A new co-op platformer called Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia should look familiar to anyone fond of Donkey Kong Country. This September 2026 release is now available on both the Nintendo Switch 2 and its predecessor, as well as a variety of other platforms.
Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia launched on September 3 as a direct follow-up to the 2021 platformer Marsupilami: Hoobadventure. Developed by French studio Ocellus and published by Paris-based Microids, the game supports two-player local co-op and stars three playable Marsupilamis, the long-tailed, monkey-like creatures originating from the classic Franco-Belgian comic series of the same name. Each character has distinct abilities used for combat, traversal, and environmental interactions. While all of that invites natural comparisons with modern couch co-op games like Survival Kids, Salsa Palombia places considerably more emphasis on traditional side-scrolling platforming than other recent examples of its genre.
Marsupilami 2 Has a Lot in Common With Donkey Kong Country
That platforming is where the Donkey Kong Country resemblance becomes particularly apparent. Salsa Palombia combines colorful 2D stages with jungle-heavy environments, collectibles, hidden routes, character-specific movement abilities, and boss encounters, while its two-player setup provides another obvious point of comparison with the well-received 2025 remaster Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. The similarities have also been noted in multiple reviews tracked by OpenCritic, which draw comparisons between Ocellus’ 2026 platformer and Nintendo’s long-running series.
The overall premise of Salsa Palombia provides an even more specific parallel. The story of the Marsupilami sequel begins with a strange melody spreading across the titular Palombia, causing its animals to dance uncontrollably as part of the Mummy Queen’s plans. Donkey Kong Country Returns similarly pits Donkey and Diddy Kong against the musical Tiki Tak Tribe, which hypnotizes the animals of the Donkey Kong Island while stealing DK’s banana hoard. While the stories differ substantially beyond that setup, the notion of musical villains exerting control over jungle wildlife is a particularly specific concept for the two otherwise unrelated platformers to share.
Marsupilami 2 Has Four Worlds and Plenty of Extra Challenges
Marsupilami 2 has more going on than its Donkey Kong Country similarities. Its campaign spans four main worlds encompassing a jungle, a city, snowy mountains, and an underworld-like realm, with hidden stages, boss encounters, battle dojos, and competitive mini-games providing additional challenges. Salsa Palombia also includes Flow Mode, a speed-focused activity built around completing trials without dying. Its side-scrolling structure makes Marsupilami 2 quite different from the critically acclaimed Donkey Kong Bananza, potentially making it especially appealing to Switch 2 owners looking for something closer to the traditional 2D Donkey Kong games.
The Donkey Kong comparisons are far from new for Ocellus. The French developer’s 2021 platformer Marsupilami: Hoobadventure was already widely likened to Donkey Kong Country by reviewers for its side-scrolling level design and overall style of gameplay. Since Salsa Palombia builds on that foundation while adding local co-op, the end result is even more similar to Nintendo’s iconic (sub)series, as well as modern Switch platformers such as Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, Windswept, Nikoderiko: The Magical World, and Kaze and the Wild Masks, which likewise draw inspiration from the classic Donkey Kong Country formula.
- Released
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September 3, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone / Mild Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Ocellus Studio
