Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush - Review

In the recent Nintendo Direct, it was revealed that Donkey Kong Bananza was getting DLC and it was launching that same day. The most exciting part for me was the chance to visit DK Island for the first time and actually explore it, the Emerald Rush mode though, that was secondary. Was I right to be dismissive about the second offering, or was there gold to find in it?

Turns out there is no gold in Emerald Rush, as all the gold has become emerald in colour, which I like as it plays up the idea of green bananas and then yellow bananas. It is not just a colour swap though as the game adds in a roguelite element with the Emerald Rush mode. Void Company has somehow made it to DK Island and opted to set up shop and collect this new emerald variant, with the hopes of being the sole supplier and there for rich. DK and Pauline are asked to join and with Pauline saying it could be fun, the quest begins. The games biggest hook is that for each run, no matter the location, you don’t have your skills, so you have to reobtain them as you play. This is a blessing as it means those deeper layers where rock is harder to break through, is even harder now, unless you buy back the right perk.

There are only a handful of locations that you can do Emerald Rush on and you unlock them as you progress up the corporate ladder. The first location is DK Island, but you will get Hilltop Layer, Lagoon Layer and even Feat Layer. The layers still contain their usual line up of difficulty, the ground does not become softer when in Emerald Rush, but each location has an extra difficulty on top of that for the new mode. In addition to those challenges, you can also select from a number of difficulty levels before you begin the run. As an example, the DK Island has three levels of challenge, the first is basic, but one up from that requires you to collect 1.2 times the amount of emerald, compared to the first. As you increase the difficulty, the multiplier increases and so you have to collect more, but the amount of rounds also climbs. Getting an A rank on the easiest on each layer is not too hard, but once you have to get 1.2 times the amount, and across 10 rounds, it becomes a challenge.

This challenge is stacked on top of your skill shortage, so you need to balance collection of the emeralds to getting back your skills. Of course, as your skills are randomly spawned in the world, you won’t always get the ones you use the most. There is also the third layer of perks, these are unlocked by either completing Void Challenges or collecting fossils. As I said, those level 1 challenges are not so bad, but once you get to level 3 or higher, it is a real challenge to try and get everything straight and even more so if you are on harder layers. What I liked about the loop is that even though every single piece of emerald is in the same place in each run, the challenges and randomisation of the banana powerups, means that no two runs will play out the same.

What I disliked about the randomisation is that the Void Challenges, which are given for you to complete or not, sometimes feel like they are too random. The types of challenges is fine, smashing items, high fiving someone or beating some enemies. The issue I found is in their placement, on DK Island, you just run around a fairly small space, but the other layers all have their own layers within. What this means is that if a challenge has you defeating an enemy near the starting point of the Lagoon Layer, but the next challenge is down near the Elder, you have to hoof it down there. That is not the issue, the issue comes when the game tells you the next challenge is back up near the front. This is not something that happened a lot, but there were times when it did happen, and it feels a little unfair. Not only do you need to deal with collecting emeralds and chips and powerups, but now you have to worry about which part of the map you need to be on. For those younger players, this might be a challenge that is just too much to deal with, so I suppose those Void Challenges being optional is a good thing.

The results of your run will earn you Banandium chips and promotional points, which eventually unlock new clothes, music and levels. The more successful you are in a run, the more points you earn and the faster you unlock things, but there is no bad runs, even if you only get through two rounds, you still make progress. Those Banandium chips are used of course to buy Banandium gems, or bananas, but on DK Island they have a new use, statue collecting. Fawkes, Rambi and the rest of the DK family from the main game are back on the island and if you visit Fawkes, you can trade 100 Banandium chips for a randomly selected statue. When I say random, I do mean it as there is no option to select which statue you want to get. There is also no way to view the statues that you have in a menu, or see which ones you are missing. All you can do is run around the island and look at them.

Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush is a fun, challenging addition to the adventure. If you were not a fan of just smashing things in the main game, then this might not be for you, but I would offer that the randomisation means no two runs will be the same. DK Island is a great location to explore, but one lap around and you have seen it all and statues are not the big draw I think Nintendo was expecting them to be. If you like a roguelite experience, then you will enjoy what is on offer here, but for those unacquainted to the randomisation nature of the genre, this might not be for you.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Nintendo

The Pros

Emerald Rush can be a real challenge, more so on the deeper layers and combined with the more challenging run requirements

DK Island is a nice location, with the chance to visit some familiar spots…

The Cons

… but the statue collection feels like a pointless addition

The number of concurrent challenges you need to deal with in Emerald Rush might be too much for younger players