Donkey Kong Country Returns HD feels like a shameless, disrespectful cash grab with nothing new to offer. It's possibly a new low for Nintendo ports—which were already teetering on the edge of offensive.
This bare-bones, lazy port by Forever Entertainment does little to enhance Retro Studios' 2010 Wii classic. Yet, despite the credit omissions, lack of improvements, and questionable design choices, the brilliance of the original game still shines through.
Watch our in-depth breakdown of this disappointing Nintendo Switch update.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Background: Donkey Kong's Return
3:07 - It's the Same Game
4:48 - The Positives
5:36 - Great Graphics?
6:21 - Okay Enemies
7:16 - Controls
8:05 - Story
9:00 - Replay Value
10:50 - Music & Sound
11:59 - Difficulty
13:09 - Better Presentation?
14:37 - Loading...
15:11 - Missed Opportunities
1) 15:47 - Better Graphics
2) 15:56 - Consistent Fur Textures
3) 16:18 - Redone Soundtrack
4) 16:29 - Updated Samples
5) 16:43 - New Levels
6) 17:00 - Characters
7) 17:12 - Return of King K. Rool
8) 17:35 - Better Load Times
9) 17:52 - Added...Something!
18:00 - Unforgivable Injustice
19:36 - Verdict
Article: https://nintendoup.com/review-donkey-kong-country-returns-hd-for-nintendo-switch/
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a bare-bones, lazy, and disrespectful port by a shovelware developer. Yet, despite Nintendo and developer Forever Entertainment doing everything in their power to prevent this: I still enjoyed playing the game. That’s a testament to the talent of the original developers, who were unforgivably removed from the credits of this shameless cash grab.
Background: Donkey Kong’s Return
I’m a huge fan of Donkey Kong, and Retro Studios. I loved every game they released (with Metroid Prime 2 being my least favorite, and the original Metroid Prime being at the top). When Retro unleashed Donkey Kong Country Returns in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii, it was a joyous occasion. Not only was Donkey Kong Country back after 14 years since the last Super Nintendo game, but it was being developed by perhaps my favorite developer ever (at the time).
Donkey Kong Country Returns did not disappoint me at all, and neither did the 3DS port developed by Monster Games which added a few new levels in a 9th world (the original game had 8 worlds and one secret level). We’ll talk about why I loved the game in detail later in the review.
Retro later went on to develop the excellent sequel Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Nintendo Wii U (which was later ported to the Nintendo Switch with a Funky Kong mode). Many consider Tropical Freeze a better game than Returns. I’m not one of those people, but I love both games. I just think Returns is better due to more level variety, and the fact that Tropical Freeze’s levels run a tad too long (this may sound like a weird complaint, but it’s true).
Sadly, ever since Tropical Freeze’s release in 2014, Donkey Kong seemed mostly neglected by Nintendo.
For perspective, it was 14 years between release of Donkey Kong Country 3 and Returns, but in that time there were lots of ports and spin-offs like DK Jungle Climber (for Nintendo DS), the racing game Barrel Blast (for Wii), and so forth. Hell, there was even a Nintendo-developed Donkey Kong Jungle Beat game for Nintendo GameCube and Wii.
In contrast, it’s been 11 years since Tropical Freeze’s release until now, and the only Donkey Kong games we’ve gotten in those 11 years are ports of the two most recent games for Nintendo Switch.
With that in mind, when Donkey Kong Country Returns HD was announced in a Nintendo Direct on June 18th, 2024, I was excited to replay one of my favorite 2D platformers ever made. At the same time, I was perplexed it wasn’t a new game. Surely, I thought, this port would at least feature new levels or enhancements to make the long wait for a proper new Donkey Kong game a little more endurable. Right?
It’s the Same. Damn. Game.
Well, it turns out I was wrong about this port. Not only does it not feature any new levels, but it also doesn’t really have any enhancements over the Nintendo 3DS version developed by Monster Games. In fact, it seems like a direct conversion of that 3DS port, with the only “major” change being Donkey Kong’s fur.
Look, I get it. “Don’t fix what isn’t broken.” That’s a fine bit of advice, and maybe I’d agree with it if there weren’t already two different ways to play Donkey Kong Country Returns. Forever Entertainment could have, and should have, done something new with this version of the game.
Fans have plenty of ways to replay the original game if they want to. And, hell, nothing was stopping Nintendo from offering both the original experience and something new in one cartridge.
Sure, this version of the game looks better than the Wii and 3DS originals—but just barely...
Read the full review on NintendoUp.com
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