Donkey Kong Country Returns HD evaluation – a powerful platformer that still stands up today

A straightforward remaster that struggles to outperform the Switch port of Exotic Freeze, however Returns HD is still a tough and rewarding platformer that stands the test of time.

It really feels strange to be seeing out the twilight months of the Change with an HD remaster of a Wii game from 15 years ago, but such is the placement we locate ourselves in with the launch of Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD. Initially made by the people at Retro Studios and currently remastered by respected Switch publisher and porting home Permanently Home entertainment, this difficult 2D platformer is itself an effort to recapture DKmagnificence days from the SNES, making this something of a dual dip in the rose-tinted pools of nostalgia.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD review

• Author: Nintendo
• Programmer: Forever Home entertainment
• Platform: Played on Nintendo Change
• Availability: Out on 16th January on Nintendo Change.

But having played Returns at the time, and again when it involved the 3DS in 2013, it is still rather heartening to understand that, yes, this wasnt simply a fantastic platformer in its own right a years and a fifty percent ago – it remains a fracturing platformer even now, standing the test of time with its requiring athleticism, pitch-perfect timing and warrens of unscrupulous keys.by link donkey kong country returns rom website Seen alone, this is as worth playing today as it ever before was, and a plain pointer of simply what an excellent Donkey Kong Country game can be.

Nonetheless, itso rare we can see points alone these days, and it really feels two times as strange to be returning to this when its premium sequel, Exotic Freeze, was ported to the Switch over back in 2018 (and still sets you back a big £extra pound; 50 like Returns HD does). At that time, we were just over a year right into the Changelife expectancy, but to bookend the console with its streamlined and somewhat drabber-looking predecessor? You cant assistance but feel both video games ought to have shown up the various other way round, and if I needed to pick one DKC game to play for £pound; 50 at the end of a console generation, it would be Exotic Freeze, no questions asked.

Still, allownot prosper of ourselves unnecessarily. As I stated, thereplenty to suggest Returns HD by itself merits, specifically considering that it integrates several of the 3DS versionadded additionals, such as its even more flexible trouble setting where players have added health and items, and a lot more besides. And right from the off, Returns HD pulls no strikes when it comes to putting players with their speeds, calling for a dextrous understanding of Donkey Kong and Diddyrespective capacities and constraints to tackle rigorous run-and-jump gauntlets that surprise and enjoy equal measure.

Donkey Kong commercials off-air.

In some areas, the 3DS still feels like the more natural home for Returns. Particularly early, DK will on a regular basis barrel over to plunder bits of background surroundings for collectible KONG letters and concealed problem pieces (the latter of which will slowly swell the rankings of the gamehuge noise and picture collections if every one of them get rooted out in a solitary degree). That views will certainly likewise consistently waterfall right into the foreground as well, as pillars of rock domino down a high cliff face to bridge impending chasms prior to you, while sea serpent tentacles snake with narrow sea caverns to block your path and pesky moles chuck dangerous bombs from competing minecart tracks in crystal-encrusted passages.

Ita wonderful crash of the senses, your fingers flying by the seat of your Joy-Con buttons to stay up to date with the views and audios of being hurled at you from front and behind. A dynamic electronic camera frameworks the activity with an ingenious and elastic lens, pulling in close for stressful and frenetic accuracy work, prior to zooming bent on catch every last crumb of its ornately attracted phenomenon. And itall set to the overblown songs of David Wiseoriginal soundtrack, remodelled right here by Aleksander Jastrzebski. This significant to-ing and fro-ing is a feeling thatnever dulled on the Switch, yet when most of my time was spent playing in handheld mode, it took me right back to cranking up the 3DSstereoscopic slider to consume everything in.

Favourite Gallery game?

After original team at Retro Studios left out from HD remaster.

I was likewise reminded just how much it leaves you to discover the finer nuances of its platforming, also. While convenient tutorial pigs will periodically appear to inform you some fundamental controls – exactly how to order onto a creeping plant, state, or slam DKclenched fists into the ground to damage fractured scene furniture – lessons on just how to use some of its advanced platforming techniques are never rather as upcoming. Ill confess, I had 15 years of muscle memory to help me out here, and so I already recognized that pressing jump once more on enemy heads Mario & Luigi-style would let me get added height, while rolling would certainly assist me accelerate to rise throughout larger spaces.

Some of this youll inevitably discover by happy accident, as fortunately this is a world favorably teeming with little minutes of magic like this. Pounding a questionable system and having it turn to reveal a surprise barrel to one of its many secret spaces, as an example, or bending down to blow a puff of air, only for it to release a tiny, hardly visible propeller seed right into the air with a bunch of bananas or problem item in tow. Small, incidental activities like these make each and every degree really feel alive with dewy-eyed possibility, and the manner in which expertise then ripples out to the means you approach later levels on Kong Island continues to be among Returns HDbest strengths.

The more probable situation, nevertheless, is that youll learn the bulk of these methods by hand – via grit and splits and by passing away repeatedly to several of its most challenging platforming segments where specific application of these skills is your only route to success. Minecart levels – when the emphasize of DKC games – are specifically poor for this, though interested banana and collectible positionings do at the very least assistance to nudge you toward some sort of discovery, nonetheless irritating. Still, when one foot wrong is typically all that stands between you and a rash reactivate, there are times when Returns HD can really feel exasperatingly abstruse – something you might have wished would certainly have been ironed out for this remaster – and no amount of additional health in its reduced problem setting will aid to soften the impact right here.

Purists will certainly say this is par for course with Returns. It was, after all, notoriously tough at launch, and stays so now, even for a triple-dipper such as myself. It is significantly tougher than the majority of other platformers out there right from the outset, though not insurmountable by any kind of stretch – merely collecting bananas and coins to invest at Cranky Kongstore to acquire extra lives are greater than numerous adequate to ensure you never ever really see a real game over display. Similarly, after a number of deaths in a row, those guide pigs will at some point supply to release the returning Super Overview function to avoid you throughout as well (albeit at the cost of any collectibles youve gathered, and any remaining pride you have).

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD ease of access options

Two problem alternatives. Different sliders for music and audio FX quantity. Selection of 2 control systems. Optional movement controls. On/off toggle for HD Rumble, and sensitivity slider.

Persist via these pains and discomforts, nevertheless, and therestill an incomparably enjoyable platformer to be located below – one where proficiency is often compensated, and uncovering its finer details generates the very best sort of radiant satisfaction. It remains an excellent video game, even if it will inevitably feel like something of an action backwards for those who have actually already played and liked Exotic Freeze, whose handsomer visuals and even more ambitious set pieces conveniently surpass this rather simple, no-frills remaster. If you missed it in the past or just cant stand up to the appeal of nostalgia, therestill a great time to be had with Returns HD. But really, if youve yet to play either of RetroDKC games at this stage in the Switchlifecycle, you need to most likely simply skip straight to Exotic Freeze. Thata Donkey Kong video game at the top of its powers, while Returns HD stays more of a workout act.