What parents need to know
Note: This is not a review of the game Donkey Kong Bananza, but of its downloadable content, DK Island and Emerald Rush. For the base game review, click here.
Donkey Kong is back after his adventures in Bananza with this first DLC, DK Island and Emerald Rush. As the name suggests, this DLC bundle contains two things: Donkey Kong Island and Emerald Rush mode (kudos to anyone who guessed).
First of all, the island of DK allows us to explore the mother land of our hero. Largely inspired by the map from the very first Donkey Kong Country to the Super Nintendo, this new environment is full of little winks for fans. On the other hand, this island does not offer any new bananas or fossils to find, only a few areas to earn more gold.
There is also no new chapter in history.
The Emerald Rush mode is the star of this DLC. It is a roguelike version of Donkey Kong Bananza. Basically, Void Kong gives us the mission of collecting predefined quantities of emerald in a limited time. On the other hand, our abilities are blocked, and we have to unlock them by destroying bananas and fossils. At higher levels, even our Bananza transformations are blocked, and the player must unlock them in the same way.
There are also abilities that allow you to multiply the amount of emeralds accumulated, which becomes essential to collect the increasingly large quantities requested by Void Kong.
Void Kong still makes it a little easier for us by offering us particular challenges. Sometimes it’s about beating certain enemies, touching water or surfing a certain distance, to name a few challenges. With each completed challenge, Void Kong gives us emeralds and offers us a new choice of ability.
We also have to manage our movements on the maps converted for this mode (a few levels from the base game, plus the island of DK), because we have a limited number of teleports.
By completing Void Kong’s Emerald Rush, one can unlock new costumes and decorations for DK’s island, in addition to accumulating a lot of tokens that can be traded in the regular game.
Details
Level of experience required
| Age | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
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Evaluation
Donkey often hits enemies with his points, but the violence is very cartoonish and colorful.
None.
You have to read to fully understand the bonus choices available to us, but the reading is quite simple.
In the end, Donkey and Pauline forgive their enemy, Void Kong. They are called above all by adventure. Nothing too bad to report, then!
At higher levels, the Emerald Rush mode can get quite challenging, but the difficulty is modular and suitable for everyone.
As mentioned in the review, the asking price is disproportionately high both in relation to the quantity and quality of the content offered.
Local game modes
Players can explore DK Island or participate in Void Kong’s Emerald Rush.
Online Game Modes
None.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
DK Island and Emerald Rush is an expansion!
Our opinion
I had fun playing the Emerald Rush mode of this DLC, but it’s far from the peaks reached by the base game. While I gave a very rare perfect rating to Donkey Kong Bananza, it’s different for this expansion.
The first problem is that this roguelike mode doesn’t reach the high standard set by action roguelikes such as Hades or Risk of Rain.
What is really pleasant in this kind of game is to succeed in creating a real synergy between the chosen bonuses, a synergy that transforms yet another attempt into a success, we give the impression of being invincible in the process.
Even after several hours of doing Emerald Rush, I never felt that exhilarating feeling. The same bonuses come up a lot, and they don’t interact in particularly exciting ways with each other.
The Emerald Rush mode remains pleasant. I’ll probably play it again a few times. But I don’t have the same lasting memory that I keep when thinking about several other roguelikes. It’s a shame, I was excited to see the team behind Super Mario try their hand at this genre, but the result doesn’t really impress.
The other disappointment is the island of DK. If the winks are welcome, definitively betting on our nostalgia, the fact remains that the island is empty. We would have liked a new chapter of the story with new bananas to flush out, new enemies and why not, let’s dream, a new boss.
Unfortunately, nothing of the sort.
We allow ourselves to be so demanding, because the asking price by Nintendo is very high: $30 CAD. For $26, players could get Silksong, a game that has been awaited for nearly a decade and has been rave about it, or $30 for Hades II in early access.
Available dollars are scarce in players’ wallets, and in our opinion, the asking price for Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island and Emerald Rush is too high. For $30, you can expect a DK Island brimming with activity, and a neat and content-rich Emerald Rush mode.
Unfortunately, we are still hungry. We’re going to go eat a banana.
