Donkey Kong Bananza’s DK Island is what I assume the majority of us expected would be part of the game once you completed the main campaign. After all, the developer’s previous game, Super Mario Odyssey. let you explore the Mushroom Kingdom, so heading back to DK’s homeland seemed like the natural bonus area to let players explore. And while I was initially quite excited for the area upon its announcement during last week’s Nintendo Direct – even with it being part of a $20 DLC – DK Island leaves a bit to be desired.
When you arrive on DK island, it’s gorgeous. It’s a lovely reimagining of the island as seen in the SNES and N64-era games and hit me with a lovely bit of nostalgia. And exploring the island was great; I loved arriving nearby the wreckage of King K. Rool’s Gangplank Galleon, climbing up the big Donkey Kong face embedded into the mountains (and smashing it, obviously), taking a minecart ride throughout the caves, and noticing little easter eggs sprinkled about the island. But it soon hit me… where are all the bananas?
Mario Odyssey’s Mushroom Kingdom area was similarly a delightful bit of fanservice, but it was also a fully-fledged level for players to roam with its own batch of power moons and challenges for players to do. Bananza’s DK Island has no Banandium Gems to collect, and the only challenge rooms are bonus stages that are recycled from the main game. It was a bit disappointing – but thankfully, the DLC adds something even better.
Kong-like
Emerald Rush is a new mode added with the Donkey Kong Bananza DLC that features DK getting hired by the game’s villain, Void Kong, joining the ranks of Void Co’s mining operations to collect newly discovered emeralds. This takes the form of an Emerald Rush in which DK must roam the land over the course of a run, consisting of multiple rounds. Yeah: Nintendo added a roguelike to Donkey Kong Bananza, and it rules.
Donkey Kong Bananza is already my favorite game of 2025, largely because of how good Donkey Kong feels to play. Moving around as the big ape, rolling, jumping, and using chunks of land to surf feels exceptional – mixed with the ability to destroy terrain and smash through enemies, it makes for one of the most satisfying platformer characters ever made. And perhaps Emerald Rush’s best feature is that it lets me do that even more.
An average round of Emerald Rush involves Void Kong giving you an emerald quota and you running around smashing stuff to bits to get it. These are split into rounds, with his quota being taken from your overall emerald count at the end of each, with the amount needed increasing with each round.
However, there are a few catches. First off, Void Kong will give you missions throughout to give you bonus gems (think of it as the contracts in Warzone); these could be the likes of “beat this group of enemies,” “Turf Surf for x meters,” or “high-five Cranky Kong.” Completing these will give you bonus emeralds, banana chips, and skills.
You’re completely stripped of your abilities from the main game, with your skill tree being cleared out. You can bring these back by spending emerald banana chips or by smashing specific Emerald Banandium Gems on the map.
But that doesn’t mean you are powerless, as each fossil found and mission completed will give you the choice between three skills to power up DK, ranging from getting more emeralds per mission completed or by defeating enemies in a specific way to increasing the amount of treasure found when using a specific Bananza form.
You also get overall records, with the ability to unlock new perks, levels, and outfits by leveling up your Void Co employee card. This in particular is way more elaborate than it first appears, and at risk of spoiling it, all I’ll say is keep playing. By completing runs you unlock higher difficulties, which incur more rounds, higher requirements, and limited access to your transport barrels and Bananza abilities.
Breaking barriers
It’s a simple concept and a fun spin on the core mechanics of Donkey Kong Bananza, all while making great use of DK Island.
DK Island itself is still quite a placid environment – it’s only one layer, and you won’t find many enemies except the ones spawned for Void Kong’s missions – but when the mode takes on other Bananza maps, it becomes truly elite.
Because these maps are designed for regular platformer play, there’s an extra level of challenge as the likes of Bananas and Emerald Deposits get more spread out, and Void Kong’s missions become that much harder when Cranky Kong is hidden within the environment. It’s a genuinely exhilarating rush you get when you manage to just sneak in enough emeralds to pass a round, especially as the later rounds get absolutely brutal with difficulty.
Donkey Kong Bananza’s DK Island + Emerald Rush DLC is a tale of two halves. The flashy inclusion of a new map may have been the most exciting thing going in, but it ends up as a bit of an underbaked inclusion that could’ve been perfect with some new missions and challenges. But Emerald Rush made me happy with purchasing the DLC, as it gave me exactly what I wanted: a reason to not stop playing Donkey Kong Bananza after I’d already done everything.