This is the game that convinced me to buy a Switch 2, I actually got the console at launch with Mario Kart World but the announcement of this game is what made me want one. It was clear from the original videos that this was made by the team that made Super Mario Odyssey, which was just fantastic.
This is I think only the second 3d platformer for Donkey Kong, after Rare’s Donkey Kong 64 on the Nintendo 64. That game from memory was pretty frustrating and boring, this is anything but. Donkey Kong can smash through terrain; almost the entirety of the levels are built from destructible materials, and so you can find your own way of getting where you need to. Much like Mario Odyssey each level is absolutely rammed full of secrets and rewards.
In the story Donkey Kong is facing against the head of a mining corporation who is trying to get to the core of the planet and become ultra powerful. Each level is another layer of the planet towards the core, strangely with their own sky and appearing as if it was outside. Once you get to the core however King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong Country games returns as the big boss which I found very surprising.
Your partner through the game is a young Pauline, the woman DK kidnapped in the original 1981 arcade game. She is very shy, but has a magical singing voice in the underground levels of this game. Throughout she learns several songs that can transform DK into other animals such as a Zebra that can run extremely fast and an ostrich that can fly and drop eggs on enemies. The one I particularly enjoyed is an Elephant that can hoover up the level terrain through it’s trunk.