Alright so that was pretty awesome. Nintendo always has had a pretty good track record at throwing out a game no one (except Shaun) saw coming. Donkey Kong Bonanza was shown at the end of the Switch 2 presentation and showed off all of the 3D — and some 2D — platforming we’ve all come to expect from Big Red. But allow me to step into my Pepperidge Farms bag because I remember a groundswell of Marge Simpson voiced tiktoker-like reactions to a really blurry image of our big monkey friend. I’m here to say that you were wrong then, and you’re all definitely wrong now.

Look at that? Who else could you think of that makes overalls look awesome? Chuck Norris? (obviously), Denzel Washington by sheer force of personality? But they all pale in comparison to the might and majesty of one — finally clothed — Donkey Kong. Wild that it took Nintendo this long to put him in something. I mean a video game character running around butt naked with a tie on is something I’d expect Ana to write about and yet we’ve been letting old DK rock for years.

Beyond the sartorial aspects, holy shit does this game look incredible. The answer to every older game series is not always “toss them in a bigger world” but sometimes, it is. And in the case of an incredibly powerful monkey? Yes. A thousand times yes. I want to see what traversal really feels like with Donkey Kong when he’s not strictly tethered to a 2D plane. More than that, you know Nintendo is bringing their classic humor and charm to it. I could see this being a hit on the level of Super Mario Odyssey. Just remember, he looks awesome and that blurry image from two months ago means nothing now.

Play video

I’m excited for this game because I’ve long believed that Nintendo has been sitting on other characters who could step into the spotlight for a period of time and hold things down. We’ve seen it recently with Princess Peach: Showtime!. There’s room for everyone and this trailer feels like Nintendo continuing to double down on the success of the Super Mario Bros. Movie by getting the supporting cast in front.

After all Donkey Kong 64 was great and the recent platformers in the series were as well, but they still felt like side character adventures. Donkey Kong Bonanza feels like the first time since DK64 that Nintendo put their bananas in the basket and went all in on him. And I can’t wait for this game to drop on July 17th, 2025.