Summary
- A Nintendo fan has reportedly decoded some of the glyphs seen in Donkey Kong Bananza's pre-release footage.
- Some words translated include 'Exchange,' 'Welcome,' 'Item,' 'Store,' and 'Outfit.'
- Donkey Kong Bananza will be released for the Switch 2 on July 17.
One eager Nintendo fan has managed to decode some of the mysterious glyphs hidden in Donkey Kong Bananza’s pre-release footage. A new mainline Donkey Kong game is one of many titles confirmed for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console, which is finally launching on June 5. Donkey Kong Bananza will then be released on July 17, serving as the great ape’s first major outing since Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze back in 2014.
From what has been shown so far, Donkey Kong Bananza seems to be taking a few notes from Super Mario Odyssey, bringing DK into an open-world setting filled with levels to explore, enemies to bash, and Golden Bananas to collect. This time, Donkey Kong needs to recover his favorite treats from the evil VoidCo., a villainous gang of apes. Along the way, he will meet new allies like the talking Odd Rock and reunite with old friends like Cranky Kong and a girl who looks suspiciously like Pauline.
Donkey Kong Bananza Handheld Performance Confirmed
Donkey Kong Bananza confirms its Nintendo Switch 2 handheld performance capabilities, which may be surprising to some players.
Many fans have been studying the existing pre-release trailers and gameplay footage of Donkey Kong Bananza for more clues while they wait for the game’s launch, including a YouTube user by the handle of 2Chrispy. In their most recent video, they point out that there are some sort of hieroglyphs hidden throughout the world of Donkey Kong Bananza, and set out to translate what they mean. After about a month of work, they have managed to decipher a few of the signs shown in Donkey Kong Bananza’s initial reveal trailer and Nintendo Treehouse stream.
Fan Translates Donkey Kong Bananza’s Secret Language
2Chrispy says that there are at least seven hidden signs in the first Donkey Kong Bananza trailer, and their work started with translating at least one of them so they had a baseline for the others. They started by putting together a list of words closely associated with the Donkey Kong franchise, before noticing the phrase “Chip Exchange” being mentioned during the recent Donkey Kong Bananza Nintendo Treehouse livestream. From there, they noted that one of the game’s signs has a symbol resembling the banana chips Donkey Kong collects in the game, so they figured out that this is supposed to be translated as “Exchange.”
Now that they had a baseline, 2Chrispy got to work decoding the other hidden Donkey Kong Bananza messages by finding recurring patterns in the remaining untranslated letters. By running some deciphered letters through an online word finder, 2Chrispy figured out that another sign reads “Welcome,” while they had to draw over the screenshot of the third to see that it translates to “Ice.” More work led to them decoding the words “Item,” “Stop,” “Store,” and “Outfit” among the other signs. 2Chrispy admits that their translations of these glyphs are a work in progress, and there are still a few letters left to decode before Donkey Kong Bananza’s launch.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 91 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- July 17, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
WHERE TO PLAY
The big guy is back! Donkey Kong swings onto the Nintendo Switch 2 system with a brand-new action adventure.
Help Donkey Kong make his way through the depths of the Underground World. The deeper he goes, the more amazing places he finds! There's no shortage of things DK can pulverize with his powerful punches. Break on through this truly destructive adventure.
Behold the golden bananas! The mysterious group, known
as VoidCo, has its eyes on this
prized bunch. But no one messes with DK's favourite food!
Golden bananas? The whole island was buzzing about the discovery of this tasty treasure. But then, distaster struck! During the chaos, VoidCo stole every breathtaking bunch of bananas. Now Donkey Kong must venture deep underground to get them back!
- Number of Players
- 1-2 players
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- July 17, 2025
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch 2
