Ah, Donkey Kong Bananza—what a game. Or maybe, what an experience? Let’s not get bogged down with definitions. Anyway, Nintendo, in its infinite wisdom, decided the Switch 2 needed a game where chaos reigns, and, boy, did they deliver. You think you’re just platforming around, but then you’ve got options. Like, real options. Wanna jump across gaps? Go for it. Cultivate the ground like an overzealous mole? Sure, knock yourself out.
But here’s the kicker—speedrunners, those crafty souls, aren’t doing any of the normal stuff. Why would they? They found this wild trick called “IFAT.” Sounds like a secret agent, doesn’t it? No, it’s “Infinite fast aerial surf turf.” Don’t ask who thought of that name. They’re grabbing chunks of this video game world, leaping all over the place. It’s like a dance—jump, surf, cancel, surf again. Kinda like musical chairs but in mid-air. And apparently, it’s Attack + Jump, ZL, ZL. I had to write that down to make sense of it. Nicro, who’s deep into all this, breaks it down in some video—you know, the YouTube usual.
So, this Nicro guy? He’s found flight and made a whole spectacle of Donkey Kong’s little digital kingdom. He’s like, “I’ve broken speedrunning forever.” Bold claim, but when you see players shoot past parts of the game like bosses are meaningless pebbles, you kinda get it. Not that it’s all roses—some places are like, “Nah, you gotta play it my way or no way,” especially if Pauline’s involved. Can’t just skip to the end without getting her on the team.
Also, watch your step—or, uh, button presses. Mess it up, and DK dives to meet his pixelated doom. Sure, you’ll spawn back somewhere not-too-inconvenient, but speedrunners don’t have time for that nonsense. Gotta keep that rhythm or say goodbye to your lead. Seriously, there are even songs for this—tapping to the beat as if speedrunning didn’t need another layer of weird.
And holy bananas, has this shaken things up! Today’s headlines are full of records being smashed left and right. People are chatting about how this is changing everything, like, should IFAT runs get their own category? I mean, some folks might still wanna play the game as intended, not just leap-frog most of it. Makes you wonder, is this technique a shortcut or a whole new adventure? For us mortals, though, it’s as if Bananza’s been cracked wide open, revealing a chaotic wonder underneath.
