Donkey Kong Bananza‘s barely been out for a week but already one very determined player has completed the game without touching a single banana.
Sharing the accomplishment on X/Twitter, AKfamilyhome wrote: “Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza with 0 bananas. Honestly a fun challenge. I recommended doing as a NG+ run after 100%.”
Perhaps most interestingly of all, unlike other achievement hunters and speedrunners, AKfamilyhome completed the challenge without any cheeky glitches or clips. Instead, they simply avoided picking up bananas — meaning they weren’t able to unlock any extra permanent health slots or improvements to DK’s base abilities via skill points.
“I skipped Zebra Bananza and didn’t have the ostrich glide, but there are still certain parts that can be bypassed with the right movement,” they added. “It’s pretty much smooth sailing at the start, figuring out some neat ways to bypass certain sections during the mid-game, and then suddenly the endgame forces you to lock in because you die in 1-2 hits,” they added.
“I don’t think there’s any unique dialogue if you beat it without any bananas, but there IS if you beat it without ever obtaining one of the Bananzas,” they teased.
Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza with 0 bananas
Honestly a fun challenge I recommended doing as a NG+ run after 100% pic.twitter.com/ZM1S82gkb4— AK (@Akfamilyhome) July 27, 2025
“Donkey Kong Bananza is a truly groundbreaking 3D platformer, with satisfying movement, powerful abilities, impressive destructible environments, and clever challenges that all come together in complete harmony to create Nintendo’s first Switch 2 masterpiece,” we wrote in IGN’s Donkey Kong Bananza review, awarding it an impressive 10/10.
Donkey Kong Bananza released last week exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2. For more, we have a selection of stories in which we spoke to the development team about a number of topics related to Bananza, including how the game was first conceived and the necessity of releasing on the Nintendo Switch 2. You can read our entire interview in full right here.
Did you know speedrunners are already figuring out fast ways to beat the game in as little as an hour and a half?
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
