan, I get they're different, but I don't like, it's like, oh, the big monkey punches things. It kind of had that vibe to it and I. I hope that I'm wrong. This is early and like a lot can change. I think that there's depth there. Like, you're talking about of like the different qualities of what the different types.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Of services and stuff like that and.

[Tim Gettys]

How things are affected. And I did love that. It's like there was so much to run into that a fun secret here, a surprise. You run into Cranky Kong. He's telling you about Rambi. Yeah, he's like, oh, I think it's.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like all the different Kongs you're running into.

[Roger Piccor]

Like, there's a lot.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

There's a lot to chew on. And yeah, like I'm. There's a lot to talk about here because I really. I understand your point totally. And I'm. The thing I'm fascinated by and the thing that I think delights me is that this game feels inspired. And is that inspiration to take us to like the next, you know, iteration of this is the new Don Kong franchise, that this is what it's about.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm so hopeful.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Or is it going to fall flat? Right. Because I could totally see the thing of. Okay, you guys had this idea of the destructible stuff and he's digging through and he's doing all these things and. Oh, it turns out the audience didn't really mess with it as much. Right. I totally see that. But on the other hand, I'm looking at it as like in the way that Mario Odyssey is all about movement and controlling other enemies and doing all these things. Right. This game feels like it is about digging for the solution. Pun intended. Roger liked that.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. I didn't hate it. I didn't even dislike it. That's what I'm saying. Tim Geddes didn't love a brand new Nintendo 3D platformer the first time he played it. That, to me, I think is just where I am at, at with it. And again, that can change. But I just want to be honest about my thoughts with my first experience with it, where again, nothing about it was bad. But playing it while it clearly seems like, oh, this is the Mario Odyssey team. It reminded me more of a non Nintendo platformer.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

The thing that I'm. The way that I framed it in my brain as far as what this game is to me.

[Tim Gettys]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Is like you talk about it being kind of like the Mario 3 platformer of the year for me. I came out of it being like oh, this is like the Kirby and the forgotten land of the year, right? In the sense of, hey, Donkey Kong hasn't had his own, like, 3D platformer in a long time. And this is. They are taking this character that we know from Nintendo that is, like, on the forefront and defining it in a new way.

[Roger Piccor]

That is very exciting.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

If it hits. Like, I don't think it's going to be Mario Odyssey levels necessarily, but I could see it being Kirby Forgotten Land levels.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, absolutely. And again, not a bad thing at all. And to run with that even more, I think that app comparison I kept thinking about as I was playing it is 2D Mario versus 2D Wario, where on paper, you're looking at very similar games, but the gameplay is so different because of what the gameplay focuses on. Whereas Mario is way more obstacle and speed and movement, Wario is a bit more slow, methodical, breaking things and puzzles. You know, that's a really good. This kind of seems like that in a 3D sense of 3D Mario versus what this could be. And I, again, I'm very excited for it. I think that the July release date is very interesting to me. I think that also fits of, like, maybe this isn't the big Nintendo EAD Mario Odyssey team game. Maybe this is a smaller. Maybe this is that team, but like a smaller version of it. Because that, that. That date, to me just kind of.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Reads it being right after Mario Kart, I think kind of makes it like a.

[Tim Gettys]

Like, right after. Yeah, if this was October, I'd feel different about it. Am I crazy there?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I feel what you're saying, because if you replace this, so it's a. It's a weird thing, right? We're going to get into mans. But, like, if you replace this with a Mario Odyssey 2, for example, I would look at this and be like, you're releasing Mario Kart and Mario Odyssey back to back, like, in like, a month apart from each other. That's weird, right? Like, now, granted, this isn't a Mario thing, right. This is Donkey Kong. Different character. Different. Like, I think you can make the argument of, oh, no, we are looking at this as a completely separate franchise from a Mario Kart because we're Nintendo. We only have so many characters that we work with. Right. Like, I don't really know what to make of it either way. Right. Like, I guess. Yeah, I don't really look at it as, hey, this is the star of the show for the year. I kind of look at Mario Kart as that and Metroid Prime 4 as that and I think a different way. But this almost feels like if there's a trinity, like this is the third one. If this is the big three, Roger. And we're talking about Kendrick, Drake, J. Cole, Donkey Kong. Don Kong is the J. Cole. Well, I guess Drake's number three now, right?

[Tim Gettys]

We're gonna take a quick word from.

[Roger Piccor]

The sponsor and we're gonna continue this.

[Tim Gettys]

Conversation right after that.

[Roger Piccor]

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[Tim Gettys]

I feel what you're saying and it's to be clear. I love that this is happening. And I'm hopeful that my first impressions end up being wrong. And I think that there's a good chance that that's the case. There's a lot going for this game that I did enjoy a lot. I think another kind of thing that my first impressions playing it visually, I was like, this is a switch to game, huh? Like, I wasn't blown away by it. I was very much like, oh, wow, this seems kind of Switch like. And more than that art style wise. I wasn't blown away by it because I'm like, oh man, this kind of feels like Nintendo house style. And it's Nintendo. So like, I'm not necessarily mad at that. But if Donkey Kong is gonna get his like, first big 3D outing, I kind of expect a level of Nintendo magic to that. Especially if it is the Odyssey team. If it's not, I think I have very different expectations.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I agree with you in terms of the presentation fidelity. Not saying Switch to look out. Look at how technically impressive this is. I felt the same. But where I did feel it was in the destruction. Right. The fact that you have so much going on on screen, so much destructibility on screen happening. That was where I was like, I don't know if you can pull this off on the Switch one. Like, this is actually like pretty impressive for what you're doing here. And again, it all leads to the hope thing for me where it's tough to talk about of all right in the final product.

[Tim Gettys]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

If you take that all the way. If you guys went so hard on this concept of Donkey Kong and destructibility in the levels. There's got to be some great ideas here in terms of what you're going to do with the game design. Yep.

[Tim Gettys]

And to be clear for the 10th time, I don't want to come off as I'm hating here. I just want to be honest about my first thoughts on this thing. And a lot of that was backed up, not just looking at it visually and all this stuff, because there was a lot of things. But when I was talking about like the destructibility to me wasn't necessarily that fun. So I'm like, okay, well yeah, if this is the thing, the technical aspects of it are, that are being added for the Switch 2 aren't that fun. I don't know if that really was worth it. Whatever. And a big problem that I had with it is how often you're digging and the camera seems to be in a place where you're now kind of seeing through different surfaces and stuff. And I'm like, I don't like how the screen looks right now. Like, it's just like, I don't really like the, the angles I'm looking at. And that seems to be the gameplay of it. And yeah, so all that stuff kind of like in the 20 minutes I played, I just feel like I was kind of hit with back to back things that I'm just like, ah, damn it. Like I, again, none of it were bad. I just was like, kind of like I was let down by my experience.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You were looking at it as like, hey, this is a big Nintendo title of the year. Yeah, let's see if it's got one.

[Tim Gettys]

Of the Switch 2's first big things. And again, yeah, I, I'm very hopeful for it turning out to be a fantastic adventure that I end up loving. But we weren't the only ones that played it. No, Roger Piccor also played it. So.

[Roger Piccor]

Roger, am I wrong? Am I crazy?

[Unknown]

No, you're not crazy. I understand what you're saying. Right. I think a lot of, I was doing a lot of dumb facial expressions at you as you were talking because it's like I, I didn't expect you to, to, to go that direction. But I understand, like I saw everything you were saying right in the very beginning when you're in the mines. Right, right. The Donkey Kongs yearn for the mines and you're digging around like.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

You get caught in those little areas that you are just stuck in and the camera is like, I don't know what, it's freaking out. It doesn't know what's Happening. But to me, like, as soon as I got out of that, I was blown away. Like, I was like, I, like, fully, like, locked into this experience in a way that I did not expect whatsoever. I'm not a Donkey Kong person. I don't even like the guy, kind of. Am I really talking about it? Like, I, you know, that's, that's Diddy's.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's probably. You put the respect on.

[Unknown]

Yeah, no, but I, I, I was interested in the idea of, like, okay, we're just destroying things, right? That was the, the biggest thing was like, everyone was like, oh, my God, this is therapeutic, right? Like, you're just breaking things. You're. It's like, okay. I expected, like, the mayhem of it, but what I didn't expect was the game design of it, right? Like, running around. And I, it is very Mario Odyssey in my mind at least, because as soon as we got to, like, the bigger area, I climbed up and I was like, okay, I assume, like, some type of moon would be here into Mario Odyssey. I climb up to the highest point. There is not a moon. It's a map. And it shows me, oh, there's a little. There's going to be a banana here. And then I dig. I dig like, treasure. Oh, I found the banana. And then the, the, the person that was doing the demo at the end of the day was like, I've never seen anyone do that or find that. Like, there is so many variations. And I kept on going and just digging in random places, and he was like, oh, shit. I didn't even know this whole area was here. Right? Like, continuously finding those moments with the, with the person that was demoing it, and also just finding these, these little crevices. Because I saw you play it. Blessing. I saw your entire playthrough of it, and I was finding completely different ways to get around it. And by the ending of the level, to get to the sub areas we talked about, you do have to do, like, a little mini boss fight, right? And I was so blown away when I was talking to the demoer, where he was like, you don't need to do that. Like, you could just. There's so many. There's three different ways at least to get around and get to that sub area that the game just doesn't tell you. So I'm really excited to see that. And also, I understand, like, the graphical fidelity of it, but the game ran really well. Like, you know what I mean? Like, that to me is like, the thing that, that really makes this, like, stand out.

[Tim Gettys]

Just to be clear, not a bad looking game. Yeah, it's just kind of a letdown for next generation Nintendo.

[Unknown]

But when his fur gets wet. Dude, when his fur gets wet. That's a wet fur.

[Tim Gettys]

God, man. I'm just like. It's just one of those things. Like, I remember seeing Star Foxes for on the gamecube when it got wet and how impressive that was. And seeing this, I was like, I'm not impressed. And maybe I am just too long a Nintendo fan and I've seen these little things too many times. But like, I. I don't know.

[Unknown]

I get it. But I like that wet monkey. I like it. I.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Crazy.

[Unknown]

I like it. I. I had a blast. And I was so happy by the ending of it because I immediately knew that this was going to be a Roger game and this was going to be a game that I'm going to sink so much time into. And it just didn't feel like a throwaway experience. Right. It didn't feel like a spinoff. Right. It feels like his odyssey. It feels like Donkey Kong Odyssey in the most, like, real and genuine way to that character that doesn't just feel like, oh, we're making him Mario, we're making him do Mario shit. It's like, no, he's fucking digging. This guy's digging.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

He's digging.

[Unknown]

And also it's the way that they do, like, as you said, as you alluded, right? Like the rock textures and like how. How hard the rocks get. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but it's true, right? But it's true how hard the rocks get. And also something I found out, like, he was. The demo was telling me, like, you can pick up rocks and use that to like, dig faster, deeper down. Like, there's like a lot of mechanics.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You can pick up rocks and then like, use them to speed through the level. Yeah, yeah, you can surf on the rocks, dude.

[Unknown]

It gets. It gets pretty. We only play this for 20 minutes. So I was like, this seems like the fact that we're like learning about this as we're going up. Multiple playthroughs. Like, we each did different things. Like. Yeah, it seems really deep.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It strikes me as a different kind of 3D platformer. It's like a tinkerer's 3D platformer. If you're somebody that likes to just like, fuck around in the world and like. Yeah, like dig for things, play around with the mechanics. Like, if you're a tinkerer, like, I think this might be a 3D platformer that's geared more toward that style of gameplay than like the obstacle based stuff that like I know me and you absolutely love.

[Tim Gettys]

Absolutely.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So yeah, I'm very fascinated because I also hear everything that you're talking about as far as the things that didn't hit for you. Even though I know you're not saying that. It's like, you know, you're not gonna like or whatever. But like, I totally feel where you're coming from. But also I think I'm equally parts excited for the things where I'm like, oh, I can see where this, this can go.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I just hope it gets there.

[Tim Gettys]

Absolutely. I think that this is a moment for Donkey Kong to define himself to a new generation. And that's. That's important. You know, I talk about it like he's LeBron. Real talk though. It's right. Like we've had heydays for, for, for my boy. Yeah. At multiple. And then we've had a couple times where he was stuck in spinoff hell. And I'm not saying those games were bad, but you know, for the longest time he was the Kong conga guy. Right. And like just like totally not a factor in terms of like high profile Nintendo properties. But with the Mario movie with Donkey Kong country at the theme parks, like I really. And a movie. We're getting a Donkey Kong movie.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

We haven't heard.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I mean, Nintendo's going hard. The Kong. Yeah. Like, you're absolutely right.

[Tim Gettys]

And that makes me really, really happy. It's just, it's interesting where it's like, you know, you see the, the like Donkey Kong country inspired like 2D like bit in the trailer, which I didn't get any. Did you? We. None of us got any of that. Right. There's that. I'm like, I'm interested, like how it's going to show respect to that stuff. Again, as a OG Donkey Kong country sicko. I'm very sad to hear David Wise is not part of this at all. We're not going to get that classic Donkey Kong music. Doesn't seem like Grant Kirkhope is either.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And the music, when I said the Nintendo house dialing this sounds very similar to the, the Mario Kart and Mario Odyssey type stuff. Is that a complaint? No. Like we're talking about some of the highest production value music in video games. So I'm not mad at that stuff.

[Roger Piccor]

It's different.

[Tim Gettys]

And maybe I'm reacting to that in a negative way, but I am still very hopeful for it. And I love that you guys are so stoked for it because again, I think that, that it's important that Nintendo just doesn't put out another Mario. It's like cool, yeah, doing this and we're going to get another mark.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So I, I, I'm, yeah, I'm so high on this. Right. Like the change to Donkey Kong's art style as well I think allows him to be a bit more expressive. Right. And I, I kind of like finding a direction and being like, all right, what is the vision this generation for Donkey Kong? All right, put him in the CART game that way. Like, you know, like let's lean more into what this generation's Donkey Donkey Kong is. Again we're talking about him. Like he's messy but like I, I, I mess with it. And yeah, I think the war the Wario Land comparison is, is so apt as far as yeah, it's a similar kind of game that we've seen them make before but they're figuring out how it works for this character and what unique thing they can they can do with it. And I think even to the Grant, Grant Kirkhope and David Wiser all and like to the classic DK like DK country in 64 of it. All right. Like I think one of the exciting things is the fact that this is Nintendo's first take on a 3D Donkey Kong game.

[Tim Gettys]

Right?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Original 3D Donkey Kong game. Right. Like I guess, I mean, I guess they didn't make the 2D games as well because that was rare as well for all the donktown countries. Like I'm so excited to see retro for. Oh, you're right, it was retro. I was trying to think who made modern ones. But yeah, this being Nintendo's first take on Donkey Kong, I'm excited. I'm like, what is this going to be?

[Tim Gettys]

And you know, one big positive for me is I, you can climb and it's like oh man, breath of the wild or whatever. There's a twist on it that I think is really wise and it reminds me of one of my favorite games of all time, Yoshi's island, where it's very adventure based, this is exploration based as opposed to like obstacle necessarily. And I think that that's a very smart call for differentiating it from a Mario or something like that. But on top of that climbing, there's no stamina meter. You can climb as long as you want. And there's something about it where the world is set up to explore in a way that I think is very, very valuable and like respects your, your time and gameplay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. It's grounded.

[Unknown]

You know what this feels like? It feels like Hulk ultimate destruction in like a real way. Like it feels like like that vision taken to its. Its nth degree. Right. Like he feels so heavy and strong and like aggressive in everything he does. And I think that's like the best thing about this game is like. Yeah, when he goes on the wall, he's just like. He's just going for it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Like.

[Unknown]

Like there's no, like the mo. The momentum does not stop whatsoever. It's really fucking impressive.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, it's gonna be unique.

[Tim Gettys]

It's gonna be unique.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I like that about it.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Weird ass games.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And we won't have to wait too long. July. I think that's awesome. This is a second month game for the Switch 2. So very, very cool stuff. Let us know in the comments below if you're excited for this and what you think about Donkey Kong 64.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Is it better than Conqueror?

[Tim Gettys]

You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I mean, here's the thing. I apologize for what I said earlier, all right? I mean, I'd stand by it. I think DK64 is a better video game than Conquer.

[Tim Gettys]

But.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But I understand that most of you guys will look at me and be like, he's insane. But the people that know, they know.

[Tim Gettys]

Are you one of them? I don't know.