Donkey Kong Bananza: A Guide to collecting all the 777 bananas

Ever since Donkey Kong Country, DK games have always been about collecting all the bananas (basically recapturing the ones that have been stolen). In Donkey Kong Bananza for the Nintendo Switch 2 this also happens, but we're talking about an amazing, destructible, and very vertical 3D world, developed by the creators of Super Mario Odyssey. What this entails, fans already know: lots of collectibles and ways to get them, and a kick-ass postgame.

But if you're scared of the sheer number of bananas or Banandium Gems ahead of you (we're talking hundreds, more than half a thousand), here come the Gamereactor guides to the rescue. In the one you're reading we've got the essential tips and tricks for getting more bananas, and then we've got a guide for each Layer with all the Banandium Gems that await you.

Are you ready? Sing DK's rap, beat your chest, and descend into our Layer-by-Layer guides...

• Skip the tips and go straight to the list of all the bananas by Layer

How many bananas are there in Donkey Kong Bananza in total?

Well, while it seems like an obvious and natural question to ask when you start the game (so you know what you have ahead of you until you complete 100% of Donkey Kong Bananza), you should know that it's a trick question. In fact, it has a double catch.

Double trap? Yes, as there are as many as three possible banana figures that could lead you... or confuse you. And here we're going to explain them all.

The first real number of bananas you can collect before you see the credits of Donkey Kong Bananza is 670: that would be your maximum before you beat the game. But as has been the tradition since Donkey Kong Country, its 101% and so on, and especially since Super Mario Odyssey, the developers at Nintendo EAD Tokyo have made sure to reserve a postgame chunk for veterans, of course packed with expert, much harder challenges. With all of them comes an additional 107 bananas, which brings us to the second and final (?) figure. Final? Not quite.

The second figure, the most reliable reference and the one we'll be following in all of Gamereactor's Donkey Kong Bananza guides, is the number of Banandium Gems in the Collection menu after the credits, once the post-game is activated. It's the number you'll see if you press the Minus button at any time to navigate the map and then press the Y button to take a look at your Collection. Here you will see both the total Banandium Gems you have found/gobbled down and how many you have left, both per Layer, and in the game total. The actual total bananas in Donkey Kong Bananza is 777 Banandium Gems once you've watched the credits. "But in my save game it says that I have more than the first or second figures". We know what you mean, this brings us to...

The difference between the bananas in your game and the bananas in your Collection

The third figure is the one you see both when saving/loading the game, and overprinted in the postgame when you need to reach a minimum number of Banandium Gems to take on the cool Rehearsals of the Elder. It is highly variable and, as we said, always higher than the maximum number of bananas you have in your Personal Collection. Why? Because it contemplates, in turn, two additional variables. Namely:

The excess bananas provided by each bunch. Occasionally, especially when you pass a major milestone or defeat a boss, the game rewards you with a bunch of bananas. Most of these bunches are 3 Banandium Gems (+2) and on more special occasions the bunch collects 5 Banandium Gems (+4). In the Collection menu they appear as a single entry for the purposes of specific achievements, but accompanied by a bunch icon of their in-game colour: yellow for three, orange for five. These excess bananas, which as you will see DK does eat and count towards the skill tree to unlock abilities, are added on top of the Collection total.

On the other hand, the game also includes the Banandium Gems that you have bought by exchanging Chips in the shops of the different Layers. It's like the Moons in Super Mario Odyssey: you really only need one to get the, shall we say, "mandatory" one for the Layer, but you can buy as many as you want to boost your post-game figure even more (up to 999, as we understand). Plus, this "cheat" also counts towards skill points if you miss one along the way, and towards your total saved game count... or the minimum bananas needed to enter each Elder's Rehearsal, if you don't have surplus.

That said, as you will see, this figure is highly variable depending on where each player is in the game (and therefore how many bunches they have collected) and how many Banandium Gems they have purchased through chip trading. For this very reason, having made these clarifications, we will continue to stick to the "official" and definitive 777 of the Collection, because our guides are precisely so that you can complete these 777 achievements, regardless of the extra bananas in the bunches or what you spend in the shops, as everyone is free to let themselves be carried away by consumerism.

• You may also be interested in: Donkey Kong Bananza review

Donkey Kong Bananza tips & tricks: how to get more bananas

Now that you know how many Banandium Gems you can get through strictly playable methods before and after the credits song (670/777), we proceed to give you some essential tips and hints on how to get more bananas along the way. These tips focus primarily on bananas buried or hidden in the stage terrain, while those given as rewards for overcoming challenges, as well as the map to finding exactly where each banana is, are reserved for our dedicated Layer-by-Layer guides.

Get used to using the hand slap (R) every few steps to reveal treasures with the sonar

The hand slap is not only for picking up gold nuggets and objects around you. Its most interesting use is as sonar, to reveal nearby secrets such as hidden Banandium Gems, chests, fossils, small Fractones, and also entrances to ancient ruins (the portals to challenges and battles).

As a completionist, and as the game is quite easy in terms of combat and so on, we recommend that you increase the ability of the hand slap to reveal items nearby (skill "Improved Sonar, up to level 3 - 160% range") first of all, before upgrading your strength, vitality, or Bananza skills.

If you scan the terrain as you go, you'll start to get hooked on detouring in search of collectibles, and you'll finish each Layer with a lot more bananas and with the challenges and combat at least pin-pointed. It's the first rule of thumb for any good miner-explorer.

If you can't find the ones you have left, buy maps

The previous tip, as well as this one, also apply to Fossil hunting. If you have a few bananas left in a Layer and you can't find them using the hand slap method, invest gold nuggets in buying maps at the item shop.

You'll usually have several tens of thousands left over, so that's not bad for finishing a world. Banandium Gem maps start at 1,000 nuggets and go up by 100 nuggets per map consecutively.

Of course, better than buying is getting free maps, right? Read on...

Get maps from buried treasure chests

If you don't want to or can't afford to spend more money in the shops, or if the Banandium Gem maps are "in restock" and you want to get those stubborn bananas, treat yourself to an anti-stress therapy session by tearing up the terrain.

The game has a random, procedural factor whereby it generates a treasure chest every few cubic metres destroyed, and while it's true that over time those chests will contain more balloons, juices, and sodas than maps, if you persist you will eventually get the maps for those missing bananas and Fossils.

Of course, even more than the Bananza DK for this purpose, you can use the fourth Bananza you unlock (you know which one it is), which is brutally powerful in terms of razing terrain and making chests appear.

Give a little whistle (to help you find your way around the world)

Each banana or Fossil map marks the location of an item in the game world, directly on the corresponding sublayer of the current Layer. If you are seeking some challenge or combat, the X marks the location of those, of course.

If you're heading towards a particular banana or Fossil, it's fine to consult the map by pressing the Minus button once, but when you're already walking or tunnelling towards the exact location, you can press the L button to overlay the mapped items on the screen, so you can orient yourself much better. If you combine this with the sonar hand slap (R), as explained in the first tip, you will comb through every sublayer of every Layer at full speed.

Battles are rewarded with a gem, challenges always hide three bananas

Finally, before we take you on a journey to the centre of the earth Layer-by-Layer, remember that each challenge (those ancient ruins with Zelda shrine-like puzzles) always hide three Banandium Gems (almost always two on the way and one more tricky one), while the red circular doors on the ground, i.e. the combat ones, reward victory with a single banana. This rule is broken by special post-game challenges, but is always enforced during the general course of the game.

Where are all 777 bananas in Donkey Kong Bananza and how to get them

Having done the introductions and shared the essential tips and tricks to enjoy collecting bananas along the way, below we list all 17 Layers of Donkey Kong Bananza, from the surface to the centre of the planet in its 1600+ sublayers, linked to their respective guides for the full list of Banandium Gems and the exact location of all of them. Naturally, if you've only dug a little, the name of the Layers may be a spoiler for you (not to mention what's inside), so continue at your own risk:

Click on a particular Layer to access its guide on Gamereactor:

1. All Bananas in Ingot Isle Cave-In (36 Banandium Gems)


2. All bananas in Lagoon Layer (56 Banandium Gems)


3. All bananas in Hilltop Layer (38 Banandium Gems)


4. All bananas in Canyon Layer (80 Banandium Gems)


5. All bananas in The Divide (10 Banandium Gems)


6. All bananas in Freezer Layer (87 Banandium Gems)


7. All bananas in Forest Layer (83 Banandium Gems)


8. All bananas in The Junction (15 Banandium Gems)


9. All bananas in Resort Layer (42 Banandium Gems)


10. All bananas in Tempest Layer (70 Banandium Gems)


11. All bananas in Landfill Layer (27 Banandium Gems)


12. All bananas in Racing Layer (10 Banandium Gems)


13. All bananas in Radiance Layer (76 Banandium Gems)


14. All bananas in Groove Layer (30 Banandium Gems)


15. All Bananas in Feast Layer (69 Banandium Gems)


16. All bananas in Forbidden Layer (25 Banandium Gems)


17. All Bananas in Planet Core (23 Banandium Gems)

In each guide we list the complete list of all Banandium Gems in the Layer and their exact location. In addition, we mark the bananas that appear after the credits in the postgame, to avoid confusion.