When the Nintendo Switch 2 dropped on June 5th, fans were a bit tripped out by the fact that Nintendo didn’t have a main-line Mario title ready to go with the system’s launch. Nintendo chose Mario Kart World as their premiere launch title, with Donkey Kong Bananza serving as their major platformer. Made by the same team that did Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza was enormously well-received by fans and critics alike. Now Nintendo has released new DLC for the game, and fans are extremely divided, to say the least.
Before we begin, I would like to state that I have not and will likely not be playing the DLC. I am not a huge fan of rogue-likes or rogue-lites. I generally dislike doing the same thing over and over again because I have OCD. As a child, my OCD was so bad that I used to have to touch objects the same number of times and in the same way, meaning I was constantly doing things over and over again because I would inevitably mess it up while doing it and would have to start over. To me, those games feel like a version of that, and that’s why they don’t vibe with me.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about what fans are saying about the DLC, and why it’s so controversial. When Donkey Kong Bananza ends, there’s a small endgame where you go back to the elders to accomplish new tasks, and each elder rewards you with a new ability you can unlock. I’m trying to be as vague as possible for those who have yet to finish the game while still setting the stage for some of the controversy. The post-game content is fun enough, but it doesn’t add a whole lot, and it’s nowhere near as cool as what they did with Super Mario Odyssey.
In Super Mario Odyssey, Mario gains access to several new worlds upon completing the main game. In addition to being able to explore the Mushroom Kingdom, which is also unlocked after beating the title, players can enjoy the Dark Side, and Darker Side of the Moon level they’d just completed. In other words, players gain access to three complete worlds, different from the other levels in the game, and all of them have their own moons to find and bosses to beat. Then Nintendo added a free mini-game titled Luigi’s Balloon World. This mini-game allows players the chance to hide a balloon in a stage for other players to (not) find or allows them to search for balloons hidden by other players. You gain coins when players cannot find your balloon, and you pay coins to search for others’ balloons, but you get a reward if you find it.
In the case of the Donkey Kong Bananza paid DLC, players gain access to DK Island, and then they can do a rogue-lite game called Emerald Rush, where they work for Void Kong, smashing emerald statues and collecting statues for their island. You can also earn new skills and outfits during the new mode. You’ll be given a time limit to collect a certain quota of emeralds. By collecting fossils throughout the stage, you earn ‘Perks’ that work similarly to boons in Hades. These “perks” allow you to create different builds, as your build resets with each run.
As for DK Island, this is where you can store all the crap you win and collect from your runs for Void Kong. The entire island is filled with nostalgia, including nostalgic music. That said, the vast majority of DK Island is nothing more than a visual treat. It’s not like there’s a whole ton of stuff or secrets that you can uncover. I’m not saying there are no secrets, just that there aren’t enough to justify what they’re asking for this DLC in light of other content that has just been free. It would be one thing if the $19.99 covered two different DLC packs, and this was just the first. This is simply what you get for the price, but not everyone is bothered by it.
While many people have voiced their criticisms of this DLC using arguments similar to the one I just made above, there are also plenty of people who think this DLC is worth every penny, and some fans are just complaining to complain. I spent a good chunk of time on Reddit yesterday, and one of the threads on the DLC was people who hadn’t tried it dunking on it while the people who had purchased it were praising the addictive gameplay in addition to singing the DLC’s praises. Go check the thread out for yourself, and you’ll see the same trend.
I have no opinion on the DLC beyond me saying it’s not worth it to me, but that’s not me saying the value isn’t worth it, it’s me saying I don’t play roguelikes/roguelites. I want to stress that. I haven’t played the DLC, and I’m not going to trash-talk something I haven’t even tried. Not only is that bad journalism, it’s incredibly basic. I think it’s absolutely fair to frame the conversation in context. It’s also fair to compare it to the Mario endgame and DLC, but I don’t think people should be in the business of hating on something they haven’t tried. But I also understand people who say, “I don’t need to try spoiled food to know it’s awful,” so I really don’t know where that leaves us, lol.
I think people should grab it if the gameplay sings to them, and they should not buy it if they don’t think it is something they would enjoy. At the end of the day, everyone is going to have a different opinion on whether something is worth it. In sports, Rob likes to say that “you’re worth whatever they’re willing to pay you,” and I think that applies here in reverse; a game is worth whatever you’re willing to pay for it. I loved Donkey Kong Bananza, and I can’t wait to see if they do more with it down the line, but I’m going to skip this DLC pack.
That said, most of the comments I’ve seen from people who purchased the DLC have been positive. People genuinely seem to like what the devs did with this mode, and Nintendo Life even called it a “match made in heaven” in their review. For people who love roguelikes/roguelikes, Emerald Rush seems to have successfully integrated the concept of the genre into the world of DK. Every gamer doesn’t need to buy every game, but this game seems well worth it if you’re a fan of the genre.
