Donkey Kong Country Returns HD
Developer: Forever Entertainment
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Switch
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview
He’s the leader of the bunch…you know the rest. Donkey Kong is one of gaming’s most prominent faces and has been for decades. When Retro Studios released a follow-up for the Wii, the big guy came back in true form with Donkey Kong Country Returns. Nintendo have decided to give the Switch a port of the hit title to give us one shot of DK as the platform starts its sunset. Does Donkey Kong Country Returns HD prove as a worthy port, or is this one title best left in our memories? Let’s find out.
Story
After a volcano erupting signals trouble, Donkey Kong and Diddy awaken to find their jungle kingdom in peril. The banana hoard is missing, and the Tiki Tak Tribe have used mind control over the other animals, causing chaos everywhere. The duo sets out on a new adventure to stop Tiki Tong, while slowly getting their bananas back once and for all. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD doesn’t supplement the narrative, but it was fine years ago and still holds up well enough today. Sure, more context pointing to a future installment would have been nice, but this title is a port for the sake of a port, and that is perfectly fine here with this release. It’s still a fun romp to swing through.
Gameplay
I think the first thing to address is what this game is. If you remember the Country franchise, the gameplay works in almost the same way, with Donkey Kong running through side-scrolling stages in the pure platformer we would expect. Diddy is less of an equal partner in the fare, acting as an extension of the life-bar that gives the duo the ability to float with Diddy’s jet pack. If the duo takes too much damage, Diddy runs away and DK must handle things on his own until a new barrel is found. Yep, for Diddy fanatics like myself, the change of speed is an adjustment, but this is still a very fast and fluid platformer that hits the right notes a majority of the time.
The big difference here is the difficulty. Donkey Kong Country Returns has always been a challenging platformer. We knew that when it originally released and that is even more-so true now. Maybe I am just all these years older and less patient, but this game really tested me this time around. The game is so polished and well crafted in design that everything still feels fair and there is even adjustments you can make to this, but expect this one to be quite a chompy trek if it has been a while since you played a proper 2D platformer outside of Mario or Kirby.
The game utilizes “new” mechanics to mix things up, as DK can shoot to the background, where players go back and forth with the perspective. Personally, this has never been my favorite gimmick – but this title kind of made that type of gameplay more popularized, and it still is a functioning (if not mildly frustrating) technique that keeps us fluidly steaming through each stage. This is more of a port of the 3DS version, so the extra content is mainly from that title, with little different outside of the new world that entry introduced and a few more collectibles to snag to get the coveted completion overall.
It’s hard to review something that was considered close to perfect back then with older, more bias eyes now. Platformers haven’t really gotten easier, but time and innovation has evolved since, and DK just doesn’t have the same punch in this adventure all of these years later. This is still a grand experience, but one that I think can be summed up as an exciting jolt when it launched that has since found a place in the shadow of the original 3 titles since as those games still have yet to really be beat, even though they released over 30 years ago now. That doesn’t mean this adventure isn’t still great or that many would even disagree with that opinion, but I think it does show that Rare delivered something that was just out of reach with Retro. There just isn’t as much personality with this version, and it suffers due to that.
Audio
The music is great. While not the same funky beats, they do capture the essence. I still see playlists recommended for this soundtrack for good reason – as it is one of the best collection of tunes that Kong has ever had in his history. There is just something so ambient about the way the effects blend with the music, and that is truly a special sight (or sound) that still resonates in the Switch port here.
Visuals
The graphics are fine. The models look great and really pop with color. There is something to say about everything looking “too clean” with the HD upgrade, but most will like what they see here as the game is still a visual wonder for when it released that holds its footing just fine in this era. Sadly – as with a lot of modern Switch titles, there are slight moments of slowdown for the performance that can be a tad nagging. Sure, a lot of games have this – but for such a precise, challenging platformer, they stick out, despite being minimal.
Overall
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD exists, doesn’t it? For fans of the game, this release will find a comfortable place in its modern space, and that is really what is was made for. Sure, there is something to say about the value of a port that may not have retained a ton of weight all of these years later, but if every other publisher can bring back old favorites, there is still a lot of good reason Nintendo can bring this one out to round out the library for the platform. Gripes aside, this is still one of the better Wii titles and a highlight of his illustrious history, making it a necessary pickup for purists and fans worldwide.
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