Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush Review

While it’s been a few months since Donkey Kong Bananza was released, it was somewhat of a surprise to see a DLC release not long after. If you’ve already sunk hour after hour trying to get the 900+ Banandium Gems and have been left hungry for more, then Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush is looking to give you a little more.

DK Island is accessible either during the main game after a certain point, or easily accessible if you’ve already finished the story. Emerald Rush is only accessible after you’ve finished the story, as the setup for the mode wouldn’t make any sense before the credits properly roll.

DK Island acts as a new layer, located on the surface instead of burrowing any further into the planet. The island contains Donkey Kong’s home and the iconic mountain shaped like DK’s head. This layer is filled with nostalgic memories for long-term Donkey Kong Country fans, with nods to those games and beyond. From the music to DK’s family and friends, the island is a barrel blast to the past. As the island is additional to the main game, there are no extra Banandium Gems here, although there is heaps of gold if you still need it. Essentially, DK Island exists as a pleasant museum to DK history, which means its value will really depend on how nostalgic you are for the Donkey Kong Country (and DK 64 and Donkey Konga) days. As a result, it also feels fairly aimless outside of turning the island into a large display case for your DLC-exclusive statues (which I will get to later).

Then we have the Emerald Rush mode, which follows after the events of the main game as Void Co is back! Void Kong has the business back up with a new venture that requires some manual labour. Seeking Banandium root is now out; Emerald is the new commodity that Void Kong has his eye on. If you can collect enough, Void will reward you handsomely. So all that’s left is for Donkey Kong and Pauline to don their Void Co employee helmets and get to work in Emerald Rush. The mode is a series of rounds across a selected difficulty/layer, where DK needs to smash and collect as much emerald as he can. It appears in the layer just like gold, meaning it’s in abundance whether out in the open, in geysers ready to erupt, or as a reward for taking on extra side goals set by Void. Each round, Void sets a quota of emerald to collect, with any excess gems going towards the next round’s quota to ensure every second counts for the overall run. While DK Island is the starting layer for Emerald Rush, the only other layers on offer are return trips from the main game. Not that I expected there would be new layers created for this mode; I imagine a more randomly generated setup would’ve just used the same environments anyway.

If you enjoy a good time-based challenge with roguelite elements, then this will help you get even more out of DK Bananza. The difficulty ramps up, and there are unlockables even if your collected buffs reset. Throughout the run, you start with the majority of your abilities taken away, so along with smashing for emeralds, you can also regain abilities through the now emerald Banandium Gems. It pays to make your way towards any of these gems, as unlocking Bananza forms can really help when the emerald quota goes up. There are also plenty of emerald fossils to be found around the layers during the Rush. Smashing these gives you a choice of three different random perks to help maximise what you collect, or rewards for Void’s extra tasks. The extra tasks can be finding and smashing enemies, or more simple tasks like jumping into a particular barrel. These tasks help to get some extra emerald, chips, and perks, with the fossil perks offering to enhance the reward from these tasks.

Squawks is also on the island, ready to find you statues to place around DK Island. For 100 Banandium Chips per statue, it may not take too long to go through your reserves built up in the main game. The statues represent the many characters and enemies across the game. Honestly, when there are collectibles like this, I’ll chuck down the currency I don’t need to get them for collection’s sake. I can’t say I generally give most of them a second thought, let alone take a good look at them. They do a good job of showing off all the game’s character and enemy designs, and they still tap into the collecting bug, but they add little more than that.

To keep you coming back, there are also events, where limited-time statues can be earned if your score can climb high enough. It’s a little incentive to keep you returning to the mode. However, it will really depend on how much you really want those statues. Is the FOMO enough to keep you logging back in for another Void Co shift?

It’s a hard sell at the price of $30 AUD. With little to do on DK Island but to appreciate the nods to the past, Emerald Rush needs to add enough to give players something to do, which it does, depending on how much you enjoy time-based smashing challenges through layers you’ve seen before. Hopefully, there will be a sale on the DLC at some point; otherwise, I could only really recommend it for those who love Donkey Kong Country or roguelite side modes.

Rating: 3/5