Donkey Kong Country
Image: Nintendo

Super Nintendo World's Donkey Kong Country expansion has officially opened its doors in Japan and the first reviews are now rolling in.

This new area in Super Nintendo World comes packed with new activities, exclusive food and merchandise, and a new Mine Cart Ride. Generally, the impressions seem to be quite positive. Here are just some of the reviews doing the rounds so far...

Starting with our friends at VGC who said this additional area makes the overall experience "significantly better":

"Donkey Kong Country is best viewed as another excellent half of the Super Nintendo World theme park area, complimenting its neighbour with Nintendo’s best ride ever, its most unique food items, and another captivating game world for fans and non-fans to lose themselves in.

"For those who’ve already thoroughly explored Universal’s Mushroom Kingdom, the overall number of experiences in DKC probably doesn’t justify an international flight on its own. However, there’s no doubt the addition of the Donkey Kong area makes the overall Super Nintendo World significantly better – especially that excellent Mine Cart ride – which should make those in North America particularly excited for the full park’s launch in Orlando, Florida next year."

IGN called the Donkey Kong Country area a "well-polished nugget of physical DLC":

"All in all, Donkey Kong Country is a small but fun addition to Super Nintendo World...Thrill-seekers can find wilder rollercoasters at Universal Studios Japan to satisfy their adrenaline needs, but Mine Cart Madness has enough Easter eggs to appeal to Nintendo fans, and enough speed to get your heart rate up. The rest of the park is a cheerful and well rendered paeon to Donkey Kong. The great ape’s appeal may not be as broad as Mario and friends in the main Super Nintendo World area, but as an older gamer, I couldn’t help but be charmed by the chimp."

And 'NintenDaan' attended on behalf of GameXplain - sharing his thoughts about the Minecart Madness ride:

"It uses a very interesting ride system with a bunch of vertical drops, it is actually very cool - far cooler than I thought it would be...while you're riding it's actually very fun. That minute flew by... there was a lot going on, it almost makes me want to do it again. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it...this is the best ride currently available at Super Nintendo World."

So, that's just a handful of impressions so far from the critics. If we see any more reviews published or uploaded online by any other outlets, we'll add them to this post. A video of the park's evening ceremony featuring Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has also been shared online. Here's a look courtesy of Universal Parks News Today:

Would you be interested in visiting Super Nintendo World: Donkey Kong Country? Let us know in the comments.