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Fun exploration; unique and challenging level design
Inconsistent controls; lackluster rocket and minecart levels
Welcome to another Backlog Review, where we take a look at an older game that fans might have sitting waiting to be played or are still considering giving a purchase. This time we’re looking at Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
Donkey Kong Country is a fan-favorite series among many of the Nintendo faithful. Although DK hasn’t gotten much love recently, Nintendo has decided to remaster Donkey Country Returns for the Nintendo Switch, which is now in HD fidelity. As the main selling point of this port, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD looks better than ever; as a matter of fact, it’s among the best any Donkey Kong Country game has ever looked. There’s a lot more noticeable detail and clarity that was not present on Wii or 3DS in this remaster.
The game begins with the new Tiki Tak Tribe hypnotizing the animals on Donkey Kong Island and stealing all the bananas, including DK’s coveted stash. This prompts him and Diddy to come and get their hoard back and take out the Tiki Tak Tribe. As you enter your journey, you have four main abilities: jump and pound, which sees DK slam his hands on the ground, and also allows him to interact with certain objects, break obstacles, and stun nearby enemies. Then there’s roll, which has DK roll across the ground, allowing him to break obstacles and hit enemies. Next, there’s grip, which allows DK to climb and pick up and throw certain objects. Finally, DK can also blow on different elements in the game world, which can cause different reactions.
One of the most noticeable things that I noticed when playing Returns HD is that DK’s movement is too uneven for my liking. When you run with DK, he slides somewhat before coming to a complete stop. Although a small detail, it greatly affects how you traverse a level. This is mostly fine as this is as a more challenging platformer, but can be frustrating when compared to using his roll. When using his roll ability, DK comes to a hard stop and doesn’t slide. This can make DK feel inconsistent as you cycle between having snappy control in one moment and then more slippery the next. This throws the momentum of controlling DK off, especially in the first few worlds. In the average level, you encounter many platforming obstacles that require precision, but the controls don’t always give the players the ability to be as accurate as they need to.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has many unique level designs, with an emphasis on scaling and climbing, as well as destroying objects. This all makes you feel like you actually are DK as you traverse the game world. There are also many collectibles with puzzle pieces and the “KONG” letters to find in every level. There are many secrets that can be discovered and are a nice treat to find while exploring. For example, in one level you need to find three big red buttons across three stages in order to be able to reach the boss. The variety in Returns HD’s stages is fun yet challenging, with the later levels requiring very precise platforming to complete. There’s also Cranky’s shop, which contains many items to assist players, although I never found myself using them, except to buy balloons.
There are two other types of levels, which are focused on riding a rocket and a mine cart, but I’m not much of a fan of them compared to the others. These levels autoscroll as you avoid obstacles. These parts of the game take away everything that makes the normal levels good. The main reason is that both of these segments limit any form of exploration. Splaying the collectible items in hard-to-reach places instead of allowing players to go look for them in hidden corners is too restrictive. The slippery controls also transfer to the rocket levels, where DK has to rise up and down to navigate. The acceleration button is too temperamental and the slightest change in pressure for even a moment could end your run and send you back to the checkpoint. Since these levels have one-hit deaths, you’ll be dying a lot and playing the level over and over. This takes away a lot of the potential here since your momentum completely comes to a halt.
Lastly, the bosses are quite fun, with most of them being interesting opponents who focus on the skills learned while playing through their world. This makes for exciting and unique encounters that keep you on your toes. Overall, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a flawed but fun game that has very high-quality level design but also some disappointing segments. The occasional wacky controls can throw the average person off of their game. If you haven’t ever played Donkey Country Returns and think you’ll have fun with a platformer with a higher difficulty and emphasis on traversal and exploration, you should consider playing Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.
This review was written by a Nintendojo, Jr. Contributor. You can learn more about the initiative here.
