I’ve become so used to Nintendo taking its sweet time with DLC rollouts I assumed there was no way we’d get first-party add-ons within the first year of Switch 2. Happy Home Paradise, the Booster Course Pass and Side Order were all pleasantly surprising, not because of their packed bonus content (though that was a welcome factor), but because I had given up hope of ever hearing from these games again. So, you can only imagine my surprise when Nintendo flung an image of DK and Pauline at me last week, accompanied by the words ‘DLC’ and ‘Available Today’.
It has been a little over two months since Donkey Kong Bananza launched on Switch 2, and the DLC is already here. The DK Island & Emerald Rush expansion packs in a new area to explore and a ridiculously fun new game mode, but its proximity to the base game’s arrival and a £16.99 / $19.99 price tag make it difficult to shake the feeling that this add-on content should have been included from the jump. In short, this banana is split.
Let’s kick things off with the positives — because come on, could you be mean to DK’s goofy little grin? I’ll get to DK Island in just a moment, but the new Emerald Rush mode is undoubtedly the star of the show. What’s more, it slaps.
This takes the basic movement and combat of Bananza and shapes it into a roguelike. Yes, a roguelike. It sounds like a bit of a square-peg-round-hole situation, no? Don’t worry, I was of the same mind for a second too, but once I started barrelling around with a timer ticking away in the background, I quickly saw the two were a match made in heaven.
After the events of the main story (don’t worry, I won’t be spoiling too much here), big bad Void Kong finds himself chilling on the surface at DK Island — the one from Donkey Kong Country, 64 et al. Putting his Banandium passions behind him, he ropes DK and Pauline into a new mining operation: Emerald Ore. Void has quotas to fill, and he wants to fill them fast, so our beloved platforming pair set out collecting as much of the damn stuff as possible.
It’s not your typical roguelike set-up, but stay with me here. Void’s initial quotas are simple enough to fill within the 99-second time limit, but as the pressure ramps up, you’ll need to rely on ‘Perks’ found in Fossils scattered across the stage to keep the ore supplies rolling in. These boosts can increase the amount of ore you get from defeating an enemy, influence the frequency of treasure chests, or grant bonuses to certain Bananza transformations. There’s a boatload of them. What’s important, however, is that every Fossil will let you add one to your ‘build’ — a ‘build’ that resets with every run. There’s the roguelike repetition we know and love!
Whether you fulfil all of Void’s quotas or crash out under the pressure, DK’s Perks are reset for the next run, so you’ll have to start from scratch to craft the ultimate ore-collecting machine. Of course, the genre’s randomisation is all present and correct too, so no two builds will be identical — you can only make the most of the Perks presented to you, after all.
It’s fast, it’s frantic, and it gels beautifully with Bananza’s destructive gameplay. I adored how DK handled in the base game, and I got to really put my skills to the test here. The ever-ticking timer means rolls, jumps and Turf Surfs are more important than ever, and there’s even a meaty list of rewards that progressively unlock after successful runs that promise new outfits, Perks, and the chance to go rogue(like) on other layers.
That said, the layer you’ll start on (and, let’s admit it, the one you’ll want to spend the most time with) is DK Island. This is a brand new setting for Bananza, and it looks every bit as enticing as you’d expect. DK’s house is here, the DK-shaped mountain is here, even Grant Kirkhope’s lovely little island theme from DK 64 is here.
In Emerald Rush, it’s a joy to dash past these familiar surroundings en route to your next quota. But without Emerald Rush… it’s lifeless. Much like Odyssey, Bananza feels built for bonus DLC worlds — a new layer with a tiny storyline and a handful of fresh collectibles feels like a no-brainer, right? But, also like Odyssey, Nintendo doesn’t seem to see that.
While pretty to look at and fun to run around, DK Island has no unique Banandium Gems or Fossils. There are no missions to complete or bosses to battle. Heck, apart from Squark’s Statue hut, there’s not even a shop with some new merch. Sure, Emerald Rush brings some of these to the table (one of them crops up right at the end), but without the pressure of the timer ticking away in the background, the new island struck me as a massive wasted opportunity.
As fun as Emerald Rush is (and, as I’ve said, it’s really fun), its addition alone doesn’t quite feel worth the price of admission. If this roguelike island had cropped up in the base game, it’d be happy days all around. Rambi Rumble brought a welcome change of pace to the Racing Layer, so why not do it again? But as it stands, Emerald Rush feels lost in an otherwise quite bland package.
If you’ve 100%-ed the base game and are looking for an excuse to dive back in for more action, this is a good excuse to do it — you’ll get more than a good few hours of roguelike smiles. If you’re looking for something more substantial, you won’t find it here. I can’t believe I’m saying this after tracking down all 777 Banandium Gems, 696 Fossils and 110 Discs in the base game, but this DLC could have done with some more collectibles.
Conclusion
Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush feels like a split banana. The new roguelike mode is a lot of fun, gelling surprisingly well with the game’s core mechanics and giving me a welcome excuse to swing back into my beloved Bananza, but the other half of the deal, DK Island, left me feeling a little short-changed with its lack of appeal outside of the new game mode.
Bananza constantly reminded me of Odyssey as I played through the base game, and now it seems, much like its platforming predecessor, I’m going to be forever thinking about the DLC potential that never was.
