Donkey Kong Bananza launched just two months ago, and in our review, we found it to easily be the best reason yet to own a Switch 2. So, when paid DLC was announced during the latest Nintendo Direct, and released immediately following the presentation, it came as a bitter sweet feeling. More content being added to a great game is always good news, but trying to convince customers to spend £16.99/$19.99 for DLC when they just spent full price on the base game isn't an easy task. In terms of content structure, Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush clearly takes a page from Inkopolis & Side Order, the paid DLC for Splatoon 3, giving a sense of nostalgia (by adding DK Island from the Donkey Kong Country series as a new layer to explore), alongside a taste of roguelike action (with the new Emerald Rush mode), but is that worth rushing for?
As long as you've completed the game's main story, DK Island can be accessed from the Warp Gong Eelevators, just like any of the other layers in the game. DK Island is a bit different though, as there are no Banandium Gems to collect or challenges to complete. You can talk to Squawks at his hut, allowing you to spend any extra Banandium Chips you've collected on cool statues that you can pick up and move around the island (more exclusive statues will be available during limited-time events). Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Cranky Kong can all be found hanging out together, and by talking to Rambi you can move them to different locations on the island for photo ops. Six of the gold rush Bonus Stages from the main game can be conveniently found, and there's also a series of symbol-based puzzles from a banana-shaped Fractone that leads you to a special unlockable item. While those are all welcome additions, with plenty of hidden details and easter eggs throughout (including a much appreciated reference to the 2004 GameCube classic, Donkey Konga), the new roguelike mode, Emerald Rush, is where the value of the DLC becomes more apparent, and is the main reason to visit DK Island after you're done exploring.
Void Kong has set up camp on DK Island after discovering emerald ore, a form of Banandium Gold that's green like an unripened banana. With no one else to do his dirty work for him, Void Kong hires Donkey Kong and Pauline as the newest members of VoidCo, who hesitantly agree to help collect as much of this new ore as they can so he can turn around and sell it for a profit. In return, the new recruits get paid with Banandium Chips and a VoidCo Rewards card that can unlock bonuses like new outfits/accessories for Donkey Kong and Pauline and the ability to play Emerald Rush on other layers. Each reward is tied to a specific number of points needed to unlock it, with more points earned depending on how well that you do your job.
The way progression works is interesting, as there is virtually no way to fairly review Emerald Rush without somewhat spoiling the post-credits, as a large portion of the mode isn't even unlocked until after. I'll refrain from story-related spoilers, which has some cute interactions with additional voice lines for young Pauline, but is nowhere near as substantial as the ending to Bananza, but if you wanna avoid gameplay-related spoilers too, you can skip ahead to the next paragraph. For some reason, the VoidCo Rewards card only appears to have 22 spots of unlockables when you first receive it, 5 of which are for new layers to play Emerald Rush on. If you've played the base game, you know there are a lot more layers than that, which immediately comes as a disappointment that some layers are grayed out and others are locked when you're prompted to select one, seemingly implying that not all the layers are compatible with the new mode. However, fortunately that isn't the case, as after "fully" completing the VoidCo Rewards card by earning a total of 2000 points, the amount of unlockables more than doubles to 48 after the credits sequence, so as long as you're determined enough, you can work your way up to play Emerald Rush on an additional 5 layers. There are only a few exceptions that understandably wouldn't be feasible for gameplay related reasons.
With that out of the way, in Emerald Rush, all the Banandium Gold on any given layer is turned into emerald ore, including bananas, chips, and fossils. Although DK Island in particular doesn't have any bananas or fossils while exploring it normally, it does during Emerald Rush, as collecting them is a core mechanic. The overall goal is to meet the quota of collected emerald ore within a set time limit, only being able to move on to the next round if that quota is met. Emerald Rush is a roguelike, but not endless, and how many rounds you must get through to complete a run successfully is dependent on the difficulty. There are 7 difficulty settings, with a new one unlocked (for every layer) after completing the previous. Each level progressively increases your reward but also your quota, decreasing the number of Warp Barrels you start with each round (used for fast traveling around the map), and even disabling your Bananza abilities, making you have to take the time to recollect each one from a Banandium gem. As the quota increases, so must your efficiency, not just by maintaining health and perfecting your movement, but also executing a strategy, using emerald chips you've collected to rebuild your freshly wiped skill tree (don't worry, it reverts after the run) and gathering fossils that allow you to pick between one of three randomized "Emerald Perks."
Choosing the right Emerald Perks can make or break a good run of Emerald Rush. There are over 100 total possibilities, with more unlocked for getting enough points on the aforementioned VoidCo Rewards card. All of your chosen Emerald Perks reset at the end of each run, so while more can be unlocked, you aren't actually getting stronger every time. Emerald Perks provide many unique passive abilities (some of which can appear multiple times during a game and be stacked), including but far from limited to: hold an additional Warp Barrel in your inventory, see the exact location of fossils on the map, increase the amount of emerald ore received for smashing a certain material, type of enemy, or even the method of attack in which it's defeated.
Speaking of enemies, Void Kong will give you goals one after the other during Emerald Rush that will reward you with a bonus amount of emerald ore, emerald chips, and an Emerald Perk for completing it. These goals are usually pretty simple, like high-fiving a Kong, smashing a rock, or defeating a small cluster of enemies that spawn, and a waypoint is given that tells you exactly where to go, but managing your resources, such as Warp Barrels, to get to those locations in a timely matter, is the hard part. Keeping up can be quite challenging, even on difficulty level 3, but the chaos of having to move as fast as possible to meet quota while smashing all the emerald ore in your path, juggling health, Void's Goals, upgrading your skill tree, and gathering fossils for Emerald Perks, is a very addictive gameplay loop and works well with Bananza's destruction mechanic. Although longer play sessions can get repetitive, the amount of content here is more than enough to keep you coming back.
While there's no discernible reason that DK Island shouldn't have been included as a bonus layer at the end of the base game, especially with the DLC releasing so soon after launch, Emerald Rush nonetheless adds worthwhile replayability to Donkey Kong Bananza with an engaging new mode that encourages you to take full advantage of the game mechanics. If you've already completed the main story and are looking to prolong the game further with a more challenging roguelike twist on Banandium destruction, Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush is paid DLC that is worth your consideration.
7.5/10
A copy of Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush for review purposes was provided by Nintendo UK.
