Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island and Emerald Rush
Getting DLC for Donkey Kong Bananza was not on my Nintendo Direct BINGO card, but it’s been a few days and we have played it all. Thanks to our friends at Nintendo of Canada, we had the chance to dive straight into DK Island so we could share our impressions with you. The DLC on offer here is nothing short of gorgeous, and highlights all the things I love about this 3D Donkey Kong game. That doesn’t make the DLC worth it, though, and ultimately I believe your mileage will vary.
When the view of DK Island splashed across my TV screen last Friday, my mind went wild with possibilities. In all honesty, the following thoughts crashed through my head as we were given scenic shots of the island in the trailer:
- Oh my goodness, we are getting Donkey Kong 64 remade in the vein of Bananza!
- Oh my goodness, we are going to explore the island as it was in Donkey Kong 64, but with the Bananza overlay (more realistic thought).
- Oh my goodness, we are going to get cameos from all the old Donkey Kong 64 cast of characters!
Honestly, it’s hard to come out of playing DK Island and Emerald Rush with anything positive when my mind went to all those (somewhat outrageous) places. Yet, after settling into what this DLC actually was, I quite enjoyed what was provided here.
Void Kong is here to offer you a chance at working for his company, and your goal is to collect as many Emerald gems as possible within the time frame. While this is first shown off to players on DK Island, Emerald Rush is available in other game layers as well. What I love is that you are on a timer, and Donkey Kong is stripped of all his leveled up powers you worked so hard to accumulate. Instead, during your time limit, you can earn random skills and powers by collecting Banandium Gems and Fossils – the more you collect, the more skills and abilities you have for that specific run. This will be paramount in beating some of the more difficult Emerald Rush levels.
These Emerald Rush levels start out pretty easy, but ramp up in difficulty as time goes on. My kids had a blast, and are still having a lot of fun playing through it. For me, this was a fun distraction for about 45 minutes, but I likely wouldn’t have picked it up again for a while if not for this review.
Donkey Kong Island is beautiful, and definitely fun to explore. For fans of Donkey Kong Country, there are a lot of cool things to find as well, from broken down pirate ships to favourite characters from past adventures to Donkey Kong’s house itself. But at $29.99 CAD, I question whether or not the totality of this package is worth it. If you enjoy minigames like what you see in the trailer, then by all means grab this and play through all the Emerald Rush modes. That said, if you were hoping that Donkey Kong Island was going to be its own world with gems and fossils to find like all the other layers, you are going to be disappointed. There isn’t anything storywise here either that you need to experience.
So where do I land? While I don’t think this DLC fits into the main story and therefore I don’t think this was chopped from the main experience to make more money. I’m also not certain the $29.99 CAD price tag is worth it, at least not for me. If you want to experience more Donkey Kong Bananza, then by all means pick this up. It’s gorgeous, it’s fun to explore, and honestly your mileage will vary depending on how much you want to play Emerald Rush. This wasn’t for me, but it is for my kids, so I guess there is an audience for it.
Article By Adam Roffel
