NintendoDonkey Kong Bananza is Nintendo’s big-hitting debut on the Switch 2 — a tremendously ambitious single-player game that perfectly complements Mario Kart World. But it’s also the latest game from the team behind Super Mario Odyssey, with the Bananza concept even sprouting from a ludicrous idea where the team put arms on a Gooma. While the links with Odyssey are clear to see, not as obvious is the other major Nintendo game that’s inspired it — Splatoon. Now I know that might sound bizarre at first, and while you may not see that similarity from a quick glance, many of Bananza’s core elements feel like they find their roots in Nintendo’s revolutionary neon-drenched shooter trilogy. Now, when I talk about the ties between Splatoon and Bananza, I’m not really talking about the multiplayer elements of the former, or even its shooting mechanics. More specifically, I’m talking about Splatoon’s campaign structure, world interaction, and vibe. The more ethereal elements of the game are harder to pin down and don’t reveal themselves at first glance. Bananza’s general stylistic vibe is quite different from most other Nintendo platformers. | NintendoWhile Bananza builds on the long legacy of Donkey Kong as a character, looping in countless references to the past, the visual redesign genuinely gives DK an entirely new aesthetic and vibe. And that vibe feels tailored to the same thing that Splatoon does — a vibrant and starkly colorful world, with highly expressive characters that sport exaggerated body movement and facial animations. You can, of course, say the same thing about Mario, but Bananza’s locations hit in a way Odyssey’s simply didn’t. One’s a neon green swamp with dank purple poisonous pits, and another is a glowing red volcano realm that feels blindingly bright the first time you enter. Then there’s Bananza’s soundtrack, a fantastically eclectic mix of punchy pop songs, low-fi beats, and even rock anthems. It’s an astoundingly complex mix, and music is integrally woven into the narrative and game structure in a way we don’t usually see. There’s even a little audio cue each time you gain a skill point — and if you played it to me with no context — I’d absolutely swear it was from Splatoon 3. Bananza has a surprisingly compelling way of integrating music as a core feature of the game itself. | NintendoBut even past all that, the biggest place you can see Splatoon’s influence is in the structure of the game itself, and how challenge missions are doled out. The Splatoon games have never gotten enough credit for their utterly brilliant campaigns, both in terms of their cryptic storytelling and mission design. In the Splatoon games, especially 2 and 3, these campaigns give you a larger world to explore, littered with little missions and challenges — each of which is specifically tuned around a specific weapon, skill, or gameplay idea. It’s a fantastic idea for a campaign that doesn’t just do a good job of teaching players how to play, but lets Nintendo take that real hand-crafted approach — and the campaign of Splatoon 3 especially shines for it. Bananza’s structure is in the exact same vein as what Splatoon did, essentially fusing the formats of the series with Mario Odyssey’s more open zones. In Bananza, as you explore the world and destroy everything in sight, you’ll come across countless battle challenges, platforming challenges, and Bananza challenges — in the form of gates you can unlock. There are, of course, plenty of collectibles to find in the world, but these challenge gates are the exact kind of thing Splatoon has done so well. Every single one is tuned around some kind of specific mechanic or idea — whether that’s using chunks of Earth to surf or a material that lights up a path you need to find. Then there’s the surprisingly comprehensive skill system of Banaza, which rewards you for completing these challenges with skills that enhance DK’s abilities or power — like punching harder, making Bananzas last longer, etc. A system, again, remarkably similar to how Gear Abilities work in Splatoon 3’s campaign, enhancing the features of your skillset. Splatoon 3’s campaign is a masterclass in how to twist player expectation — teaching you a basic set of game rules before twisting them out in dynamic ways. | NintendoIt’s a drastically different approach from Mario Odyssey, which tried to work the majority of its challenges and puzzles into the world itself — rather than keeping each separate. But because Bananza’s destruction and transformations are so ambitious, this format makes a lot more sense.Splatoon establishes a ruleset for players right off the bat, a certain mechanical understanding of how the game is supposed to work. But it’s campaign levels have fun by poking at that understanding in suprising ways, twisting it upon itself like a piece of moldable clay. Bananza does that exact same thing, and it’s a big part of why the game feels so remarkable.It’s impossible to play Splatoon 3’s campaign and Bananza and not see similarities, even down to the climactic final boss of the game — forcing you to use every skill and mechanic you have in your toolbox.It almost feels like Bananza is separated into two halves. One half is all about the idea of freedom and player agency, giving you tools to explore the world and mold it to your whims, in the vein of Mario Odyssey. The other half is in line with Splatoon’s experience, twisting those tools and established world into new shapes with inventive mission design. Bananza deliberately introduces a lot of ideas and new features that integrally change how you interact with the world, and think about the game’s basic mechanics. | NintendoOf course, it bears mentioning that, of course, the Splatoon and Odyssey teams are entirely distinct and separate teams — but isn’t that a part of why it feels like Nintendo has made modern development work in ways others haven’t? Yes these teams are all distinct, but there’s a degree of institutional knowledge across the company, with all these ideas and games feeding into each other in a loop. I’ve argued many times that Splatoon is Nintendo’s most important game of the last decade, not just for how it redefined shooters, but because of what it meant for the company itself — how it reshaped that classic Nintendo design ethos. I feel more sure than ever about the importance of Splatoon now, seeing how its ideas and style have, quite clearly, impacted Bananza — even if it’s not stated directly. And that idea of games and teams building upon each other’s success is, by far, what has me most excited to see where the Switch 2 goes from here. Donkey Kong Bananza launches on July 17 for Nintendo Switch 2.