Throughout all 17 layers of Donkey Kong Bananza, Pauline outfits can be unlocked at Style Shops in exchange for a certain number of fossils. Pauline's outfits are all one piece, unlike Donkey Kong's outfits, which change his Tie, Britches, or Fur Color.
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Most of Pauline's outfits boost DK's Bananza transformations in some way, and in the early game, you can find three that boost the most useful Bananza powers for traversal and sheer power. This guide lists the best early Pauline outfits that you should equip first in Donkey Kong Bananza and offers tips on how to unlock each costume.
5 Rock-Out Rags
Slightly Boosts Bananza Timer
- Rock-Out Rags Effect: Extends your Bananza time by 10%
- Cannot be upgraded
Though the Rock-Out Rags are the default outfit worn by Pauline after you unlock her, they aren't just cosmetic. In fact, the Rock-Out Rags provide a broad benefit that all Bananza transformations can take advantage of. With the Rock-Out Rags equipped, Pauline will be able to extend DK's overall Bananza timer by about 10%.
If Pauline has any other outfit equipped (that doesn't affect specific Bananzas), DK will have the default Bananza time of about 20 seconds. With this equipped, that goes up slightly to 22 seconds, which compounds on top of other buffs you can get from other items and Skills you level up.
Pauline's default getup isn't bad at all, but if you want to maximize a specific transformation or take advantage of her other outfit bonuses, Donkey Kong Bananza players will have to sacrifice this broad, but small, bonus.
4 Giddyap Canyon Getup
Stay In Kong Bananza Form Longer
- Giddyap Canyon Getup Effect: Extends your Kong Bananza time by 40%.
- Can be upgraded to extend Zebra Bananza time by 60%, then 80%.
The Giddyap Canyon Getup is one of the best Pauline costumes you can get early in Donkey Kong Bananza because of how useful the Kong Bananza can be for clearing away vast swathes of terrain. Normally, the Kong Bananza transformation is useful for getting through a particularly hard surface or beating a single, particularly tough enemy, then swapping back.
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If you extend the Kong Bananza timer with the Giddyap Canyon Getup, you'll be able to stay in this form for 40% longer, more than enough time to smash and dig through a mountain's worth of terrain. You can upgrade this further to 60% then 80%, though there are some more useful Bananzas to extend with specific Pauline costumes in DK Bananza.
How To Get The Giddyap Canyon Getup
To get the Giddyap Canyon Getup, DK Bananza players must purchase it from the Canyon layer Style Shop for 5x Leaf fossils, which can only be found within the Canyon layer (and its sublayers).
3 Plum Forest Uniform
Stay In Ostrich Bananza Form Longer
- Plum Forest Uniform Effect: Extends your Ostrich Bananza time by 40%.
- Can be upgraded to extend Ostrich Bananza time by 60%, then 80%.
Though it's definitely nice to have more time in the Kong Bananza transformation, the Plum Forest Uniform offers a much more useful bonus for a different transformation. With the Plum Forest Uniform equipped, Donkey Kong Bananza players will be able to spend 40% more time in Ostrich form.
Ostrich form is arguably the best movement-based Bananza transformation in the first half of Donkey Kong Bananza. If you get this Pauline outfit, you'll have more time to soar to far-off locations and traverse layers much faster.
Though you can only flap five times before you fall in Ostrich form, if you mix mid-air rolls between each flap, you can get significantly further. Use this to your advantage to maximize your time in Ostrich form.
How To Get The Plum Forest Uniform
To get the Plum Forest Uniform, DK Bananza players must purchase it from the Forest layer Style Shop for 5x Beaver fossils, which can only be found within the Forest layer (and its sublayers).
2 Mint Freezer Jacket
Stay In Zebra Bananza Form Longer
- Mint Freezer Jacket Effect: Extends your Zebra Bananza time by 40%.
- Can be upgraded to extend Zebra Bananza time by 60%, then 80%.
The Zebra Bananza is one of the only ways to directly increase Donkey Kong's movement speed in Donkey Kong Bananza. While the Ostrich form can help DK reach distant areas by flying, the Zebra form can run incredibly fast, even across surfaces that would normally crumble under DK's step.
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The Mint Freezer Jacket gives you more time in Zebra Bananza form, which lets DK take advantage of the Zebra Banana's enhanced speed and Charge move to tear through the terrain (and enemies).
While it's nice to be more powerful for longer in Kong form, and definitely useful to be able to fly longer in Ostrich form, the Mint Freezer Jacket is one of the best Pauline outfits because of how much the Zebra form enhances DK's ability to traverse levels quickly.
How To Get The Mint Freezer Jacket
To get the Mint Freezer Jacket, DK Bananza players must purchase it from the Freezer layer Style Shop for 5x Sea Lily fossils, which can only be found within the Freezer layer (and its sublayers).
1 Diva Dress
Doubles Your Chance to Get Discs
- Diva Dress Effect: Discs will be twice as likely to appear after defeating an enemy.
- Cannot be upgraded
The Diva Dress is the best early Pauline outfit Donkey Kong Bananza players can get – but only just. Normally, players must beat the entire game to be able to unlock this costume for Pauline, which wouldn't exactly qualify the Diva Dress to be one of the best Pauline outfits you can get early in DK Bananza.
However, if you scan the new Amiibo released alongside Donkey Kong Bananza in the Resort Layer (the ninth of 17 total layers in the game), you'll unlock the Diva Dress early. And it's a good idea to, if you have the Amiibo, because this dress doubles the chance for Discs to drop when you defeat enemies.
There are about a hundred different discs in Donkey Kong Bananza, each of which unlocks a new song to play at any Getaway you build. This doesn't directly affect your gameplay like other options, but the more discs you collect, the faster you'll be able to unlock iconic Donkey Kong series songs like the DK Artist theme, Stickerbrush Symphony, or the crown jewel of DK tracks, the DK Rap.
How To Get The Diva Dress
To get the Diva Dress, DK Bananza players must either beat DK Bananza, or scan the Donkey Kong & Pauline Amiibo when you reach the Resort Layer. You must find and speak to Collectone in the Resort Layer to unlock the Diva Dress early with the Amiibo.
Donkey Kong Bananza
- Released
- July 17, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Number of Players
- 1-2 players
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- July 17, 2025
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch 2
