Nintendo Life | Review Comments

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:36:58 GMT

Such a negative editorial

By jetsetradion

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:32:58 GMT

@BrazillianCara the fire emblem dlc has been on sale quite often (i guess knowing that i wonder why i didn’t wait. Probably as it timed exactly right for me. I was sort of running out of things to do in the base game but still had fun)

By romanista

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 18:15:04 GMT

If it was half the price ($14.99 CAD instead of $29.99 CAD) I would definitely consider it. Roguelike stuff doesn't interest me, and the amount of content doesn't justify the price.

Really sad to be honest, because I really loved this game, and I also 100% it. I really wanted another reason to go back to this game.

By hYdeks

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:58:32 GMT

@tjhiphop Yeah I guess it’s just odd when I see people do things like tally up what every amiibo in the presentation costs if you bought all of them and think, “You were doing that even before they were $30-40?”

I bought the TOTK Sidon amiibo because he’s the best and I wanted him on my desk but I didn’t need the whole set.

By Owozifa

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:44:23 GMT

I was skeptical because it didn't look like a whole lot for the £18 price tag and I think you've convinced me to save my money, and spend my time more wisely on catching up with other games before the busy end of year release schedule hits.

By Baker1000

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:44:58 GMT

@StewdaMegaManNerd thats nearly free... doesnt that count lol

Ok.. Ok ... OOOOK... I get it everybody. I missremembered about Smash Bros, but Stardew Valley was right lol.

By PharoneTheGnome

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:40:51 GMT

@MamaSymphonia
Completely agree. There’s no real reason to.
I wish Nintendo consoles had an “achievements/trophies” system. Too late though.

By themikestur87

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:33:33 GMT

This feels very much like cut content and it's overpriced.

Nintendo this gen has been a mixed bag to say the least. If this is a sign of things to come, I'll be waiting for them to become the outsider again so that they start doing things properly like they used to.

By mlt

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:14:04 GMT

@raymond23 I've put so much time into side order. Still have not finished the main Splatoon 3 campaign as I mostly got it for MP, but as a huge fan of roguelikes I have played side order so much because the mechanics work so well with the game mode and scenario they have built. I've completed runs with about 50% of the weapon styles available and will not stop until i've got 100%, maybe not even then. Its good as you do have permanent unlocks so each run does make progression even if you fail.

By lumothesinner

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:36:05 GMT

Not interested in this unless it'll be included on NSO subscription like theMK8D/AC/Splatoon expansions.

By antlion

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:04:22 GMT

@Dunan I played Hades and wasn’t a fan of it. This dlc seems as fully realized as Hades was. 104 perks, dozens of skills, 11 worlds with 7 difficulty levels each, a bunch of unlockables, and a big boss fight at the end. It’s worth the same as Hades if you like the genre. It is also more accessible to newbies to the rogue like genre since the levels are familiar, but there is still a steep learning curve. I haven’t successfully completed any level past difficulty 3/7, but you don’t have to in order to progress. Everyone can pick a difficulty level that challenges them.

By raymond23

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:59:40 GMT

For whether the DLC was done before release: working on DLC before release is common in the game industry. Every software product has a point where you say “no more new content/features, we’re going to polish for release” and you shift to bug fixes, balance, performance, maybe voice acting. For an incremental business software update it might be a month or two before, for a AAA game this period will be much longer.

If you have a large team a subgroup can start working on DLC after you make the content cutoff while the rest of the team is getting the main game properly polished. This happens often and is not the same as just chopping a piece of the main game off. It’s not exploitative.

That said, it probably is overpriced. $10 maybe.

By yttrium13

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:58:08 GMT

@Luffymcduck it’s not a new level. It’s a new game mode that is very different than Bananza. The new level is the tutorial area that the devs did a lot of fan service with…

By raymond23

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:56:01 GMT

@lumothesinner exactly. I don’t care if Nintendo completed this dlc pack at the same time as the main game or not, it is a completely different type of mode then the main game. Bananza is a complete experience with a ton of post credit content. This dlc is a way to re-explore the levels in a new game style. It has a ton of collectibles…but different than the main game. Everyone seems fixated on dk island as a “level” that was carved out of the main game. It isn’t. It’s a hub world for a rogue like and the tutorial/training area. It’s also a museum for one of the new collectibles. $20 is a perfectly reasonable price point for this content. I might go and buy Splatoon Side Order now since I’m enjoying this new content so much…

By raymond23

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 10:58:39 GMT

@LastFootnote Came here to say this too!

How is it that splatoon 3 Side order is basically the same (New hub world that isnt part of the main campaign and a roguelite mode, that mode is limited to a single area rathern than 70% of the main game), costs more than DKB Emerald Rush at its regular price (plus 2 years of inflation) and yet gets a higher score in its review and no complaints of price at all?

It makes Emerald Rush seem like a good deal.

DKB was a complete game upon release, I didn't feel like it was missing anything (it had a nostalgia level in there already).

Having a new mode as DLC, seems like the right way to do it, people can buy it if they want, its pretty fairly priced when compared to Nintendos other DLC offerings, if they don't they don't have to?

By lumothesinner

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:56:10 GMT

Did grab it with 20% off and still feeling disappointed. I really enjoyed the base game, 100% it and had a good 60h of fun. But this DLC is just a pure rip off. The main thing that made the base game enjoyable was to find and collect stuff. Here, you get an empty island and a very repetitive rogue like mode that quickly gets old.

By Gohanjin

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:13:49 GMT

I think lot of people are missing the point of the dlc when they just look at the price. This is a great dlc with perfect price point, it gives you some fun content and easy way to support Nintendo with a small amount of money.

By Switching

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:12:17 GMT

The word roguelike makes me instantly shudder.

By Bowie1979

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:00:05 GMT

@PikaPhantom Maybe, but in the end, is feels like it should have been a part of the whole game rather than DLC.

By MyMemory

Re: Review: Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (Switch 2) - DLC That's Ripe With Fun, But Could've Been More

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 08:58:50 GMT

Having only one new level for 20€ is way too much. Waiting for a discount but since we are talking about Nintendo, I don't expect it to be more than minus 4€ from the base price... ever.

By Luffymcduck