All Planet Core Layer Banandium Gem locations in Donkey Kong Bananza
In Donkey Kong Bananza, the Planet Core Layer is the 16th layer where you’ll soon reach the conclusion of the story. Even though it’s close to the end, there are still a lot of Banandium Gems for you to find and collect.
The Planet Core is full of your usual enemies, gold, and a bunch of thorns. You’ll need to navigate your way through the dangerous terrain and utilize all of your Bananza forms to grab all of these bananas.
[Ed. note: As this is the finale of Donkey Kong Bananza, everything beyond this point can potentially spoil the game for you. If you’re not on the Planet Core Layer, and are for some reason looking at the bananas on this layer, consider this your final warning!]
Below, we list where to find all of the Banandium Gems in the Planet Core Layer in Donkey Kong Bananza.
Sublayer 1600 Banandium Gems
There are three Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1600 in the Planet Core Layer.
#1: Victory over Void Kong!
This bunch of bananas is directly in front of you once you drop down to this layer.
#2: A View of the King
From where you land on the sublayer, turn directly around to see this banana on top of a platform in the distance. You can use Ostrich Bananza to glide over here and then Snake Bananza to climb the tower.
#3: In the Belly of K. Rool
Punch through the K. Rool statue’s stomach to find this banana inside. Yuck?
Sublayer 1601 Banandium Gems
There are four Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1601 in the Planet Core Layer.
#4: Floating over Fractone Fort
Climb to the top of the cliff behind the Warp Gong at Fractone Fort. If you look towards the center of the fort, you’ll find a floating shifty platform. Throw a chunk at it and fly over as an ostrich. Quickly swap to a snake and charge jump to the barrel that’ll shoot you to a platform with a banana on it.
#5: Shifty Smash: Inhale and Destroy
This banana is earned after you complete the Shifty Smash challenge on the cliff above the Warp Gong. To complete it, turn into an elephant and suck up all of the lava. Then, swap to Kong Bananza and smash through the concrete and shifty wall.
#6: Planet Core Smashin’ Stats
Speak to the Smashintone next to the Warp Gong after you’ve destroyed 70,000 cubic meters of gold to get a banana.
#7: Planet Core Chip Exchange
Exchange Banandium Chips and gold with a concierge at a getaway or at the Chip Exchange on Sublayer 1606 (pictured above).
Sublayer 1602 Banandium Gems
There is one Banandium Gem in Sublayer 1602 in the Planet Core Layer.
#8: Survived the Gravel Gauntlet
You’ll get this banana from naturally going through the path, after that horrendous dirt road.
Sublayer 1603 Banandium Gems
There are two Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1603 in the Planet Core Layer.
#9: Klaptrapped behind the Goo
After you land on Sublayer 1603, you’ll see a golden banana in the distance. Step onto the first pink goo pathway and allow the hungry, hungry crocodile build a blue goo pathway for you. Quickly cross the blue and pink goo paths to grab the banana while the second hungry, hungry crocodile creates a blue goo wall for you to climb to the next floor.
#10: The Switcheroo Chase
This banana is found naturally through following the path, at the top of the pink/blue goo path.
Sublayer 1604 Banandium Gems
There are two Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1604 in the Planet Core Layer.
#11: Korner of the Krevasse
After you set off the explosives on the spinning circular platform, look below you to find a banana on a floating platform.
#12: Cracking Open the Way
This is another story progression banana. You’ll see it after you complete the portion with the switches and gliding.
Sublayer 1605 Banandium Gems
There are two Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1605 in the Planet Core Layer.
#13: The Kremling Krew’s Last Stand
This is a post-game banana, meaning you won’t be able to grab it until you roll credits and come back to this area.
Return to the arena on Sublayer 1605 to face off against multiple waves of Kremlings. Once you land, a Kremling version of a wallopoid will immediately slam down in front of you, so be ready to dodge. You do just need to punch away at these enemies, but many of them have spiked-concrete exteriors. Pluck gold off of nearby veins and toss it at these enemies to deal with them swiftly.
#14: Stomped Stompenclomper! Again!
You get this banana as part of the story, after you defeat the Stompenclomper.
Sublayer 1606 Banandium Gems
There are three Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1606 in the Planet Core Layer.
#15: Planet Core Quiz Master
After you ride the minecart to Sublayer 1606, look under the minecart station to spot Quiztone on the platform below. Drop down and get all of their questions correct to get a banana. If you’re having a hard time answering their questions, here are all of the correct answers:
Seals
Powerful
Quiztone
#16: Shifty Smash: Skyward Smashing
Before you drop down into the hole on Sublayer 1606, climb onto the stone on the right side and look over the edge. You’ll spot a shifty smash challenge on a platform below. Before starting, we recommend transforming into a snake and grabbing a chunk. To complete the challenge, charge jump through the shifty platforms with a chunk in hand all the way to the top.
#17: Fractone Cradle Climb
Before you drop into the hole, look up and across from you to see a banana at the peak. Climb onto the stone on your right and walk along the edge until you reach the large metal structure. Transform into a snake, charge jump, and then double jump at the peak to reach the top. To make things a little easier, you can also upgrade your charge jump in the skills menu.
Sublayer 1607 Banandium Gems
There are two Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1607 in the Planet Core Layer.
#18: Turf Surf Pit Stop
As you’re turf surfing across the thorns, you’ll spot a pillar of thorns on the left side of the track. Hit an enemy into the pillar to remove the thorns and climb up to find a banana.
#19: Turf Surf Finish Line
You get this banana at the end of the Turf Surfing segment on this sublayer.
Sublayer 1608 Banandium Gems
There are no Banandium Gems on Sublayer 1608 in the Planet Core Layer.
Sublayer 1609 Banandium Gems
There are four Banandium Gems in Sublayer 1609 in the Planet Core Layer.
#20: Cranky’s Planet Core Rant
Cranky Kong is to the left on a heightened platform before you take the mine cart to the core. Listen to him to get this banana.
#21: Rocked King K. Rool!
You get this bunch of orange bananas after you take out K. Rool.
#22: Halfway through the Harmoneel
To get Banandium Gems #22 and #23, you’ll need to have completed all five Elder Rehearsal challenges. After you’ve done that, make your way to the the center of the Planet Core on Sublayer 1609, but before you start, you should do the following:
Unlock the gold Kong Bananza skill, Golden Punch, and the gold Elephant Bananza skill, Golden Vacuum
Max out the snake’s Charge Jump skill
Max out the ostrich’s Flutter and Glide skills
Max out the health upgrades
Max out the Bananza form duration
Equip Pauline’s Prime Feast Apparel outfit from the Feast Layer
Purchase red balloons, apple juice, and melon juice
That is a lot of suggestions, but this is the toughest challenge in Donkey Kong Bananza for a reason. Additionally, if you lose all of your hearts (and apple juice), you’ll need to start over from the very beginning, so you’ll want all of these buffs.
For this first banana, you’ll need to complete three challenges. The first challenge requires you to bob and weave through thorns in the air. Transform into an ostrich and hit the melon again to refill your Bananergy gauge. This section is somewhat timed as you need to make it through this entire portion before your ostrich transformation runs out.
One general tip for this portion is that your Egg Bombs can blow up the thorns below you, but they move very slow. To counteract that, drop your eggs at the very top of the hole. Slowly glide around and then quickly drop through the hole that your Egg Bomb created.
For this next section, you’ll need to make your way through a familiar challenge course, but this time, it’s been upgraded with spiky concrete. However, you can easily smash your way through everything with your gold Kong Bananza skill, Golden Punch. Charge up a punch and watch the waves leave a path of destruction. Alternatively, the gold Elephant Bananza skill, Golden Vacuum, will work on some surfaces, but not others.
Use either ability to create pits that the spiky balls will fall into and punch your way through the concrete walls. For the last section, we recommend clearing an area underneath the spiky ball’s landing zone and then throwing gold chunks with in your elephant form. Alternatively, you can climb to the top and quickly vacuum a pit in the area before any spiky balls hit you.
For the last section before the first banana, you’ll need to hit the blue balloon to make the platform descend to the bottom, but enemies will come out of their caves and try to attack you. The simplest solution for this portion is to just spam your roll (L button) and punch (Y button) through the blue balloon to attack and parry every enemy that comes your way. Once you reach the bottom, quickly leave through the door and claim your banana.
#23: End of the Harmoneel
Before you drop down the hole, we recommend to transform into your elephant form and punch the melon again to refill your Bananergy gauge. Note that if you die in the second half of the challenge, you’ll have to start from the beginning — even before the ostrich and thorns part, so be very careful.
There are a few ways to go through this next section, but we recommend using the elephant form and sucking up the first glow stone platform to have 10 stored glow stone chunks.
Continuously have a glow stone chunk out and swing at the shade ore stompoids and shade ore barriers to safely make it to the end. Then, use the glow stone to hit the coil and open the door at the end, which leads to the next section.
Before you attempt to turf surf across the railway, use your Golden Vacuum skill to suck up the concrete behind you and refill your Bananergy gauge.
Now, transform into Kong form and grab a chunk off of the concrete Fractone. Rather than turf surfing across the rails, we’re going to skip this whole section with our snake and ostrich forms. With the concrete chunk in hand, transform into a snake and charge jump into the air. At the peak jump height, transform into an ostrich and glide the rest of the way. Make sure you glide over the middle rail because you will have to turf surf when you get close. A good indicator to when you need to start turf surfing is when you’re close to the three gold balls near the barrel. Press ZL when you’re close and launch yourself from the barrel into the next area.
For this very last section, you’ll need to use your Kong Bananza form to break through the concrete barriers and weave your way in between the flaming barrels until you break through a golden wall.
Behind the wall, you’ll find another melon and a path made out of water. If you’re low on health, we recommend transforming into any Bananza form and regenerating your health to full due to Pauline’s Prime Feast Apparel outfit. Once you’re ready, transform into a zebra and charge dash over the water. Make sure to jump over the pits and watch out for the falling flaming barrels. If you do get hit, roll and jump forward to prevent yourself from falling to the bottom. Once you make it to the mine cart, you’ve successfully completed the challenge! Ride the mine cart to the end to claim your banana.
While yes, this is the last area in the game, a new spot has re-opened for you to find bananas in: Ingot Isle, the starting area! Onward to more bananas!
Monkeying around in Donkey Kong Bananza? We have guides to help you plow through this collectathon, including where to find Banandium Gems on Groove Layer, Feast Layer, and Forbidden Layer. We also have guides on how to unlock music discs and explainers on the various Ancient Bananza Powers and the skill tree.
