Donkey Kong Bananza players are testing the game's limits; almost instantly, they were able to find a skip for the Canyon Layer that allowed them to skip an entire boss fight, and, in the time since, they've beaten Bananza while skipping the majority of its typically necessary transformations. This madness seems possible thanks to the game allowing players to absolutely level its environment.
Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza with 0 bananasHonestly a fun challenge I recommended doing as a NG+ run after 100% pic.twitter.com/ZM1S82gkb4July 27, 2025
So since players have already mastered skipping transformations, the natural next step is beating Bananza without collecting any of its 777 Banandium Gems – which is also entirely possible. Twitter user Akfamilyhome posted their attempt recently, saying, "Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza with 0 bananas. Honestly a fun challenge, I recommended doing as a NG+ run after 100%."
Unlike something like Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza's main collectible doesn't actually gate progression. Until the post-game Bananza Rehearsal challenges, no part of the game requires you to have any bananas.
However, the Bananas do contribute to DK's skill tree, which does add a layer to the no-banana challenge. As Akfamilyhome puts it, "It's pretty much smooth sailing at the start, figuring out some neat ways to bypass certain sections during the mid-game, and then suddenly, the endgame forces you to lock in, because you die in 1-2 hits."
So while it's going to be a bit of a nightmare for players to beat Bananza without bananas, a bananaless run is possible. One user suggested it as a speedrun category called "Potassium Deficiency%."
However, it doesn't seem like the devs of Donkey Kong Bananza expected players to play the game this way, as AK notes there's no unique dialogue for beating the game without bananas – unlike beating the game while missing Bananzas, which does give you a bit of dialogue after you conquer the game's final boss (as the post-game isn't possible without them).
