I won’t burry the lead: if you're a fan of the Donkey Kong Country games and you're on a LEGO website, you really can't miss this set. If you'd told me we'd have DK and Cranky in a set this year, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I'm a pretty hardcore fan of the DKC games from the SNES days and continuing today with Tropical Freeze on Switch. So I had a big smile on my face almost the whole time building this. They really capture a lot of DKC in 555 pieces. Now I will take a step back and review it as a LEGO set and as a LEGO Super Mario set.

Parts: I'm not a MOC builder, but from a pure set builder's perspective, I think this set excels in the parts department. Not only do you get a fair few of the large palm tree leaves in 2 different colors, but there's also a brand new banana bunch piece that looks straight out of Donkey Kong Country, special moulded feet/leg/hand pieces for the Kongs, AND several printed pieces unique to this set. These include DK and cranky's eyes/face, both of their nose pieces, the really cool KONG sign above the hut, and another DK tile for the floor.

I give parts a 5/5 for a set this size.

Build: The build is about what you'd expect for a set of this size and age range, however the building of the two characters felt more substantial and clever than most will expect going in. There's also no frustrating parts. For me, the building experience in all the super Mario sets gets a negative point for not including paper instructions. I really, really, REALLY dislike that. Luckily you can pull up instructions on the LEGO site.

I give the build experience a 3.5/5.

Play: At 39 years old, I mess with the play functions once or twice and that's usually it. But I'd say the play functions are above average for a set of this size, especially if you have the electronic Mario, Luigi, or peach. Your character can play the Bongos, collect bananas from the shaky tree, rock in the hammock, talk to Cranky and DK, and ride on DK's back (I did love the DKC music that plays when you do this).

I'd give the play a 4/5 considering the size of the set.

Display: As an adult, I tend to get sets for 2 reasons: I look forward to building it and if I think I'll enjoy seeing it on display after. Strictly for a set in the super Mario theme, I think this set is well above average because it's a mostly complete looking scene, instead of just bits and pieces of a scene as is often the case in this line. And as a major DKC fan, I love the display of this set because both Donkey Kong and Cranky look excellent. Seriously, at this scale, there's not much I would change about either of them. Thanks LEGO for not skimping on printed parts and special molds for these characters. In addition to solid builds on these characters, this all comes together to make DK and Cranky the highlights of this set, and even if I hated the rest of the build, the characters alone would have made this DKC fan happy.

Thankfully, I also really like the rest of the set. I’m kind of ready to move past the course building aspects and start getting some more traditional Nintendo sets as a nearly 40 year old man, but frankly there’s very little of that course building feel in this set. If you took away the 3 tiles with barcodes in this set, you’d probably assume it’s just a DKC set and not a super Mario expansion set. For that reason, it joins the likes of the Airship and Yoshi’s house in feeling like a true “normal” Nintendo themed LEGO set. I love it for that. The hut is of course completely open in the back, but there’s enough of a facade to still look pretty complete on display. I especially like how the roof was done with the “dried out” palm leaves, and I appreciate an attempt at interior detail with the old school TV, lanterns, tire, and boombox (a very DKC addition).

Overall Display value:

As a general LEGO set: 4

As a super Mario set: 4.5

As a Donkey Kong Country Set: 5 (due to the excellent two main characters and a solid main hut).

Value:

This is a little tricky. As with most LEGO sets these days, I think a 15% or so discount would make it feel just right. However, with 555 pieces, many of which are surprisingly larger and special/printed for this set, along with the great license, I actually think it’s in line with what I’d expect. It’s not a sprawling set, but there’s a lot going on in a small space.

I give value 4/5.

Overall: A very solid set that stands out as one of the most complete feeling super Mario sets, and THE total must have set for Donkey Kong Country fans. Recommended even if you don't like the Super Mario course building sets

Overall (with my DKC bias boost): 5/5.