Nintendoshowed us a lot more ofDonkey Kong Bananzaon Wednesday, and if you weren’t already sold on theSwitch 2’s second big first-party title, you almost certainly are now.Pauline got her big reveal, and a second player can control her, even if they don’t have their own copy of Bananza.
Nintendo has really worked magic with the Switch 2. I’m still floored by how well GameChat works, and some of its GameShare capabilities are uncharacteristically generous. For example, when you use GameShare while playing Bananza, a second player will be able to be Pauline on a different console. That will still work even if they don’t have their own copy of the new Donkey Kong game, and even if they don’t own a Switch 2.
Someone With A Nintendo Switch Will Be Able To Play Bananza With You
Even If They Don’t Own The Game
That’s right, as was very briefly teased during the Bananza Direct, the Switch 2’s next big game is kind of compatible with the original Switch. As long as someone is running the game on a Switch 2, a second player will be able to hop in and join the fun as Pauline via an original Switch thanks to GameShare. No, I don’t know how that’s possible either.
Split Fiction on Switch 2 does the same thing. If you have been playing the game with someone on the same console but you have an original Switch, you can play together on different consoles/screens, and like Bananza, you only need one copy of the game.
The only catch when it comes to GameSharing Bananza with an OG Switch owner is playing online, and the catch is that it’s not possible. If you want to play with someone else who isn’t in the immediate vicinity, then that second player will need to have a Switch 2. On the bright side, that second player still won’t need a copy of Bananza.
Confirmation that a younger Pauline will be in Bananza wasn’t the only big character reveal during Wednesday’s Direct.Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong were also shownfor the first time, and while a welcome surprise, it has thrown the Mario/Donkey Kong timeline into disarray.
Pauline being younger - Nintendo has confirmed she is 13 in Bananza - means the events of the next game presumably take place before the events of the original Donkey Kong, in which DK is holding Pauline captive and Mario is trying to save her. As for Diddy and Dixie, fans are confused as to how they are seemingly the same age in Bananza as they are inSuper Mario Odyssey, even though, by that point, Pauline is all grown up.
