Honestly, the hype for Donkey Kong Bananza was a bit of a fever dream back in the spring of 2025. Remember when the Switch 2 was finally confirmed for June and everyone thought we’d get a new Mario right out of the gate? Then Nintendo pulled the rug and gave us a massive, 3D destructible-world gorilla simulator instead. It was wild.
If you were one of the people frantically searching for a Donkey Kong Bananza pre order bonus before the July 17 release date, you probably noticed things were... a little sparse. Unlike the big Zelda or Mario drops where you get a steelbook or a fancy coin, Nintendo played it pretty close to the vest with the big guy’s first 3D outing since 1999.
The Retailer Scramble
Most big-box stores didn't have a traditional "in-box" bonus. If you pre-ordered from Amazon or Best Buy, you weren't getting a physical trinket in the mail. What you were getting was the chance to play it on day one—or, if you were lucky like some folks on Reddit, maybe a day early.
There was a lot of chatter about Walmart potentially doing something weird like they did for the Switch 2 launch (remember the Pringles and Pepsi surprise?), but for Bananza, they mostly focused on being the cheapest place to grab it.
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Here is what actually happened across the board:
- My Nintendo Store (UK/Europe): These guys actually got the coolest stuff. If you went through the official Nintendo store in those regions, there were physical items like a Donkey Kong Bananza Rally Towel. You had to cough up about 650 Platinum Points for it, but it was the only real way to get physical swag at launch.
- Target and Best Buy (US): No exclusive physical items were packed with the game. Instead, they focused on in-store demo events. If you showed up at a Best Buy in June 2025, you could play 10 minutes of the game and scan a QR code for bonus Platinum Points.
- Amazon Japan: This was the secret MVP. You could snag a digital code for about 41 Euros (roughly 6,500 Yen), which was a massive discount compared to the $69.99 standard price in the States.
The "Amiibo Factor"
While not technically a "pre-order bonus" in the sense that it came free with the game, the Donkey Kong and Pauline Amiibo set launched alongside the game on July 17.
A lot of people treated this as the "true" pre-order bonus because it was so hard to find. It retailed for $29.99. If you tapped it in-game, it gave you a head start with health boosts and helped you find those annoying Banandium Gems much faster. For the collectors, Nintendo also did a massive restock of the old King K. Rool and Diddy Kong figures, which had been out of print for years.
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Why People Were Annoyed
The "bonus" situation was kinda frustrating for longtime fans. Basically, the biggest "perk" of pre-ordering was just ensuring you had the cartridge before the stock ran out at Costco or Target.
There were no exclusive skins or "Emerald Rush" DLC codes hidden in the boxes. In fact, when the Emerald Rush DLC dropped in September 2025 for $20, everyone had to pay for it regardless of when they bought the base game.
What About the Digital Bonus?
If you went digital on the eShop, the only real "bonus" was the pre-load. Because Donkey Kong Bananza is roughly an 8.9GB file, being able to have it sitting on your Switch 2 internal storage meant you could start smashing voxels at exactly midnight.
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- Double Gold Points: For a limited window, Nintendo offered double Gold Points for digital pre-orders.
- Themed Wallpapers: A few digital printables and desktop backgrounds were thrown in via the My Nintendo rewards portal.
Is It Still Worth Getting?
Now that we’re in 2026, the "pre-order" window is long gone, but the game is still the gold standard for the Switch 2. If you’re looking for a deal now, Costco has been the place to watch—they’ve had copies as low as $39 recently.
If you missed out on the launch-day hype, you didn't actually miss much in terms of "exclusive" content. The towel is a collector's item now, but the game itself—with the 3.0.0 update that added Polish and Thai support—is exactly the same experience.
Your Next Steps
If you’re just starting your journey into the planetary core:
- Check the eShop for the 2.0.2 patch immediately to fix that weird collision bug in the mud biomes.
- Don't skip the Pauline dialogue. Since she’s 13 in this "Hollow Earth" version of the story (don't ask, it's weird), her singing mechanics are actually essential for unlocking the Ostrich and Elephant transformations.
- Buy the DLC separately. The Emerald Rush roguelike mode is widely considered better than the base game’s endgame, so it’s worth the twenty bucks.
The Donkey Kong Bananza pre order bonus might have been underwhelming at the time, but the game has definitely lived up to the "Bananza" name.