
Nintendo Switch 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza console bundle available now in UK
While the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 was a massive commercial success, the new console has been a hard sell for anyone who isn't interested in Mario Kart World.
Beyond that, the only other first party game was the hugely disappointing Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, with the rest of the launch line-up consisting almost entirely of third party ports.
However, this week marks the launch of the next big Switch 2 exclusive, with Donkey Kong Bananza, which means now is the perfect opportunity to invest in a Switch 2 if you haven't already.
Nintendo is offering a bundle that includes both the console and a digital copy of the game for £454.98, though this doesn't save you any money and costs as much as buying the console and game separately.
There's also an option to include the game with the Mario Kart World bundle for £488.98, but you're really only saving money on Mario Kart World, since it normally costs £66.99 digitally.
Currys has a slightly better offer. While it has run out of Switch 2 consoles on their own, it still has the Mario Kart World bundle in stock, and you have the option to add a physical copy of Donkey Kong Bananza for £55.24, over £10 less than Nintendo's usual £66.99 asking price.
This makeshift bundle is still very pricey though, since it comes to £485.23. But since it includes Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, you are getting everything you need for the best Switch 2 experience.
Argos is also offering the exact same deal on its own website, as well as one for just the standard Switch 2 (so no Mario Kart World) that costs £451.23.
These offers are ever so slightly cheaper than Very's, which is selling the Switch 2 console, Mario Kart World, and Donkey Kong Bananza for a total of £496.
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Alternatively, there's also a bundle that comes with the console, Donkey Kong Bananza, and the Switch 2 version of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, but it's even pricier at £525 and doesn't include Mario Kart World.
So far, these are the only dedicated Donkey Kong Bananza bundles we can find, but more may turn up as other retailers get more stock in. More Trending
At the very least, the Switch 2 itself isn't as difficult to purchase as it was last month. Not only does Nintendo's own website have stock back in, so do retailers like Amazon, where you can buy the Switch 2 on its own or the Mario Kart World bundle, and then throw in Donkey Kong Bananza for £64.95.
The game itself is cheapest to buy digitally, through the Nintendo eShop, where it's going for £58.99.
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MORE: Donkey Kong Bananza director is a Nintendo newbie
MORE: Nintendo Direct is this month claims insider – but what games will it cover?
MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 has a secret problem that could cripple third party support
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Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Games Inbox: What is the next big game for Nintendo Switch 2?
The Friday letters page hopes for the industry's sake that EA Sports FC 26 sells well, as one reader wonders who else will be in the Zelda movie. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Mystery follow-up Nice review of Donkey Kong Bananza, GC. It's interesting to me that it's another good Nintendo game but one which, like Mario Kart World, features just enough problems for it to be kind of mid-tier by their standards. I'm sure other companies would love if their flawed efforts were getting a 9/10 but that's just the legacy that Nintendo has at this point. Either way, we're still at the 'it was originally made for the previous console' stage of the generation, which all consoles go through. I think normally it's about two years in before we start to see ones made only with the current console in mind. I don't know if I'll wait that long before getting a Switch 2, but I'm not currently tempted this year. More because of the lack of games rather than these first two not being top tier. So, the question is what next? Metroid Prime 4 is even less a Switch 2 game than the first two so what comes after that? My heart tells me that it'll be Animal Crossing, as a counterpoint to the hardcore Metroid Prime 4, but who can ever say with Nintendo. I'd be most pleased with a brand new IP but that's even harder to try and predict. It's exciting but also frustrating because I wouldn't bet on finding out this year. Onibee The Legend of Bugsy Malone Although it's in keeping with a lot of the games I am surprised at just how young and inexperienced the Link and Zelda actors are. I can only hope the casting director knows that they're doing, because that is a hell of a gamble straight from the start. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. It makes me wonder who the older characters are going to be in the film? Ganondorf will obviously be an adult man, but will Impa be an old granny or the sort of peak fitness version we've seen before? Since Link and Zelda don't seem to be based on Breath Of The Wild I'm going to guess a younger Impa, but who else? Makes me wonder if the champions will be in it, as they were all kind of peak adults. The film will probably make up some new characters, because the series doesn't have a lot of recurring ones. Someone like Lineback or Midna would be cool, but that seems more like something to keep back for a sequel. Like you said, there's so much that could go wrong with this, but let's see what happens. Focus Lesser of two evils Look like EA is pretty worried about EA Sports FC 26 doing well. I remember a time when I have cheered on the idea of them going under (not that I think they will, but bear with me). Apart from me feeling worse nowadays, about the idea of wishing thousands of people to loose their job, at least EA isn't owned by someone else. I don't like much of what they do but it's not like I haven't enjoyed EA games in the past, especially the Star Wars stuff, so let's not wish the games industry to become even smaller and even more under the shadow of Microsoft – a company that has shown it will turn its back on anything or anyone for the smallest amount of profit. On one hand it doesn't bother me whether EA Sports FC 26 is a hit or not, because I'll never buy it. But on the other hand I hope it does well because EA going under isn't good for anyone, except for even bigger corporations than them. Combi Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Monkey money madness The reviews are really difficult to ignore for Donkey Kong Bananza. I'm glad it's doing well critically but I don't think I'll be buying the game anytime soon. £65 for the physical cart is just too much to justify, especially when Nintendo games never go on sale. I bought Cyberpunk 2077 for £54 at Switch 2 launch because of a Currys deal, so maybe that's the sweet spot for me (or launch madness). Most Switch games had an RRP of £50 but sold for £40 even at launch. It's odd that retailers aren't continually this strategy. Maybe things will start to settle soon, because anything over £50 feels too much at the minute. Thanks for giving me the space to rant. goldbricks23 (NN ID) Shots fired So upsetting to read about developers being laid off in favour of AI. I know it's only Candy Crush but you don't exactly have to be paranoid to imagine that this is just the thin end of the wedge. I can only hope that something is done to stop the rot before all these talented people leave the games industry forever. Who wants to work for a company for years only to be laid off, just so an AI can plagiarise your work afterwards. Laddie Ubisoft vs. ex-Ubisoft So I've sold Assassin's Creed Shadows to CeX. Because, truthfully, it's just a painfully mediocre title that somehow makes exploration of feudal Japan immensely unenticing, which is quite the task to pull off. I'll say that during my time with the game, I completed three castles as Naoe that looked the same, played the same, and led to a sense of lethargic quality. The stealth is excellent, it truly gave me a sense of shinobi arts. How is it that even combat is painfully hollow and somehow reminds me of Valhalla's shortcomings? The story is indeed rather milquetoast. I certainly lack the ability to even forge a reason as to why I should care for this narrative. The game looks truly stunning. However, when your points of interest boil down to shrines and guarded castles it feels like the depth of an ocean and width of a pool. It's an improvement on Valhalla, in many ways but a step down from Odyssey in other ways. Yasuke, in my opinion, is the most forgettable, bland, and unmemorable protagonist since Shay from Assassin's Creed Rogue. He's a tank. That's it. That's his unique selling point. Thankfully however, I also brought another title alongside Shadows. A title that I also bought on PC. A title that is magnificent from the menu screen. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I own it twice. Because it deserves to be owned twice. Assassin's Creed Hexe is intriguing but my expectations are non-existent. When Ubisoft churn out countless disappointing checkmark titles, such as Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora and Assassin's Creed Shadows, what hope does a narrative focused on witches stand? Especially when their former employees have crafted a title that Ubisoft will forever lack the talent, passion, heart, and capacity for. I pray for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to win Game Of The Year in December. It's a marvellous achievement for Sandfall and more than worthy enough to stand alongside Atlus' Persona series and Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3. Shahzaib Sadiq Instant U-turn To the person who wrote in the other day about not being able to turn well in Mario Kart battle mode. You can hold A and B together in a direction and hold the stick in any direction, left or right. I do it all the time in the free roam, I'm not a battle mode player but it works the same. Good luck. If you knew it already and still are complaining then even better luck. Nick The Greek Big blue Boy Scout I saw the new Superman movie on its release date and absolutely loved it. If I had to have a favourite superhero it would be Superman, then Batman as my next, and Spider-Man as my third. I am also talking about childhood heroes here and being fundamental to my younger memories watching the animated versions for each, as well as the classic Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeve live action movies. Thinking about what GC viewers mentioned about how moral code is associated with some heroes more than others, I'd definitely say the above mentioned three are definitely on the true good side. Their alter egos are also wholesome, as a high-powered businessman and philanthropist, a newspaper journalist, and an average or genius college kid. Regarding the games that could be created with these characters, especially Superman and Batman, I felt Arkham Asylum or City showed a good detective variant of gameplay, along with the stealth and action of Batman. I feel that this could be done for Clark Kent and Lois Lane doing their journalism job, investigating crimes or ill doings and being down to earth and properly solving the situation as detectives. Superman comes into his own when scenarios brings in powerful supervillains and ultra despicable normal humans, all doing their nefarious deeds. Of course, then the glasses come off, like the business suit gets changed for armoured body protection and the college clothes get exchanged for the web-slinging bodysuit for high octane aerial movement and combat. With natural abilities so far above our terrestrial heroes, Superman would possibly need a bigger area and more depth in regards to making the gameplay utilise the Man of Steel's signature moves and powers, like speed, heat ray blasts, X-ray vision and extraterrestrial ultra strength, which our yellow sun gives him. In other words, it's probably too difficult to give Superman a proper go at a gaming franchise or single game and we'll just see him as a watered down Kryptonian in a side view beat 'em-up or multiplayer rivals type action game. Which is a shame as the recent movie has everything from honouring the original 70s classics and the newer world of DC cinema and comics. Basically, it was near perfect and can't wait to see more of James Gunn's future endeavours into this new remake of my favourite superhero of all time. Alucard Inbox also-rans I didn't even know there was a FIFA curse. I'd heard of the Madden curse, despite knowing nothing about the sport, so I'm going to guess that Bellingham and Musiala will live through this. Rich I really hope the people that have done RoboCop: Rogue City get to do RoboCop Vs. Terminator. To see that come back after all these years would be so funny to me and I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Austin More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: How would you improve Mario Kart World? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the next Assassin's Creed game? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the hardest game on PS5?


Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Second banana no more! Donkey Kong escapes from the shadow of Mario once and for all in Nintendo's stunning new Bananza. And he's not monkeying around, says PETER HOSKIN
Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo Switch 2, £58.99) Verdict: Kong is king Rating: Donkey Kong has always played — ahem — second banana to Mario at Nintendo. In the very beginning, of course, this overgrown ape merely chucked barrels at our heroic Italian plumber. Then, when he started getting his own games, they were often platformers in the vein of the Mario series. Just not quite as good. Until now. Donkey Kong Bananza is the second major Nintendo release for the Switch 2, after Mario Kart World — and the second all-timer masterpiece. It's a crazy and colourful 3D platformer in, I guess you could say, the vein of the great Super Mario Odyssey (2017)...except, this time, Donkey Kong has his own groundbreaking new powers. He's his own monkey now. And 'groundbreaking' really is the word. This Kong doesn't just look big and strong; he IS big and strong. He can punch chunks out of the scenery, bash tunnels between different areas, and hurl rocks at distant enemies. It makes every level an exercise in creative destruction. Nintendo's designers are encouraging you to smash up their beautiful inventions. And 'beautiful' is the word, too. Bananza has you — that is, Donkey Kong, with his sing-song-y, shoulder-bound companion Pauline — plunging down through layers of a planet to reach its core. There's an icy layer, a dusty one, tropical, more. All look stunning on the powered-up Switch 2. At times, there's so much going on — with the gameplay, with the visuals — that it's almost overwhelming. Even the two-player mode — where one player takes control of Donkey Kong, the other Pauline — feels like an entirely different game. More! More! More! But rather than see that as a problem, I came to see it as Nintendo's collective imagination in overdrive. They've served up an unbelievably sweet and delicious banana split here. If it gets too much? Pause. Settle yourself. Then dive back in for more. Long live the Kong.


The Guardian
13 hours ago
- The Guardian
Top Bananza! Donkey Kong's long-awaited return is a literal smash-hit
When you think of Nintendo, it's almost impossible not to picture Donkey Kong. The ape that started it all, Donkey Kong's tie-donning, barrel-launching arcade antics introduced Mario to the world and almost bankrupted Nintendo in the process, after a near-miss legal battle over alleged King Kong copyright infringement. Yet despite Donkers' undeniable place in gaming history – and obligatory appearances in Smash Bros and Mario Kart – for the last few console generations, Donkey Kong platformers have been MIA. Enter DK's first standalone adventure in 11 years, Donkey Kong Bananza. While Mario's recent adventures saw him exploring the reaches of outer space or deftly possessing enemies with an anthropomorphic hat, DK's grand return is all about primal rage. Employing a similar voxel-based technology to Minecraft, DK's Switch 2 adventure swaps the former's thoughtful Lego-esque world-building for gleeful destruction, letting players shatter every colourful level into smithereens. As you smash and punch your way through walls, floors and ceilings, you can burrow all the way to the ground below, forging new paths and unearthing hidden treasures. It's a novel and enjoyably chaotic twist on the usually neatly ordered Nintendo platformer. 'Bananza started when my superior, Koizumi-san, came to our team and asked us if we could create a 3D Donkey Kong game,' recalls Donkey Kong Bananza producer and Super Mario Odyssey director, Kenta Motokura. It was a full-circle moment, he tells me, with the plastic bongo-controlled Donkey Kong Jungle Beat starting off his career at Nintendo 25 years earlier. 'The first time I ever played Donkey Kong was on Game and Watch, but as Donkey Kong became 3D, I started working on 3D games myself,' he says. 'In Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Koizumi-san was director and I learned a lot from him in terms of taking on new challenges and figuring out the characteristics of Donkey Kong.' The question was, with Donkey Kong's last foray into 3D being on the Nintendo 64, where would Nintendo take its monkey mascot next? Seeking wisdom from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Motokura's old boss, it wasn't long until the team were drawn to DK's gigantic, furry hands. 'Speaking with Miyamoto-san, who had worked on the original and on developing the DK games with Rare, he said that he had focused on the power and the actions of Donkey Kong, such as the hand claps,' Motokura says. 'We were testing voxel technology – we were actually using it in Super Mario Odyssey – and we thought that by bringing together and combining the power of Donkey Kong and the voxel technology, it would fit together with the theme of destruction.' Motokura and the Super Mario Odyssey team had their fair share of 3D platformer experience. But Bananza's game director Kazuya Takahashi, who joined the project midway through development, had only worked on open world RPGs. 'It wasn't too intimidating,' Takahashi says about the pressure of reviving Donkey Kong, 'because the team had worked on Odyssey as well, there were a lot of people on the team who had skills related to 3D platform action games.' Yet even with the team's platforming pedigree, the voxel-based destruction presented a unique challenge for Nintendo's Tokyo team. 'For this sort of game, where you can destroy anything, there was no precedent,' Takahashi says. 'So in that sense, we did struggle with various things. Developing the levels was quite challenging. For each stage, we wanted to make sure that the level would be fun even without that destruction element.' Luckily, the team wasn't going in blind – they had help from an all-star playtester. 'We had Miyamoto-san check the game occasionally,' says Motokura. 'But instead of progressing through the game, he just stuck to one point, smashing and digging around a lot. It was a good thing to see him playing that way … it proved that there are a lot of things that players could potentially be curious about in the game.' To many Nintendo fans, there is no Mario or Donkey Kong without Nintendo veterans like Miyamoto or Takashi Tezuka, but the next generation of developers tell me they're more than ready to carry on their mentors' legacy. 'Longtime developers like Miyamoto-san and Teztuka-san also allow us younger developers to discuss things on the same level, so in that sense, I think a lot of ideas are going to be shared among the developers,' Motokura says. 'Newer, younger developers are also going to carry on the legacy of the developing that we do at Nintendo.' 'Although I joined this team partway through, I really enjoyed the work that I was able to do on this team, and that Nintendo was very open to being able to explore these kinds of new and challenging concepts,' Takahashi reflects. 'Having the freedom to find your own shortcuts in Bananza … In that sense, there's an expanded level of freedom compared with Odyssey and we were really able to provide a completely new kind of gaming experience.' Like most millenials, I've been reliving my mispent youth via the ultimate piece of playable noughties nostalgia: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4. While there are some disappointing soundtrack omissions (and a bizarrely stripped-down take on 4's original sandbox campaign), grinding and kickflipping your way across Rio, London, Canada and Alcatraz is still as compulsive as it was in the early 2000s. While players of the originals might grimace at the lack of Alien Ant Farm, Papa Roach and Less Than Jake, the addition of Denzel Curry, Turnstile, Fontaines DC, Drain, Vince Staples and Mastodon – whisper it – almost makes up for it. Almost. This time around, I've opted to flail and face-plant on Nintendo's shiny new Switch 2. One of the first third-party releases on the platform, it's a surprisingly solid port, allowing me to take my trick-tastic escapades with me wherever I go. Here's hoping future Switch 2 ports fare as well. Ultimately, while this isn't quite as lovingly made as Vicarious Vision's 2020 1+2 remakes, when you're in the zone and have that six-figure high score going, Pro Skater is still an arcade-like thrill that satisfies like little else. Available on: Switch 2, PS5, Xbox, PCEstimated playtime: 20-2,000 hours, depending on how gnarly you are Sign up to Pushing Buttons Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming after newsletter promotion Stop Killing Games, a petition dedicated to preserving online media, has received 1.2m signatures, prompting a response from one of the vice-presidents of the European parliament, Nicolae Ștefănuță. The initiative seeks to highlight consumer rights and navigate the complexities of 'ownership' in a world where live service games are turned off. A noble fight, but I'm still a little shocked that this has all kicked off because of The Crew, of all games. You can read more on PC Gamer. Did you miss out on nabbing anything from the PS5 30th Anniversary range last year? Fear not, fellow stuff lovers, as these retro PS1-inspired controllers, consoles and PS Portals are getting a restock on 21 July. I absolutely adore my anniversary controller, so I thought I'd selflessly share the news. Get all the details over on Eurogamer. After laying off thousands of its workforce, several Xbox employees have added salt to the wound by endorsing AI, in two rather tonally insensitive LinkedIn posts. In one, a publishing lead suggested that laid-off employees should turn to AI for career guidance, while in the second, Xbox posted a job advertisement that clearly used an AI image. Aftermath has a suitably depressing summary of events. 'The way a child plays is the way they live': how therapists are using video games to help vulnerable children 'It fully altered my taste in music': bands reflect on the awesome power of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtracks Cosy video games are on an unstoppable rise. Will they unleash a darker side? Gaming in their golden years: why millions of seniors are playing video games Reader P Holck asks this question about how to bridge the generational gaming divide: 'I used to really enjoy my son's Civilization III. Now I've bought a PlayStation 5 and thought I'd play some modern and more active games. But the ones I've tried are simply too hard – I get stuck and have no idea how to move forward! What games do you recommend for a 70-plus player?' First, congratulations on taking the playable plunge! Much like encountering a genre of music for the first time – or, heaven help you, getting into anime – reconnecting with gaming can often feel overwhelming. Finding genres that you click with can be challenging – let alone having to learn the increasingly complex control schemes, gameplay mechanics and visual cues that longtime players take for granted. It's hardly an action-packed experience, but a game I'd recommend if you liked the original is Tetris Effect – which takes the classic block-dropping puzzler and adds a psychedelic visual layer, taking you on a weirdly profound journey. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and 2018's God Of War are both good action games to start with. They are fun story-led epics, and the gameplay is fairly simple at lower difficulty settings, giving you a good grasp of third-person game mechanics. If you want something a bit deeper, The Witcher 3 is a brilliantly immersive RPG, as is Baldur's Gate 3 – the latter of which comes with the option of pausing combat to help make the action more manageable, and the Mass Effect trilogy offers a nice blend of turn-based RPG choices and third-person action. Last year's Astro Bot is a jolt of colourful, platforming-based serotonin. If you're after something a little scarier, the Resident Evil 4 remake and The Last Of Us Part 1 are modern masterpieces, and again, have lower difficulty settings to help ease you in. Best of luck – let us know how you get on. If you've got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@