Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia on Switch is for Donkey Kong Fans

I'd never heard of Marsupilami before this game showed up in my inbox. I hadn't played the first one, and I didn't know the character at all, so I started Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia on my Nintendo Switch OLED with no expectations. I played in bed with the lights off, which probably made the colors look even brighter than they are. Within a few minutes, I was saying out loud that it felt a lot like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

I recorded my thoughts the whole time, so this is a first-impressions post from about 35 minutes and two levels. I haven't beaten the game, and I'm not going to pretend I have. What I can tell you is how it felt to pick up as a total beginner, what tripped me up, and who I think will love it.

Disclosure: I received this item free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

⚡ Key Takeaways

• 🎨 The colors are bright, the music is upbeat, and it looks great on a Switch OLED.
• 🔄 Every level gives you two Marsupilamis to swap between, and each one has its own move.
• 🎮 There are a lot of moves and buttons to learn, and the on-screen tips fade after the first level.
• ⚖️ Normal, Easy (infinite lives), and Hard are all in the menu, and checkpoints show up often.
• 🎵 Music notes are the main collectible. I found 5 of 13 in level one and 3 of 13 in level two.
• 💲 The Switch version lists for around $30, and the PC version is $24.99 on Steam.

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What Is Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia About?

Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is a colorful side-scrolling platformer published by Microids and developed by Ocellus Studio. It came out on September 3, 2026, for Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The same team made Marsupilami: Hoobadventure and The Smurfs: Dreams. The story is simple. A cursed melody makes every animal in Palombia dance nonstop, and the Mummy Queen is behind it, so the Marsupilamis go after her.

You get three playable characters. Twister has a turbo glide, Hope has a spin jump, and Punch turns into a bouncy ball. Each level hands you two of them, and you swap between them with a button press while you play. The campaign has four worlds, and I only reached the first one, which is a jungle. There are also Battle Dojos, time trials, and a no-death mode called Flow Mode, but I haven't tried any of those yet.

Who This Game Is For

If you liked Donkey Kong Country, start here. The tail grabs, the swinging, and the jungle setting all gave me that same feel, and I'm not the only one who noticed. Way Too Many Games and NoobFeed both compare it to that series too. It's also a good fit for anyone who wants a cute, bright game for an hour after work, because the levels have plenty of checkpoints and you can stop at the map between them.

It could also work on a weekend with another player, since the game supports two-player local co-op. I played solo, so I can't tell you how co-op feels yet. One reviewer said boss fights get very easy with two people, which could be a plus if you're playing with someone who's newer to platformers. If you want a totally relaxed game, though, keep reading, because this one asked more of me than I expected.

What You Might Be Wondering

Is It as Hard as Tropical Freeze?

I don't know yet, and I'll be upfront that Tropical Freeze is the reason I'm cautious. I own it, barely played it, and quit because it got stressful. Marsupilami 2 felt challenging by level two, mostly because I kept getting hit by spikes and fumbling the controls. Reviewers say the regular platforming is forgiving and the bosses are the hardest part, with Games Asylum calling the difficulty well balanced. After my first level, the game told me I could change the difficulty any time. Normal is described as the original experience, Easy gives you infinite lives, and Hard is a bigger challenge.

Is It Hard to Learn the Controls?

It took me a while. You can jump, float in the air, hang on with your tail, swing, attack with your tail, drill down, wall bounce, and switch characters. The first level feels like a tutorial because it shows you each button on screen, and I liked that a lot. From level two on, there were fewer tips, but you still got hints about when to switch characters. I kept mixing up buttons, and I think that if I put the game down for a week, I'd come back and forget half of it.

How Long Are the Levels?

Longer than I thought they'd be. My first level took almost 20 minutes, but that was because I was learning the ropes, and I spent a lot of time figuring out how to swing. NoobFeed put the main campaign at about three hours, with extra stages and challenges on top. So a skilled player can finish it quickly, and a beginner like me will take much longer.

Is It Worth the Price?

According to Deku Deals, the Switch version lists for $29.99 and takes up about 4.7 GB, and you can buy it digitally or as a physical copy. On Steam, it's $24.99. Critic scores are solid but not amazing, with a Metacritic score of 76 and an OpenCritic score of 81 when I checked. The reviews I read range from 7 out of 10 to 8 out of 10, and the common complaints are the boss fights and limited enemy variety. Whether it's worth it comes down to how much you like this style of game, and how much of the optional content you plan to chase.

What Stood Out to Me

The Look and the Music

The main screen is vibrant, with yellow, orange, and purple characters that look a little wacky and a lot of fun. The music is upbeat and cheerful, and I noticed myself liking it right away. Everything looked great to me on a regular Switch OLED, and I don't even own a Switch 2. The graphics shift between flat side-scrolling and more 3D angles, which kept the levels from feeling repetitive.

Switching Between Characters

This is the main hook of the game, and I enjoyed it more than I expected. One character floats, one jumps higher with a spin, and the purple one turns into a ball you can bounce around with and use to break walls. I don't know their names by heart yet; I just know them by color, and the purple ball character became my favorite quickly. The game also drops hints when you need to swap, and sometimes you just have to use a certain character to get past a spot. That said, the ball character was hard to control on bouncy platforms, and I lost control of him more than once.

Checkpoints and Collectibles

I liked how many checkpoints there were. I'd guess four or five per level, which made the whole thing less stressful. The main collectible is music notes, and each level seems to have 13. I only found 5 in the first level and 3 in the second, so I'm clearly not a completionist yet. I'm not sure what happens when you get them all, but Games Asylum says music notes gate the boss fights, so they matter for more than bragging rights. The counter I saw showed a total out of 99, and I couldn't tell if that's per world or for the whole game.

The Rough Spots

At the start of the first level, the camera is zoomed way out, and I could barely see my character. I'd love an option to zoom in a little, because I could see colors but not what the characters really look like. There's a loading screen before each level and another when you go back to the map. And the spikes got on my nerves, and level two ended with me yelling at a bouncing character to calm down. It was funny afterward, but it wasn't relaxing in the moment.

How You Can Play It

When you start a new game, there are three save slots, and you choose between solo and duo. I'd suggest spending a few minutes in the settings first, because I always do and there's useful stuff in there. You can turn camera shake and vibration off, and "hold to dash" is deactivated by default, so you can turn it on if you want it. There are three color blind modes with a strength slider from 0 to 10, plus volume controls for music and sound effects. The game supports 10 languages, according to its Steam page.

The game also has a controller screen that lists what each button does. In my case, the A button isn't used at all. Take the first level slowly, because the tutorial teaches nearly every move, and it's worth practicing the tail swing before you move on. If a level gets frustrating, remember that checkpoints are common and the difficulty can change at any time.

My Favorite Takeaways

A few things stuck with me after my first session:

• The tutorial level does a great job of showing each move right when you need it.
• The purple Punch character is my favorite, and the ball form makes breaking blocks and bouncing off enemies satisfying.
• Drilling down to break platforms reminded me of the pogo stick in the old-school DuckTales games, which made me smile.
• I'm curious what the music notes unlock, and I plan to go back to level one and find the ones I missed.

My overall feeling is that it's cute, fun, and a little stressful. I wanted something calmer, but the game is so cheerful that I kept going anyway. I'm worried it might get too hard for me as the worlds go on, but I'll definitely play more levels.

Where to Get Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia and Who Should Play It

This game will encourage anyone who misses Donkey Kong Country-style platformers and wants something bright and new on Switch. It's best for a weekend afternoon or a quiet evening when you have an hour to learn the moves, and it could be a fun gift for a platformer fan or for a friend you'd play co-op with. If you get frustrated easily, try Easy mode early instead of waiting until you're annoyed. And if you don't mind a challenge, I think you'll enjoy it a lot.

If you're curious, the next step is to check the current Switch price on Deku Deals, which lists digital and physical prices from different stores.

Frequently Asked Questions About Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia

What platforms is Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia on?

Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia launched on September 3, 2026, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. On Switch, you can buy it digitally or as a physical copy, and Deku Deals lists the file size at about 4.7 GB. The PC version is on Steam for $24.99. I played on a Switch OLED, and it ran and looked great for the two levels I played. I didn't notice any slowdown, though I only played for about 35 minutes, so I can't speak for the later worlds.

Does Marsupilami 2 have co-op?

Yes. The game supports one or two players locally, and you pick solo or duo when you start a new save. In co-op, the two of you can split the Marsupilamis between you instead of switching with a button. I only played solo, so I can't speak to how it feels, but NoobFeed says co-op makes boss fights much easier. So plan on a couch and a second controller. If you want to see how the game plays with two people, the reviews I linked above are the best place to start until I try it myself.

Do I need to play the first Marsupilami game first?

No. I never played the first one and had never even heard of it, and I wasn't lost in the first two levels. The first level is a tutorial that teaches you the controls, and the story is easy to follow. The developers also made Marsupilami: Hoobadventure, so fans of that game will find familiar ideas. If you're new like me, you can jump straight in without any homework. The game does ask you to learn a lot of moves quickly, so give yourself a few minutes in the tutorial before you try the harder jumps.

Does Marsupilami 2 have an easy mode?

It does. After the first level, the game told me I could change the difficulty any time from the menu. Normal is the original experience, Easy gives you infinite lives, and Hard is a tougher challenge. I stayed on Normal for now. Infinite lives isn't really what I wanted; I wanted the challenges themselves to be a little easier. Games Asylum also mentions common checkpoints and an easier mode with infinite health. You can switch difficulty whenever you want, so you aren't locked into your first choice.