Donkey Kong Bananza and Metroid Prime 4 Drop by $20 as Nintendo Unveils Its Black Friday 2026 Lineup
First-party price cuts on recent Nintendo releases are notoriously rare, as Kyoto traditionally holds its flagship software at full retail price for years. In an official announcement shared on November 12 from its Redmond headquarters via Nintendo of America, the company unveiled its Black Friday 2026 promotional calendar, slashing $20 off several marquee Nintendo Switch 2 titles and knocking $50 off its headline console bundle.
Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4, and Kirby Air Riders Get $20 Retail Cuts
Running from November 22 through November 29, 2026, five major first-party games will receive a $20 discount on physical editions at participating retailers (including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and GameStop) as well as online through the My Nintendo Store and at the Nintendo New York and Nintendo San Francisco flagship stores. Normally priced at $69.99 on the new hardware, Donkey Kong Bananza, Kirby Air Riders, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition will all drop to $49.99.
The $20 markdown also extends to Super Mario Party Jamboree - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV, the Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 dual pack, and the original Nintendo Switch versions of both Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Super Mario Party Jamboree, bringing entry prices down to $39.99. These discounts land right after collectors rushed to secure the final interchangeable Dragoon and Hydra amiibo for Kirby Air Riders.
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Nintendo Switch 2): $49.99 instead of $69.99 ($20 off)
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Nintendo Switch): $20 off each edition ($49.99 on Switch 2 and $39.99 on Switch)
- Kirby Air Riders (Nintendo Switch 2): $49.99 instead of $69.99 ($20 off)
- Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV and Nintendo Switch): $20 off MSRP
- Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo Switch): $39.99 instead of $59.99 ($20 off)
These physical markdowns target players who have been waiting for a price break on Nintendo Switch 2 launch and holiday releases before picking up cartridges.
The Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle Returns at $499.99
On the hardware front, Nintendo is rolling out a longer promotional window from November 22 through December 5, 2026. The bundle pairing the Nintendo Switch 2 console with a full digital download of Mario Kart World and a 3-month individual Nintendo Switch Online membership will be available for a suggested retail price of $499.99, representing a $50 savings off its standard $549.99 bundle tag.
In practice, this holiday offer temporarily rolls back the $50 hardware price increase that followed the system's June 2025 launch amid rising memory component costs and US tariff pressures, a topic we recently explored when looking at how Nintendo is navigating Switch 2 pricing and RAM supply into 2027. Alongside the racing bundle, a second package featuring the Nintendo Switch 2 console, a full download of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort (complete with Wuhu Island and 12 motion-controlled sports), and a 3-month Nintendo Switch Online membership will be offered at $529.99.
Check Availability Nintendo Switch 2 Availability on Amazon→
Nintendo eShop Digital Sale Starts November 19 Ahead of microSD Express Rush
Digital players will get a three-day head start on the holiday discounts. The annual Nintendo eShop Black Friday sale kicks off on Thursday, November 19 and runs through Wednesday, December 2, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT, bringing price cuts across a wide selection of downloadable Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch games.
Stocking up during the eShop sale also brings storage capacity into focus, as the Nintendo Switch 2 strictly requires high-speed microSD Express cards to store and boot digital titles. Retailers have already begun discounting licensed 512GB microSD Express cards from SanDisk and Samsung down toward $159.99 from their $199.99 list price, making storage upgrades a smart stop before the digital storefront sale goes live on November 19.
My Perspective
Grabbing a physical copy of Donkey Kong Bananza or Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for $49.99 is the kind of autumn surprise we rarely get from Kyoto so soon after release. Normally, you have to wait three years just to shave ten dollars off a flagship Nintendo cartridge, so I am genuinely thrilled to see these heavy hitters drop under the $50 mark right in time for cozy winter gaming nights.
At the same time, it is hard not to smile a little at the $499.99 Mario Kart World bundle being pitched as a massive holiday markdown when that was simply its original June 2025 launch price before the $50 hike hit. Even so, getting the console, a flagship racer, and three months of online play at that baseline price makes this two-week window from November 22 the smartest time all year to jump onto Switch 2 before retail stock dries up.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
