These 10 Donkey Kong Bananza tips will help you learn the ropes of DK's adventure to the core of the planet with Pauline. Each sublayer level has its own threats and gimmicks, from lava rain and delicate snow to thorns and poison swamps, and you'll have to overcome them all if you're to gather as many bananas as possible and leave the Underground World.
That means you'll need to know about healing, fast travel, getaways, and all the items, outfits, skills, and Bananzas that you can get to help you on your downward journey in Donkey Kong Bananza. It's surprisingly packed with lots to be aware of and some things that aren't explained in-depth or at all. With that in mind, here are my top 10 tips for Donkey Kong Bananza that I wish I knew before playing.
1. Rinse the first area of the game of its gold for an early head start
Gold is incredibly abundant in Donkey Kong Bananza, necessary for powering up your Bananergy, buying useful items, and funding your deaths – yes, when you die, DK incurs a 500-gold fee! The Ingot Isle tutorial level is full of gold, so mining as much as you can will give you an early boost, particularly as you can’t return to the isle until after you've rolled the game's credits. I went down to the Lagoon Layer with about 5,500 Gold, which is more than enough to fund a few deaths and construction projects as well as buy things like Apple Juice and Red Balloons (more on balloons later).
2. Smash red mounds as they contain healing apples
You will have undoubtedly already seen the golden, gleaming mounds which, unsurprisingly, erupt with gold when destroyed, but the glowing red mounds spit out a healing apple when smashed. If you're running low on health, try your best to find one to recover a little. They seem to spawn more frequently when you're in need of health and are common when you're playing with Donkey Kong Bananza Assist Mode. Otherwise, a getaway should be your next port of call for healing.
3. Bulk buy Red Balloons as early as possible
When you fall off an edge to DK's demise in Donkey Kong Bananza, a Red Balloon (if you have any) will automatically deploy to lift him back up to a safe position, saving you from death and its 500-gold fee. They're very useful, so it's a good idea to stockpile them early.
When you reach the Stuff Shop in SL 101 of the Lagoon Layer, I recommend buying 2-4 stacks of 10 balloons. One stack of 10 costs only 400 gold, so you'll be spending less than 2,000 gold here to pretty much never have to worry about falling to your death ever again. You also have a low chance of finding more Red Balloons out in the wild by opening chests and smashing crates.
4. Getaways are incredibly useful, so build them whenever you can
The house-shaped Architectones you can find around every sublayer can be paid to construct a getaway, a little nook for DK and Pauline to sleep in, granting him a temporary bonus heart. They also contain a wardrobe for changing DK and Pauline's outfits and act as fast travel points.
However, the more getaways you construct in a layer, the better they become, granting you even more bonus hearts each time you rest, which can be an incredible substitute for spending skill points on Health upgrades early on. Additionally, constructing your second getaway in a level unlocks a concierge who can mimic the three main shop types – the Stuff Shop, Style Shop, and Chip Exchange – letting you easily heal, change outfits, resupply, and get bananas all in the same spot.
5. If you get lost, don't forget you can fast travel from anywhere
Speaking of fast travel. The teeleport network available to DK lets him summon a slippery critter from anywhere in a sublayer to take him to a checkpoint, whether that's a tuning fork checkpoint, a getaway, or a Warp Gong. If you get lost or stray too far off the main path, remember to use this rapid transit system to get back on track. Similarly, Warp Gongs let you fast travel between any levels you've reached, but only from gong to gong.
6. Look out for rope winches and Constructones for shortcuts
When you're wandering around levels, make sure you also look out for Fractones with yellow hardhats on – Constructones – and green rope winches as they provide useful shortcuts. Constructones demand a gold fee for their project, though they're rarely that expensive, granting you instant access to a barrel cannon shortcut or something similar. On the other hand, rope winches, which are usually found in high areas that you had to climb to reach, just need to be punched to activate, dropping a long rope for you to climb up if you fall.
7. Fully upgrade the Kong Bananza as early as possible
The first Bananza form you get, the Kong Bananza, is arguably one of the best, granting DK the power to smash through pretty much any material like it's not even there – and the Charge Punch effectively becomes a ranged weapon for defeating enemies, clearing thorns from afar, and punching out tunnels when maxed out! The other Donkey Kong Bananza Bananzas are also powerful but have much more specific uses, whereas the Kong form is just a massive improvement to DK's basic abilities, so you should focus your efforts on upgrading it fully.
8. You can respec your skill points by talking to an Elder
The Elders in Donkey Kong Bananza can refund all your skill points for free so that you can respec to try new skills and get rid of ones you don't want anymore. For some reason this isn't made obvious at all, but all you need to do is talk to any Elder after unlocking their Bananza power and you'll be able to choose the "reset my skills!" option to reallocate your skill points – make sure you choose the best Donkey Kong Bananza skills this time!
9. Change DK and Pauline's outfits to suit the level
You can buy new ties and britches for DK and new outfits for Pauline using fossils, with every item providing a perk while you're wearing it to support the duo. However, these perks are generally quite specific, affecting only a specific Bananza form, or mitigating the effects of a particular hazard or two. For that reason, I recommend donning the clothes that protect from whatever dangers lie in the sublayer you're currently in and whichever Bananza you find yourself using most often too.
Annoyingly, the clothes that are probably best for a sublayer are found in that layer's Style Shop, so you'll have to suffer with the next best thing until you can get enough fossils to afford the clothes you need.
10. Check your Smashin' Stats for bonus Gold and Bananas
Another thing that's not made obvious is your Smashin' Stats, which aren't that useful to know but can get you small amounts of bonus gold and even extra Bananas. To check your stats, open the map with '-' and press Y to open the Collection, then press R to move over to the correct tab. Any materials you've smashed sufficiently in a layer can get you drops of 100, 200, or 300 gold, which isn't much, but it all adds up. Furthermore, speak to a layer's Smashintone and if you've destroyed enough terrain to satisfy them, you'll get a Banandium Gem.
And here's a bonus tip: stay idle on the game's start screen, and after a while you can start playing the DK sculpt minigame!
If you're yet to dive into DK and Pauline's subterranean adventure, you might want to know how you can play Donkey Kong Bananza on Switch 1 in co-op. There's also the Donkey Kong Bananza Divide path choice which appears early in the game.
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