Normally I would not be logging DLC expansions on this site. Unless it's something like Torna ~ The Golden Country, which has enough content to stand on it's own (which it does, you can literally buy it standalone), i would just add the DLC to the game itself.
Donkey Kong Adventure, despite not being standalone, feels like it meets those requirements. It's pretty damn meaty for an expansion and it's genuinely such an improvement over the main game that i feel it deserves it's own log. The roster in this game is limited to DK, Rabbid Cranky and Rabbid Peach but it makes up for that limitation with a lot of variety and a shorter campaign that makes me realize "wait Mario+Rabbids was kinda too long".
The lack of varied victory conditions from the main game is fixed here, as you have several maps with different conditions. Like i was genuinely surprised when i encountered a "defend location" map. Even when a map is "defeat all enemies", there's usually a gimmick in place that prevents it from feeling stale like in the main game. The limited roster allowed the developers to really craft each of the character's niches in combat. Donkey Kong himself is easily the best character in the game, including the base, due to his insane mobility options and unique pick-up gimmick that allows for strategies you would not be able to do anywhere else.
The campaign's shorter length does wonders for it. Each world is about half the length of a world in the main game and this prevents everything from feeling repetitious. There's still Challenge Battles if you want more as well. Honestly, this expansion reminds me of Spider-Man: Miles Morales where it's better than the original game because it focused on quality over quantity, removing the little bits that added up to repetition. I honestly don't have anything really negative to say about this game and here's hoping Sparks of Hope takes the lessons learned from Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong Adventure, despite not being standalone, feels like it meets those requirements. It's pretty damn meaty for an expansion and it's genuinely such an improvement over the main game that i feel it deserves it's own log. The roster in this game is limited to DK, Rabbid Cranky and Rabbid Peach but it makes up for that limitation with a lot of variety and a shorter campaign that makes me realize "wait Mario+Rabbids was kinda too long".
The lack of varied victory conditions from the main game is fixed here, as you have several maps with different conditions. Like i was genuinely surprised when i encountered a "defend location" map. Even when a map is "defeat all enemies", there's usually a gimmick in place that prevents it from feeling stale like in the main game. The limited roster allowed the developers to really craft each of the character's niches in combat. Donkey Kong himself is easily the best character in the game, including the base, due to his insane mobility options and unique pick-up gimmick that allows for strategies you would not be able to do anywhere else.
The campaign's shorter length does wonders for it. Each world is about half the length of a world in the main game and this prevents everything from feeling repetitious. There's still Challenge Battles if you want more as well. Honestly, this expansion reminds me of Spider-Man: Miles Morales where it's better than the original game because it focused on quality over quantity, removing the little bits that added up to repetition. I honestly don't have anything really negative to say about this game and here's hoping Sparks of Hope takes the lessons learned from Donkey Kong.