Donkey Kong Bananza might have some kind of multiplayer element
Nintendo's website categorizes Donkey Kong Bananza as a „Local Multiplayer” game. This could be a mistake, but there are a few ways it could be true.
Last month’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct kicked off with Donkey Kong Bananza. It looks comparable to some of Nintendo’s best 3D Mario games, with a focus on chaotic environmental destruction. But thanks to an observant fan, there’s a rumor that the game might feature multiplayer.
Donkey Kong Bananza might have some kind of multiplayer mode or feature
The rumor springs from a categorization on Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV. Of course, this could easily be a simple mistake. None of the trailers or gameplay shown so far has hinted that there will be any multiplayer elements. But it’s fun to speculate.
There are plenty of different interpretations for this. Some are more reasonable than others. An example of a reasonable theory is to compare Donkey Kong Bananza to Super Mario Odyssey. In Odyssey, which launched early in the original Switch’s lifecycle, one player could control Mario, while the other could control Cappy. In Donkey Kong Bananza, Donkey Kong also has a small friend we have yet to see in action. A second player may have a limited role in this way, but it could still count as local multiplayer, hence the categorization.
Another possibility could be something similar to Balloon World, an online mini-game from Super Mario Odyssey, where players would hide a balloon somewhere in the world and challenge other players to reach it. As a 3D platformer, Donkey Kong Bananza could have a similar online challenge mode.
However, one final idea probably has a less than one percent chance of being real and will only make sense to those who played Donkey Kong 64. Does anyone that game’s multiplayer? If I correctly, it was essentially a first-person shooter. You play as one of several of the DK crew and roam around a map looking for friends to shoot with a coconut gun or other food-based weaponry. This mode could have up to four players on one screen, much like Mario Kart. This feels very unlikely, especially since Bananza has a totally different vibe from 64, but I couldn’t help but be reminded when I heard this rumor.
Nintendo is not typically the type of company that confirms or denies rumors like this. It was amazing that they caved and revealed the Switch 2 in January after everyone kept asking for it. For now, we will have to watch this section of Nintendo’s website to see if anything changes. At least at the time of writing, it’s still there.
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