Banana

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This article is about the bananas themselves. For the peels prominently featured in the Mario Kart series as items, see Banana Peel.
"Bananas" redirects here. For microgame in the Gamer minigame in Game & Wario, see Bananas (microgame).
Banana
Artwork of a Banana from Donkey Kong Country Returns
Artwork of a banana from Donkey Kong Country Returns
First appearance Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)
Latest appearance Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024)
Variants
“Oh, sweet, creamy, potassium-rich irony! I hate bananas anyway!”
King K. Rool, DK: Jungle Climber

Bananas in the Super Mario franchise are tropical fruit with a variety of purposes.

History[edit]

Donkey Kong Jr.[edit]

A banana from Donkey Kong Jr.

Bananas do not appear in Donkey Kong Jr., although a Banana Bunch is among the fruit which Donkey Kong Jr. can drop on enemies in the first stage.

Club Nintendo comics[edit]

Bananas in the Club Nintendo comic "Super Mario Klemp-Won-Do: Muskeln sind nicht alles!" are used by Mario to make his opponent Blanka slip and fall.

Bananas in "Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24," being the Kongs' favorite food, are the main victuals when Donkey Kong and his friends travel to Outer Space in order to stop aliens from pulling Earth away from the sun. As it turns out, the culprits just erroneously took the planet for a huge coconut, a fruit their species adores. Diddy suggests to give bananas to the extraterrestrials as a compensation to get Earth back. This plan works, and the aliens are enthusiastic about the bananas' taste.

Donkey Kong Country series[edit]

“Yeah, bananas! They always do the trick.”
Donkey Kong, "Bad Hair Day"
Artwork of a banana from the original Donkey Kong Country SNES trilogy
A Banana from the Donkey Kong Country series

Bananas in the Donkey Kong Country series and Donkey Kong Land series are the main collectible items in the same manner as Coins in the Super Mario series, since for every one hundred bananas collected, the player receives an extra life.[1] Banana Bunches in both series are worth ten regular bananas.

Bananas and Banana Bunches in Donkey Kong Country commonly appear within Bonus Areas to the extent of having a type centered around them, "Collect the Bananas!". Donkey Kong can sometimes reveal a Banana Bunch by using Hand Slap in a specific location. Hoards of bananas in the boss arenas fill the background.

Bananas in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest are not only items, but also visual aids. Bananas that point at a wall indicates that it can be broken, and this always leads into a Bonus Area. One banana can also give away the location of either a hidden object (such as a Barrel Cannon or a hook), a hidden item (such as an Extra Life Balloon), or even a Bonus Barrel. Bananas in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and its sequel, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, are sometimes arranged in the shape of a controller button, indicating which button must be pressed during that moment; for example, in Bobbing Barrel Brawl of the latter game, a group of bananas shaped as a "Y" tell the player to press Y Button for Ellie to draw over a TNT Barrel stuck between two red Buzzes. In the Game Boy Advance port, the arrangement of these bananas were updated to match with the appropriate Game Boy Advance button.

Bananas in Donkey Kong Country Returns and its Nintendo 3DS port retain are very similar to their earlier appearances, but there are now winged bananas that float around in certain areas (mostly Bonus Areas), which are worth five bananas. Enormous, floating bananas (amongst other fruit) appear in the Golden Temple as platforms for Donkey and Diddy Kong.

Bananas in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and its Nintendo Switch port, have another gameplay mechanic linked to them, where by collecting a hundred bananas, the Kongs can perform a Kong POW, aside from receiving an extra life. Regular bananas in the game also follow behind flying bananas, and collecting all of these bananas spawns another item, such as a Banana Coin or even a Puzzle Piece.

Diddy Kong Racing[edit]

Bananas in Diddy Kong Racing only (not the Nintendo DS remake, which replaces them with coins) are collectible items that influence a vehicle's top speed, but the player can have only up to ten at a time. Two bananas are dropped by the player if they hit an obstacle. Bananas in Smokey Castle are stored within four collectible treasure chests. The banana counter resets to zero at the beginning of each race.

Yoshi's Story[edit]

Bananas in Yoshi's Story are the Favorite Fruit of Yellow Yoshis, excluding melons, which are loved by all Yoshis. Bananas on the Super Happy Tree are seen growing from the top.

Donkey Kong 64[edit]

Artwork of the Banana colours in Donkey Kong 64
The different colored Bananas from Donkey Kong 64

Bananas in Donkey Kong 64 are collectible items appearing in one of five colors, each only collectible by a certain Kong: yellow for Donkey Kong, red for Diddy Kong, purple for Tiny Kong, blue for Lanky Kong, and green for Chunky Kong. There are exactly 500 bananas (100 per color) in each of the game's seven levels, for a total of 3,500 bananas in the entire game. Bananas in Troff 'n' Scoff have more relevance to gameplay than in other areas, since the Kongs need to feed them to Scoff, who grows larger from eating bananas until eventually becoming large enough to stomp his platform, allowing Troff to reach the key and unlock the boss door. Unlike the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Banana Bunches are worth five bananas. A Banana Balloon is worth ten bananas, which the Kong can obtain by sniping their associated Banana Balloon.

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario Sunshine[edit]

Banana
A banana as it appears in Super Mario Sunshine

Bananas in Super Mario Sunshine are among the different interactive fruit objects appearing throughout Isle Delfino. Bananas fall faster and have more friction than other fruits, and Yoshis that eat a Banana turn pink, allowing them to spit Juice of the same color. Bananas in Delfino Plaza are sold in the market sector by a street vendor, but Mario can take them for free. Bananas piqued the interest of a local Pianta to the point where she asks Mario to help gather some for her. A supply of bananas and other fruit in Ricco Harbor are stored in a gigantic tank used in the episode Yoshi's Fruit Adventure. Bananas in Sirena Beach are sold at the fruit bars in Hotel Delfino, but Mario is free to use them.

Super Mario Maker[edit]

Diddy Kong costume pose in Super Mario Maker

A peeled banana in Super Mario Maker appears in the Diddy Kong costume's pose when +Control Pad up is pressed (or when the left Control Stick is tilted up).

Mario Party series[edit]

Mass A-peel from Mario Party 5
Bananas in Mass A-peel, a minigame from Mario Party 5.

Bananas in the Mario Party series have appeared in various minigames, such as in Tree Stomp in Mario Party 4, acting as hazards (along with golden variants that increase the speed of any player that collects them). Bananas are prominently featured in Donkey Kong minigames in Mario Party 5, 6, and 7, where they are worth one, two, or three coins depending on a random multiplier determined by whoever has landed on a DK Space before the minigame starts. In these games, there are also Banana Bunches, which are worth five bananas each and also mainly found in Donkey Kong minigames. Bananas appear in Mario Party: Star Rush as obstacles in Bowser's Shocking Slipup, where they appear as one of only two items on the roulettes. They stun the player for a few seconds if touched. In Super Mario Party, Bananas appear in the minigame Trip Navigator as the main obstacles. If a player touches one, they are stunned for one second.

Outside of minigames, Bananas directly replace Mini Stars in DK's Jungle Ruins in Mario Party 9, where the goal is to have the most bananas by the end. Z-Bananas similarly appear as a counterpart to Mini Ztars.

In Super Mario Party Jamboree, Bananas appear as an item that can be used in the Bowser Kaboom Squad mode, where they can be placed on the ground. If Impostor Bowser steps on one, he slips and becomes immobilized for a few seconds.

Mario Tennis series[edit]

Mario Power Tennis[edit]

Bananas in Mario Power Tennis tend to appear in the Item Battle mode, where players can hit the balls through Item Boxes, and are referred to as "Slippery Danger." The player has to hit the ball with the racquet in order to use the item. When used, the banana will be attached with the ball until it stays still on the ground in the case the ball bounces. Also, the Garbage Can Ghost in the Luigi's Mansion stage throws bananas that have the same function as the regular bananas as a stage gimmick.

Mario Tennis Open[edit]

Bananas in Mario Tennis Open can be seen on the DK Jungle court, in the emblem for the Banana Cup, on the trophy for the cup, and in tennis gear for Miis designed after Bananas.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat[edit]

"Beat" redirects here. For the Mega Man character and one of Mega Man's custom special moves in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, see Mega Man § Rush Coil.

Bananas and Banana Bunches in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat are part of a scoring system called beats (or banana points[2] in the New Play Control! version). In this game, Donkey Kong's banana total acts as his overall health (in the New Play Control! version, they only act as his health for boss battles); losing all of his beats results in a Game Over. Normal bananas are worth one beat, and bunches are worth three, but stringing together multiple combos and clap grabbing multiple bananas increases the amount of beats they are worth. Lastly, there is a minigame after said levels involving Donkey Kong eating as many bananas as he can in the allotted period of time, to increase his beat total for that level.

DK: King of Swing[edit]

Bananas in DK: King of Swing are items that can be collected in quantities up to 300, and are used for restoring health or even becoming temporarily invincible.

WarioWare series[edit]

Donkey Kong collecting bananas in the Donkey Kong Country microgame of WarioWare Gold

Bananas in the WarioWare series appear in a few microgames. Bananas in WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase are items in the DK Country microgame that have to be collected by Diddy while avoiding a Zinger. Bananas in WarioWare Gold appear in two microgames: Super Mario Kart, as obstacles to avoid on Rainbow Road, and Donkey Kong Country, where Donkey Kong must fire into a row of bananas from a Barrel Cannon.

Mario Golf series[edit]

Mario Golf: World Tour[edit]

Bananas in Mario Golf: World Tour appear in food bowls on some tables of the Castle Club's Royal Room, inside of barrels, which are the tee markers of the DK Jungle course, and there is golf gear designed after the item that Miis can use. A banana is used in Diddy Kong's animation for getting a bogey, where he eats one while lying down and throws it on the ground, and from getting double bogey or worse, except when he tries to get up and walk, Diddy slips on the banana.

Mario Golf: Super Rush[edit]

Bananas in Mario Golf: Super Rush appear as obstacles in the Battle Golf mode inside clear spheres, where if a character steps on one, they lose coins. There are also multiple bananas inside the spheres which surround the player with bananas.

Mario Strikers series[edit]

During Diddy Kong's ground entrance, he pulls out a banana, and whacks it on his hand, which is used to say that he is going to crush his opponent.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey[edit]

Bananas in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and its remake are used by Crawfuls in an attack where it throws a banana in front of it and slips towards the character currently being used, who must punch it away or hammer it respectively.

Nintendo Land[edit]

Bananas in Nintendo Land have to be collected in the Donkey Kong's Crash Course attraction while attempting to reach Donkey Kong and Pauline.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle[edit]

It has been requested that this section be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: DK's Bwananarang weapon

Bananas in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle are the currency in the Donkey Kong Adventure mode, replacing coins from the main game.

Mario Sports Superstars[edit]

Bananas in Mario Sports Superstars are part of Diddy's bogey and double bogey animations in Golf mode, both reused from Mario Golf: World Tour directly.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]

A bunch of Bananas can be seen beside Cranky Kong's throne in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, from which Cranky picks up a banana as Mario is punched repeatedly by Donkey Kong in the stadium duel. Additionally, Bananas can be seen hanging on a fruit cart along with pineapples and watermelons while Toad is escorting Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom. Similar to Diddy Kong Racing, Bananas are used to fuel the karts of the Jungle Kingdom.

Profiles and statistics[edit]

Donkey Kong Country series[edit]

Donkey Kong Country[edit]

  • Wii U Virtual Console manual bio: Collect 100 bananas to get an extra life.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest[edit]

  • Wii U Virtual Console manual bio: If you collect 100, you will gain an extra life. A bunch counts as 10 bananas.

Mario Party 9[edit]

Banana
Banana
Banana's constellation in the game Mario Party 9. A constellation evocative of that tasty treat beloved by animals everywhere: bananas. In the jungle, they're quite valuable.

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Banana.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese バナナ[?]
Banana
Banana
ほんバナナ[3]
1-hon Banana
1 Banana
Chinese 香蕉[?]
Xiāngjiāo
Banana
Dutch Banaan[?] Banana
French Banane[?] Banana
German Banane[?] Banana
Italian Banana[?] Banana
Korean 바나나[?]
Banana
Banana
Portuguese Banana[?] Banana
Russian Банан[?]
Banan
Banana
Spanish Plátano[?] Banana
Beat
Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese ビート[?]
Bīto
Beat Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
バナナポイント[4]
Banana Pointo
Banana Point New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The goal, as always, is to grab 100 bananas for a 1-Up." – Tilden, Gail, et al.. Nintendo Power Volume 65. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 22.
  2. ^ New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat instruction booklet. Nintendo of America. Page 11. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Burabura Donkey instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 18. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  4. ^ Wii de Asobu Donkey Kong Jungle Beat instruction booklet (PDF). Nintendo (Japanese). Page 14. Retrieved April 27, 2022.