Note: MASSIVE spoilers for the final section of Donkey Kong Bananza. Read on at your own risk!
All throughout Donkey Kong Bananza, DK and Pauline are battling Void Company and its leader Void Kong. However, with each new level, there’s a reptilian presence permeating the experience.
Some enemies bear a striking resemblance to the Kremlings of DK adventures past, hidden treasure chests are green and bear what look like crocodile teeth, even the Banandium Root–Void Company’s main goal in digging through the planet–has a certain familiarity to it I just can’t put my finger on.
In the moment, they feel like simple winks and nods to the older players (like me) who have adventured with DK before. Then, I reach Chapter 15, and the climactic confrontation with Void Kong.
After a tough battle worthy of a final boss encounter, we see what certainly feels like part of the final cutscene. Pauline saves DK just as he saved her in the beginning of the game, completing her journey from stage-frightened child to confident performer, and the two stand smiling at one another, the Banandium Root just out of view. I’m expecting a fade to black… but then Void Kong charges the Root…
… he dives toward his prize in order to claim the wish legend says it grants …
… the music swells, the screen fades to white …
…and then, an eye opens. A massive, vein-ridden, green eyeball fills the screen. Void Kong is punched into oblivion by a scaly green first. The screen shifts to a pair of giant green feet and slowly pans upward, past the massive golden belly that used to be called the Banandium Root, and we see his face, standing in opposition to Donkey Kong, for the first time in 18 years.
King K. Rool has returned.
He thanks DK for freeing him, and explains that he and his crew had been trapped down there after trying to claim the real Banandium Root for themselves. Now that he’s free, he can continue his quest to claim the root. The big croc then jumps one level further into the planet, to its actual core, and the endgame of Donkey Kong Bananza begins.
Have you ever seen that old WWE clip of Stone Cold Steve Austin returning to help Mankind in 1999? Substitute the sound of glass breaking with the sight of K. Rool’s eye opening, and that wild crowd cheer is what played through my head at that moment.
The setup is fantastic, as the game slowly and routinely plants a seed of memory in your head with the previously mentioned casual references. The approach to Void Kong in Chapter 15, as well as the boss fight itself, feels like a fitting climax to Bananza’s story. In the blink of an eye, what seemed like an epilogue turned into one final prologue, and I’m still smiling like an idiot thinking about it as I write this, a full five months after seeing it for the first time.
The nostalgia pops don’t end there, however. The surprise 16th layer of the planet is a gauntlet of classic Kremling enemies, each with their original sound effect from the Super Nintendo Donkey Kong Country games. Kremlings make that “awh” sound when you punch them, just as they did when you jumped on them in 1994. The massive bees called Zingers still buzz that staticy buzz, and they still hurt DK if he touches them. The buzzards known as Neckys make the exact same squawking noise when they charge you, which sent me warping back to my childhood like Anton Ego tasting Remy’s ratatouille.
However, in another clever twist, the Kremling grunts found here attack DK and Pauline just as they had in previous layers, when they were the rock monsters hiding gilded skeletons that bore resemblance to the Kremlings of old. With the facade now lifted, it’s even more apparent how much of Bananza was telegraphing the Kremling twist right in front of my eyes, and yet I barely gave the hints a second thought.
This is all before you actually get to K. Rool himself, who battles you with his blunderbuss in a fun matchup that, honestly, ends rather quickly. You claim the Root, a massive pile of bananas emerges to take DK and Pauline back to the surface (just go with it), and the credits start to roll. However, in another callback to Donkey Kongs past, these are fake credits with the names of Kremlings instead of developers, and K. Rool rises and gives chase. Chef’s kiss.
The next phase of the battle then begins, as DK fends off a jetpack-piloting K. Rool on his way to the surface. This part is backed by a hard rock version of Gangplank Galleon, K. Rool’s original boss battle music from Donkey Kong Country, and this version has dethroned the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate version for the title of “Best Gangplank Galleon rendition of all time” in my humble opinion.
Once DK and Pauline reach the surface, they emerge in New Donk City from Super Mario Odyssey, adding a second and more recent flavor of nostalgia. K. Rool claims the Banandium Root, floods the city with rotten, mushy bananas, and DK must battle through Kremlings and surging banana mush to confront the conniving croc one last time.
For the final battle, K. Rool uses the power of the Root to transform into a massive, banana-fueled version of himself called K. Rool, King of Rot–which sounds as if K. Rool was researching the works of one Hidetaka Miyazaki in his prolonged absence. Once this version of the rotten reptile is defeated, the adventure finally comes to an end, marked by the actual credits this time.
All of this is a master class of mixing nostalgia with new, and creates an experience that will stick with me for a while. Despite the reptilian references sprinkled in every layer of the game, Void Kong is presented as the big bad of the story. He’s a constant presence in cutscenes, barking insults at DK while also barking orders at his subjects … much in the same way K. Rool used to do.
Then, once Void is defeated, the mask slips off as K. Rool returns, and suddenly it’s a trip down memory lane. The previously-mentioned enemies are obvious callbacks, but the different sections of Layer 16 are connected by mine cart rides, while the surrounding golden glow of the Banandium Root’s influence has a similar feel to that of running into Kong’s Banana Hoard in the original Donkey Kong Country. Seeing K. Rool return in such a wonderfully executed way, and then having that moment enhanced by all of the other callbacks that appear while trying to thwart the returned ruler, is the kind of pure gaming happiness that Nintendo has delivered since the days of my youth.
Welcome back, King K. Rool. I look forward to our next encounter, whenever that may be. Hopefully, you’ll be around for more than just the final challenge.