Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Donkey Kong Adventure DLC Review – Switch

It seems thing often do come full circle even in the gaming world. Many years ago players got their first taste of a red jumpsuit wearing hero going up against a not then yet necktie wearing ape to save his girlfriend. What would come of these two unlikely later allies and sometimes rivals is known around the world to Nintendo fans and gamers alike. So while Mario owes his creation to Donkey Kong the same can now be said for Donkey Kong in the recently released DLC expansion Donkey Kong Adventure for the unfathomably successful Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle on the Nintendo Switch.

If you’re just starting Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle for the first time or are returning for more it’s important to know that in order to play Donkey Kong Adventure you have to have completed the core game’s first world. For newcomers you really need to get a feel of the base game to take on the DLC and also mainly really for no greater reason than to spearhead: SPOILER ALERT – Rabbid Kong’s revenge story in the DLC. This time however he’s gotten ahold of some mutated bananas that have made him a lot stronger this time around. So not only you have to deal with that on what is basically Donkey Kong Island but you also have to gather up a bunch of machine parts to get Beep-O and Rabbid Peach back to when and where they came from.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Donkey Kong Adventure in many ways is built upon the gameplay foundation and mechanics of the core game but beyond that offers a widely different experience. To get things kicked off, the stranded Rabbid Peach is joined by Donkey Kong himself and to even greater comedic effect Rabbid Cranky. Unlike the core experience you are only allowed these three teammates across the entire adventure so thing may take a bit of a hit on the replay side of things. However both RC and Donkey Kong’s abilities are a complete game changer when it comes to strategies.

Rabbid Peach serves once again as the healer of the group and more interestingly a driving element of the Donkey Kong Adventure’s outlandishly creative storyline that will take you across four worlds. Donkey Kong takes Mario’s place actually surpassing the plumber as an absolute wrecking ball of awesome this time around. His unique ability to chain together multiple enemies with his Bwananarang (legit name) and secondary Area of Effect fist smashing attack makes him devastatingly versatile. On top of that he can even pick up power block or allies and enemies alike opening all new strategies and possibilities. Rounding off the team is the rather enjoyable Rabbid Cranky, an even better parody of the real Cranky, who offers some serious firepower and AoE effects in the form of sleeping status effects and various shotgun spreads depending on the situation.

Much like the core experience, Donkey Kong Adventure offers a good mix of objectives throughout its intricately designed levels that add a new level of challenges to how you proceed. I will say that Donkey Kong Adventure ramps things up from the core experience but I rarely found myself overly frustrated though I may have been sweating bullets a few times. Enemy types are just as varied, thanks to some all new enemies, as the ability to chain together attacks and movements across some absolutely beautiful levels. Ubisoft continues once again to nail the collision of now three franchises together into a visual and storytelling experience that is the sum of all its parts. The thing that I like most about Donkey Kong Adventure is that it doesn’t really feel like a reskinned version of the core experience. While the core methods of navigation and interaction remain largely the same outside of the added DK only jump pads its clears that the developers put a lot of care and detail into the overall world and characters.

The only real downsides I found with Donkey Kong Adventure is that with only these three characters to play with you have to tighten your belt a little strategy wise as you don’t have the option to bring in a pinch hitter between battles when things are dire. The other issue is that while the game looks great no matter which mode you play it in there is still some framerate issues when played on the TV. Despite these small issues, Ubisoft has improved upon the original particularly on a matter that didn’t really bother me the first time out but has been made more noticeable now as I go between modes. As the slowest member of the team Rabbid Cranky uses Beep-O as a sort of ride on device, making Cranky a more defined focal point when navigating around the world making it easier to achieve timed events like the banana (coins) collecting.

Speaking of bananas and currency, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Donkey Kong Adventure brings an experience that is sequel worthy instead of the expansion that it is. Coming in at $15 dollars separately or included in the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Season Pass at $20 this DLC is insanely good for the cost. Much like with Mario’s origins, Donkey Kong Adventure wouldn’t exist without Kingdom Battle but Ubisoft’s continued commitment with this new venture could not be more apparent than with this expansion.

As much as I already loved this new take on one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises this new expansion has seriously landed Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Donkey Kong Adventure among my favorite Mario based games of all time. If you love Donkey Kong and already love Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle then you owe it to yourself to continue your journey with Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Donkey Kong Adventure for the Nintendo Switch today.

Author: Jason Flick
Started my gaming life with a NES and copy of Mario at a young age. Since then I've found a love for all gaming things dealing with adventure, roleplaying and first person shooters across all systems, handhelds and PC. Joined up with Game Chronicles years ago to write about the games I love to play.

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