Donkey Kong Bananza has only been available for a week, yet one highly dedicated player has already finished the entire game without collecting a single banana.
Posting about their achievement on X/Twitter, AKfamilyhome wrote: "Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza with 0 bananas. Honestly, it was a really enjoyable challenge. I’d recommend trying it during a New Game+ run after getting 100%."
What makes this especially notable is that unlike many achievement hunters and speedrunners, AKfamilyhome didn't rely on any sneaky glitches or sequence breaks. Instead, they consciously avoided picking up bananas—which meant they couldn’t unlock additional permanent health upgrades or improve Donkey Kong’s base abilities using skill points.
"I skipped Zebra Bananza and went without the ostrich glide, but even so, certain sections could still be skipped with precise movement," they explained. "The beginning is fairly straightforward, but you start finding clever workarounds for tricky parts toward the middle. Then, in the late game, you really have to stay focused—you'll die in just one or two hits," they added.
"As far as I know, there’s no unique dialogue if you finish without any bananas. But there definitely is special dialogue if you manage to beat the game without collecting any of the Bananzas," they hinted.
Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza with 0 bananas
— AK (@Akfamilyhome) July 27, 2025
Honestly a fun challenge I recommended doing as a NG+ run after 100% pic.twitter.com/ZM1S82gkb4
As we wrote in IGN’s Donkey Kong Bananza review, "Donkey Kong Bananza is a landmark 3D platformer, blending fluid movement, compelling abilities, impressive destructible environments, and smart level design into one seamless package. It stands as Nintendo’s first true masterpiece for the Switch 2." We gave it a perfect 10/10 score.
Donkey Kong Bananza launched last week as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. If you’d like to learn more, we’ve prepared a series of interviews with the development team, covering the game’s original concept and the decision to release it exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. You can check out the full interview here.
Did you also know that speedrunners have already discovered strategies to complete the game in roughly an hour and a half?
