Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island and Emerald Rush Review

I’ve enactment implicit 100 hours into Donkey Kong Bananza since July. I reached 100% completion connected my archetypal playthrough, did a zero-banana tally connected my second, and I’ve been utilizing a 3rd to signifier brainsick speedrun techniques and propulsion DK’s unthinkable question successful much utmost ways. Two months aft giving Bananza a 10 successful my archetypal review, I stay successful awe of however DK’s frenetic, destructive abilities enactment masterfully successful tandem with the underground’s meticulously-designed breakable environments. Nintendo nailed the narration betwixt Bananza’s satellite and its main character, and the caller DK Island and Emerald Rush DLC is simply a truly amusive excuse to support experimenting successful this playground successful a remixed, much frantic way, adjacent if a flimsy deficiency of contented and a fewer insignificant issues support it from reaching the aforesaid inspired heights arsenic the basal game.

Before we get excessively acold into things, a speedy note. Bananza’s DLC is lone accessible aft clearing the main story, and it acts arsenic somewhat of an extended postgame. I’m not going to outright spoil Bananza here, but if you’re inactive drilling your mode to the satellite halfway and don’t privation to cognize thing astir it, you whitethorn privation to travel backmost to this reappraisal erstwhile you’ve reached the extremity credits. That said, you should besides bash truthful before you dive excessively acold past them, due to the fact that the DLC makes immoderate adjuvant changes to the archetypal endgame grind that you whitethorn privation to cognize about. There are 2 intertwined halves of the DLC to discuss: DK Island is simply a caller level to explore, portion Emerald Rush is simply a roguelite instrumentality connected Bananza that makes up the bulk of the contented recovered successful this combined package.

DK Island is simply a fantastic emotion missive to Rare’s Donkey Kong Country trilogy and Donkey Kong 64. It’s a nostalgic instrumentality to wherever DK platformers truly began, comparable to exploring Super Mario 64’s Mushroom Kingdom successful Super Mario Odyssey’s postgame. It’s overflowing with large references, from evident ones similar DK’s treehouse and King K. Rool’s Gangplank Galleon from Donkey Kong Country, to deeper cuts similar DKC 2’s extremity people tucked distant successful the country connected the ship’s main deck. As a immense instrumentality of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat – the past DK platformer Nintendo developed internally anterior to Bananza – my favourite portion of DK Island has to beryllium the bongos retired astatine sea. There are truthful galore much references to DK past I don’t privation to springiness away, but if you person immoderate emotion for this series, you’ll astir apt get a footwear retired of discovering each its easter eggs too.

Beyond that, though, there’s really not that overmuch to bash connected DK Island. There are nary Banandium Gems oregon fossils to hunt down and nary situation rooms to conquer. Instead, the golden bonus stages recovered successful Bananza’s main layers are each collected here, making DK Island a convenient spot to grind for cash. Bananza’s archetypal postgame sees Grumpy Kong demanding tens of thousands of golden pieces to unlock immoderate of the last collectibles and scope 100% completion, and those who person entree to DK Island volition person a overmuch easier clip grinding than I did earlier the DLC was out. Elsewhere, DK’s aged parrot companion Squawks is here, and helium volition hunt down 1 of DK Island’s dozens of collectible statues successful speech for Banandium Chips. Shiny replicas of Bananza’s allies, enemies, and Kongs unrecorded successful galleries crossed DK Island, adding to its worth arsenic a nostalgic DK past museum. In classical Bananza fashion, you tin prime them up, turf surf connected them, and usage them to carve done the island’s cardinal mountain. You’ll request to grind thousands of Banandium Chips to bargain them all, but thankfully, those are the main reward of the Emerald Rush mode.

Besides DK Island’s relation arsenic a unreserved of 90s nostalgia and a spot to store chill trinkets, there’s not overmuch to it, and I wouldn’t urge buying the DLC if you’re lone funny successful this component. It’s a little odd that DK Island wasn’t included arsenic a postgame reward successful the basal crippled since it’s truthful comparable to Odyssey’s Mushroom Kingdom, and gating it down paid DLC feels benignant of similar a money-hungry determination from Nintendo. This is the institution that conscionable charged $10 for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, though, truthful I conjecture I shouldn’t beryllium excessively amazed astatine this somewhat eyeroll-worthy choice.

Fortunately, Bananza’s DLC does a overmuch amended occupation justifying its $20 terms tag successful its Emerald Rush mode. Void Kong has recovered his mode to DK Island, and he’s moved connected from his obsession with Banandium Gold to acceptable his sights connected a caller prize: emerald ore… which is the nonstop same, but green. Void hires DK and Pauline to cod arsenic overmuch emerald ore arsenic possible, and this instauration includes immoderate cute followups and resolutions for Bananza’s main communicative and characters.

I’ve seen immoderate online chatter calling Emerald Rush a elemental minigame that should person been free, but it’s overmuch much than that: it’s a fully-featured broadside mode that turns Bananza’s destruction-based platforming into a fun, replayable roguelite. Each tally takes spot crossed a bid of rounds – ranging from six to 15 depending connected the trouble level selected – wherever you person 100 seconds to scope a quota of emerald ore to wage Void. If you don’t scope the goal, your tally comes to an extremity close there. If you do, you tin support moving connected your physique for the remainder of the timer to banal up for the adjacent round, wherever the quota progressively multiples.

Emerald Rush feels similar a operation of Splatoon’s Salmon Run and Side Order modes. Personality-wise, it intelligibly takes inspiration from Salmon Run: some diagnostic a hilariously mean brag screaming astatine you to conscionable your quota done a walkie talkie implicit progressively hard rounds. This is besides Nintendo’s archetypal instrumentality connected a roguelite since past year’s fantabulous Side Order DLC for Splatoon 3 which, notably, besides came bundled with a nostalgic hub to explore. It feels similar Donkey Kong is pursuing the nonstop aforesaid playbook, arsenic Emerald Rush features dozens of perks that interaction your people multiplier successful a precise akin fashion.

Each tally of Emerald Rush begins by stripping DK of each his skills – including his 5 Bananza transformations astatine higher difficulties – and it’s up to you to powerfulness him backmost up portion besides gathering piles of emerald ore. This is done by frantically exploring layers, accelerated traveling astir with a constricted fig of tube cannons, collecting emerald bananas and fossils that reconstruct DK’s skills and springiness you the prime of 1 of 3 perks, and completing goals Void Kong assigns you astatine circumstantial locations crossed the map. I emotion starting from nothing, giving maine a spot to enactment each of DK’s high-level basal techniques to use, and I recovered I was capable to scope a batch of areas successful truly cool, satisfying ways – for example, utilizing a chunk to fundamentally quadruple leap to a level I traditionally would person utilized Ostrich Bananza to reach. Emerald Rush challenges precocious players to spell for the highest people possible, and there’s ever country to turn by deepening your knowing of however DK moves.

But adjacent if you’re not funny successful brainsick parkour tricks, the astir important portion of Emerald Rush are the perks that change however overmuch emerald ore appears. There are generic power-ups similar generating much erstwhile defeating a definite benignant of enemy, but the astir breathtaking ways to people are the Groove subset of perks, which revolve astir multipliers that summation the much you execute a circumstantial action. For instance, my favourite is Turf Groove, wherever much emerald ore appears based connected the full region traveled by Turf Surfing. The 2nd this perk shows up, my full playstyle changes. Suddenly, I’m trying to get everyplace by Turf Surfing, which is simply a large situation connected denser layers. Emerald Rush leads to scenarios you’d ne'er spot successful the basal game, and with specified an unthinkable instauration to physique a roguelite on, it’s ever amusive seeing however you tin propulsion the mechanics.

Stacking aggregate perks similar this connected apical of each different tin pb to wholly busted results, and I scored good implicit 1 cardinal points connected a fewer runs wherever my people extremity was little than fractional that. If you thought the basal crippled had a batch happening on-screen astatine once, Emerald Rush achieves a caller level of unregulated chaos, similar 1 tally wherever I got tons of bonus emerald ore for defeating enemies arsenic Zebra Bananza, starring to 30 minutes of sprinting astir nonstop, destroying everything successful show to flood the surface with an overwhelming, borderline unbelievable magnitude of emerald ore.

It’s not ever a breeze, though. Like astir roguelites, a batch of your occurrence depends connected what skills randomly amusement up, and I mislaid aggregate runs by banking connected a definite Bananza to spawn by gathering my perks astir it, and yet failing erstwhile it ne'er arrived. Speaking of Bananzas, Emerald Rush truly rewards mastery implicit these 5 powered-up forms, arsenic knowing the champion mode to instrumentality vantage of their unsocial strengths and swapping betwixt them connected the alert results successful a precocious accomplishment ceiling fitting of an endgame mode.

I bash privation Emerald Rush went a small spot further with its abilities, though. Seeing large numbers get bigger is ever enjoyable, and the mode Emerald Rush overlays your multiplier onto each idiosyncratic detonation is simply a bully interaction – but with a fewer uncommon exceptions, determination are nary marque caller abilities to find, and the perks simply marque DK’s already-existing moves worthy much points. It changes the scoring and the mode you play, but beyond reclaiming powers I’m already precise utilized to utilizing successful the basal game, it ne'er meaningfully expands the options disposable to you. The champion roguelites marque you consciousness much almighty passim a tally by giving you caller moves arsenic you go, and adding much breathtaking techniques to DK’s toolkit could person elevated this from a bully roguelite mode to a large one.

Completing runs earns you piles of Banandium Chips and standing points that unlock cute bonus costumes, much almighty perks successful the rotation, and caller layers to tackle. Emerald Rush doesn’t instrumentality spot successful caller areas too DK Island. Instead, DK and Pauline instrumentality to acquainted locations from Bananza’s campaign, and 1 of the coolest parts of this mode is however it rewards you for being intimately acquainted with these layers. Emerald versions of Banandium Gems and fossils are recovered successful the aforesaid locations arsenic their counterparts successful the main campaign, and knowing precisely wherever to find a vein of 3 fossils oregon a clump of bananas makes Emerald Rush consciousness similar a chill B-side to the main story. And, the Getaways you’ve built during the main communicative go indispensable accelerated question points during a run, further incentivizing you to research each furniture to the fullest.

In that aforesaid vein, Void Kong’s nonsubjective volition sometimes vaguely bid you to bash thing similar springiness Cranky Kong a precocious five, oregon instrumentality a aquatics successful a furniture that doesn’t person overmuch h2o successful it. Unlike the accustomed orders, these objectives don’t spot a marker connected your map, leaving it up to you to find them connected your own. Thanks to my 100+ hours and aggregate playthroughs, it didn’t instrumentality agelong for maine to pinpoint Cranky hanging retired connected a large histrion subdivision successful the Forest Layer, oregon to find a speedy pond to dive into successful the Hilltop Layer. I initially thought reusing areas from the basal crippled would beryllium a weakness of Emerald Rush, but the mode it leverages your cognition of acquainted locations is simply a truly smart, caller mode to efficaciously reuse aged content.

Still, this is different spot I privation Emerald Rush had added a small spot other to support things fresh. There are nary caller force types, and it ne'er introduces brag encounters that could’ve nicely breached up the gait of runs that past up to 45 minutes. I reached the extremity credits aft astir six hours, and portion the DLC’s postgame opens up respective much layers to play Emerald Rush in, I’m starting to consciousness a small burnt retired connected the formula. I’ll astir apt lone instrumentality astir to scope 100% completion retired of work to the basal crippled I’ve truthful thoroughly completed. And erstwhile I bash return, I’ll astir surely propulsion connected my ain euphony oregon a podcast – the brace of main themes is undeniably catchy with flourishes from Pauline that alteration depending connected your progressive transformation, but I could decidedly spell without proceeding either for a portion aft 10 hours successful the DLC.