Video Games

Things I Hate: Inflammonite (Donkey Kong Bananza)

Posted by Adam (Neko Random) on
Close-up promotional graphic of the boss character Inflammonite from Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch 2. The image shows a fiery, glowing molten core covered in a coiled, volcanic rock shell resembling an ammonite fossil with circular yellow eyes hidden in its center. Large yellow text across the foreground reads "Inflammonite" with a small "VOIDCO" logo below.

Inflammonite is a major boss in Donkey Kong Bananza on the Nintendo Switch 2. He serves as one of the primary bosses of the Freezer Layer and shows up fairly early in the game.

Nintendo Switch 2 gameplay screenshot from Donkey Kong Bananza showing a boss encounter. A blue-furred gorilla with Pauline dashes across a dark, volcanic ground, evading a massive, flaming ball of magma and rock that rolls toward them through a hazy orange atmosphere.

The stretch leading up to him eases you into the cold, icy environment surrounding the area, which makes it all the more jarring when he cranks the temperature in the opposite direction, making it feel like Donkey Kong and Pauline have wandered into something closer to 700 degrees.

In-game action gameplay from Donkey Kong Bananza set in an icy, industrial pipe room. A large, DK Zebra creature with glowing blue highlights jumps off a giant shard of ice, moving to strike a stony enemy boss wearing a golden, geometric crown-like structure.

Then the cold comes rushing back, and you have to rely on the Zebra power to navigate the ice and close the distance between you and him. That is simpler to describe than it is to actually pull off. The Zebra power was honestly my least favorite of the bunch compared to everything else the game offers.

Gameplay screen from a boss level in Donkey Kong Bananza. A dark-furred gorilla creature enveloped in a blue energy aura charges across a dim volcanic floor, leaving a trail of glowing shards. In the background, a massive, blazing sun-like monster sheds bright orange light and sparks over a stream of lava.

The fight keeps cycling back and forth between these two extremes, which is pretty standard design for a boss that builds its whole gimmick around flipping between opposite conditions.

In-game screenshot from Donkey Kong Bananza showing a defeated or transforming boss. A large, pale grey shell creature wearing a carved gold crown is suspended in a frozen or mechanical pipe room, emitting bright, blinding white and pink rays of energy from its core.

It has been awhile since I played through this one that I cannot say for certain whether I died during it, though I have a feeling I went down at least once. It ended up being one of the more forgettable encounters in the game for me. The ice navigation made it more frustrating than fun, and I was genuinely relieved when it was finally done.

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