Why Donkey Kong Bananza will send you bananas, plus Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, Magic: The Gathering – Edge of Eternities and more.

Despite his consistent presence on Nintendo’s roster, it feels as though Donkey Kong has never truly been able to step out of the shadow of everybody’s favourite moustached plumber. That all changes with Donkey Kong Banana – a game filled with such creativity, colour and charm that it’s already the Switch 2’s first truly must-buy adventure.

Made by the team behind the wonderful Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza sees the lovable ape pairing up with a young, rock-ified version of Pauline as the duo smash their way through to the world’s core in an attempt to stop the dastardly Void Company. It’s classic Nintendo storytelling but has plenty of fun with itself and uses its runtime to lovingly embrace Donkey Kong’s past outings.

But punching and smashing is where Donkey Kong Bananza truly shines. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom might have allowed unbridled freedom in the skies and on the ground, Donkey Kong Bananza is focused on what’s underneath. Thanks to Nintendo’s new voxel tech, almost the entirety of each level can be pummelled to absolute pieces like a children’s LEGO set. How obsessive you are about clearing out environments will depend on you, but there’s a truly shocking amount of technology at play here to allow for such a high level of destruction.

It also provides Nintendo with an absolute playground for collectibles and Donkey Kong Bananza is chock full of them. From gold to fossils and the bananas themselves, there’s always something to chase and it gives you plenty of motivation to keep going.

I was also a big fan of the various Bananza transformations the game introduces as well – essentially timed powerups that allow for better destruction, flying or more. From giant apes to Zebras, they all embrace the game’s zany vibe and help open up levels past DK’s pure destruction derby.

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With a shocking amount to see and do, Donkey Kong Bananza is already an unquestionable system seller for the Switch 2 and one of 2025’s best games. You’ll go bananas for it.

Donkey Kong Bananza is out now for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Also out now…

Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (Switch 2)

When I reviewed Super Mario Party Jamboree I praised it for a being the best release in years, saying it “does well to embrace the core elements that make Mario Party so fun, while learning from the mistakes of the past.”

That sentiment continues to ring true for the incredibly wordy Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV, largely because the core game actually remains unchanged, which is admittedly a little disappointing. Instead, the real meat and potatoes of this Switch 2 version is the new Jamboree TV mode which utilises the new console’s microphone, mouse and camera functionality.

Playing out like a TV show hosted by the lovable Toad, the DLC adds in four new modes to the mix. Bowser Live, for example, tries to make the most of the camera with an assortment of minigames like punching virtual question blocks faster than your friends, while Mario Party mode bundles in the new games alongside the old. The real highlight though is Carnival Coaster – a mouse-centric mode that sees you riding a roller coaster while completing mini-games, racking up points.

The mouse-focused mini games are the strongest of the bunch, and will see you partaking in all sorts of antics like scooping ice cream, driving a snow plow and tossing bombs. It’s classic Mario Party fare and makes a great argument for the inclusion of mouse functionality more than Welcome Tour ever did.

If you already own the original Jamboree then you can pick up the upgrade for $30. Whether that is worth the price of admission will surely vary from gamer to gamer, but rest assured if you’re a frequent Mario Partier, even though they’re not perfect, these new additions are bound to add plenty of new laughs to the mix.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2 PC)

Against all odds and after some tumultuous twists and turns, we somehow have Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. And its absolutely great that we do because this remake is another absolute crowd pleasure from top to bottom.

Utilising the strong foundations set up in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, 3+4 is able to smartly capture that same look and feel that longtime fans and newcomers have come to love. As a result, controlling your skater continues to feel buttery smooth and the framerate locked in at a steady 60fps on the PS5 version I tested. What that means is that if you’re not able to rack up some pretty strong combos, it’s not the game’s fault…

What’s most interesting though is that these foundations are also what lead to 3 + 4’s most controversial changes: ditching Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4’s more open-world game design. Known for starting to take the series in a new direction, 3 + 4 has instead opted to give it the boot entirely in favour of the timed goal-focused gameplay that the previous games helped popularise. It certainly helps the whole package feel more cohesive, but if you’re a purist looking for a modern version of the original experience, you’re going to be disappointed and may need to look elsewhere.

For those who can accept it, you’re in for a hell of a good time with some excellent new levels, plenty of characters and some of the most fun arcade skating around. Highly recommended.

Patapon 1 + 2 Replay (Switch, PS5, PC)

Patapon 1 + 2 Replay isn’t a game most people had on their bingo card for 2025, but here we are and this remaster is a surprise gem that’ll take you straight back to 2007. For fans of the quirky rhythm title, the games on offer here are almost entirely unchanged sans a visual touch-up. That means you’ll still be repeating rhytnmic beats to command an army of quirky units to do your bidding, and while that sounds odd, both titles are immensely charming.

What this ‘Replay’ does do is add in more difficultly modes and the ability to adjust input latency – rectifying two pain points from the series’ most recent re-release. This does well to make the game more approachable for newcomers, even if the grind-heavy nature of both games remains in play.

Still, it’s easy to be won over by Patapon 1 + 2 Replay’s aesthetic and the enjoyable loop make it fun to return to, especially on the Switch.

Magic: The Gathering – Edge of Eternities

Magic: The Gathering fans have barely processed the incredibly popular (and still highly sought after) Final Fantasy release, but Wizards of the Coast have already called the next set off the bench, Edge of Eternities. But while it’s unlikely to receive the same level of fanfare as Final Fantasy, this new release still has a few tricks up its sleeves.

The first is Edge of Edge of Eternities’ location which sees the series properly tackling space opera-inspired action outside the multiverse in the Sothera system. It’s here that every space man and their space dog is focused on nabbing a powerful artifact, naturally leading to all sorts of nasty crews seeking out said relic and hoping to escape with power, fortune and their lives intact. It’s an interesting setup for Magic and does lend itself to some creative card designs. The Stellar Sights lands and Borderless Viewpoint lands have especially allowed the artists to truly embrace the world’s aesthetic and are truly stunning to look at, meaning long-time collectors will want to see them all.

In terms of new mechanics, there’s actually a fair bit going on with Edge of Eternities, but the biggest switch-up would be Station, which allows you to add charge counters to certain spacecrafts or planets equal to the power of a controlled creature that you tap. Once you build up enough charge counters you may be able to add and trigger extra abilities which can drastically switch up the battlefield and your resulting gameplan.

If that’s not quite your temp there’s also Warp, Void and Lander – a new artifact token that can be sacrificed for two mana to seek out a basic land in your deck and add it to the battlefield tapped. It’ll likely take a few games to wrap your head around everything, especially when you toss in the new Commander decks as well. I was able to go hands-on with the Counter Intellgence pre-con deck, which does well to showcase Magic’s new rule change of allowing Legendary Vehicles to be Commanders – Inspirit itself a Legendary Artifiact – Spacecraft. It also presents an enjoyable gameplay loop of adding a +1/+1 counter or two charge counters onto an artifact, while also turning into a creature that can cause all sorts of chaos once it hits eight charge counters itself.

Needless to say, space might not be a common frontier for Magic: The Gathering, but Edge of Eternities certainly makes the most of its inspiration and is bound to keep newfound fans chugging along nicely.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Sure, the humble Soulslike genre continues to saturate the market, but it’s hard to complain when you get enjoyable adventures like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Set towards the end of the Imperial Ming dynasty, Wuchang follows the footsteps of its many contemporaries by presenting you a story in breadcrumb form.

That means you can expect to piece the world together rather than sit through extended cutscenes, but that’s hardly a dealbreaker because combat is where Wuchang shines. With a system mainly focused around well-timed dodges, it makes each battle feel immensely stressful. Then there are discipline skills – abilities attached to your weapons that provide you with increased flexibility on the battlefield. Some might allow defensive moves (like parries), while other more offensive manoeuvres can be coupled with the status effects of particular weapons. That leaves a lot of freedom in finding a style that suits your preferences and is bolstered by a pretty extensive skill tree.

Occasionally sketchy performance undermines the experience, but ultimately Wuchang is still a strong entry in an increasingly packed field.