>>720451706 (OP)
The problem isn't in Bananza but the franchise. Donkey Kong has prestige because it has ties to Mario's roots and thanks to constant exposure from Smash, but it's nowhere near the popularity of IPs like Zelda and isn't forgotten enough to reach meme status like F-Zero since it still gets games and cameos once in a blue moon.
Bananza is easily the franchise's modern breakout title akin to BotW changing everything going forward with Zelda, but it's kneecapped as a Year 1 game on a system with launch controversy buzz and a much lower playerbase than the original Switch. An inflated price tag leads to inflated expectations, so Bananza would have needed at least twice as much content in every layer to satisfy the average player's grievances for paying extra when bigger games have been out on discount for awhile.
Still my GOTY and a new all-time favorite, but that doesn't mean much to the suits at Nintendo HQ thinking it would be their new golden goose.
