Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC

It hasn’t been long since Donkey Kong Bananza reminded everyone why Nintendo’s ape deserves top billing. Destructible worlds, reactive mechanics, and a playful mix of forms gave DK the spotlight he’s been missing for years.

This is why the first paid add-on, DK Island & Emerald Rush, feels both exciting and frustrating. There’s a strong idea at the core, but its release timing and price tag leave a sour aftertaste. Here’s my original Donkey Kong Bananza review.

Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island Gameplay

Emerald Rush is the headline feature. It plays like a roguelite mode where you descend into caverns on timed runs, smashing environments for emerald ore while stacking random perks and modifiers.

It’s a clever spin on Bananza’s existing destruction systems and runs rarely feel the same twice, and once the hazards ramp up, there’s a tense rhythm between exploring just enough and getting out before the timer ends. In practice, it captures that “one more try” loop that Bananza already encouraged but with a sharper, more arcade-like focus.

DK Island is a different story. It’s essentially a nostalgic side zone and exploring it is fun for the first hour or two, with remixed music and a few collectibles scattered around, but it lacks meaningful interaction. Beyond some statues and cosmetics, there isn’t much to discover. For fans of the series it hits that nostalgia button, but for most players it will probably come across as thin.

The balance seems a bit off. Emerald Rush offers replayability but no major story beats, while DK Island offers nostalgia without much depth. Together they create a DLC package that feels more like a slice of what could have been an expansion rather than a must-have addition.

Given the parallels to Super Mario Odyssey which was developed by the same team and had free post-game DLC with the Luigi Balloon mode which I’m sure Nintendo had a more elegant name for it does sting that this is packaged as paid content. More on this below as it does taint the experience, like raw onion in a salad.

Graphics & Presentation

Bananza’s strong visual style carries over. Emerald Rush stages highlight how good the destruction engine is when pushed into tighter, risk-reward arenas.

Breaking terrain under pressure feels satisfying, with debris and lighting effects exploding across the screen. DK Island looks clean and colourful, and the remixed soundtrack is genuinely charming.

Performance is stable across both modes. Emerald Rush handles particle effects and destruction without slowdown, and DK Island is smooth simply because it isn’t demanding. There’s nothing new on the technical side, but it doesn’t need to be.

Value for Money

Here’s the sticking point. At R360, this DLC is hard to justify for most players. The content pool is modest, and it landed only weeks after Bananza launched. This makes it feel like content was deliberately held back from the main game, giving greed vibes, or just giving greed as the cooler kids would say.

Emerald Rush has genuine replay value, but after a dozen runs the variety plateaus. DK Island, while visually pleasing, offers very little incentive to revisit once you’ve grabbed the collectibles.

By comparison, Bananza’s base game offered dozens of hours of exploration, layered progression, and plenty of rewards baked into the experience.

Paying almost a quarter of the base price for what amounts to one new mode, and one lightly dressed nostalgia hub feels steep, where R360 could easily buy a great indie game like Hades. Unless you’re a completionist or a die-hard DK fan, hoping for a sale is the smarter option.