Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD review — a formidable platformer that still holds up today

An uncomplicated remaster that struggles to outperform the Switch over port of Exotic Freeze, yet Returns HD is still a challenging and gratifying platformer that stands the test of time.

It feels weird to be seeing out the twilight months of the Change with an HD remaster of a Wii game from 15 years back, but such is the position we locate ourselves in with the launch of Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD. Originally made by the people at

Retro Studios and now remastered by respected Switch over publisher and porting home Permanently Home entertainment, this challenging 2D platformer is itself an attempt to recapture DKsplendor days from the SNES, making this something of a dual dip in the rose-tinted swimming pools of nostalgia.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD testimonial

• Author: Nintendo
• Programmer: Forever Amusement
• Platform: Played on Nintendo Switch Over
• Schedule: Out on 16th January on Nintendo Change.

Yet having played Returns at the time, and once more when it came to the 3DS in 2013, it is still rather heartening to understand that, yes, this wasnt just a terrific platformer in its own right a years and a half ago — it remains a breaking platformer even now, standing the test of time with its requiring athleticism, pitch-perfect timing and warrens of devious secrets.Read more donkey kong country returns rom At website Articles Seen alone, this is as worth playing today as it ever was, and a raw suggestion of simply what an excellent Donkey Kong Country game can be.

Nonetheless, itso rare we can see things in isolation nowadays, and it feels twice as odd to be returning to this when its remarkable sequel, Exotic Freeze, was ported to the Switch over back in 2018 (and still costs a large £pound; 50 like Returns HD does). Back then, we were just over a year right into the Switchlife expectancy, however to bookend the console with its streamlined and slightly drabber-looking precursor? You cant aid but feel both games need to have arrived the various other means round, and if I had to pick one DKC video game to play for £pound; 50 at the end of a console generation, it would be Exotic Freeze, no questions asked.

Still, letnot be successful of ourselves unnecessarily. As I said, thereplenty to advise Returns HD by itself qualities, especially given that it incorporates some of the 3DS variationincluded extras, such as its even more flexible trouble mode where gamers have added wellness and things, and much more besides. And right from the off, Returns HD pulls no strikes when it involves putting players via their rates, calling for a dextrous understanding of Donkey Kong and Diddyparticular capabilities and limitations to tackle strenuous run-and-jump onslaughts that surprise and indulge in equivalent step.

Donkey Kong commercials off-air.

In some aspects, the 3DS still feels like the more all-natural home for Returns. Specifically at an early stage, DK will frequently barrel over to ransack little bits of history landscapes for collectible KONG letters and covert puzzle pieces (the latter of which will gradually swell the ranks of the video gamesubstantial audio and picture collections if every one of them get rooted out in a solitary degree). That views will certainly likewise on a regular basis cascade right into the foreground also, as columns of rock domino down a cliff face to bridge looming gorges prior to you, while kraken arms snake with slim sea caverns to block your course and pesky moles chuck lethal bombs from competing minecart tracks in crystal-encrusted tunnels.

Ita terrific collision of the senses, your fingers flying by the seat of your Joy-Con buttons to keep up with the sights and audios of being tossed at you from front and behind. A vibrant video camera frames the activity with a nimble and elastic lens, pulling in close for tense and mad precision work, before zooming bent on record every last crumb of its ornately attracted phenomenon. And itall set to the bombastic songs of David Wiseinitial soundtrack, reworked here by Aleksander Jastrzebski. This remarkable to-ing and fro-ing is a sensation thatnever dulled on the Change, but when most of my time was spent playing in handheld mode, it took me right back to cranking up the 3DSstereoscopic slider to drink it all in.

Favourite Gallery game?

After initial team at Retro Studios omitted from HD remaster.

I was also reminded simply just how much it leaves you to uncover the finer nuances of its platforming, also. While convenient guide pigs will periodically pop up to tell you some fundamental controls — exactly how to grab onto a vine, claim, or slam DKfists right into the ground to damage fractured scene furnishings — lessons on just how to use a few of its more advanced platforming strategies are never quite as upcoming. Ill confess, I had 15 years of muscle mass memory to assist me out right here, therefore I currently recognized that pushing jump again on opponent heads Mario & Luigi-style would let me acquire extra elevation, while rolling would certainly aid me accelerate to rise throughout bigger spaces.

Some of this youll inevitably find out by happy accident, as thankfully this is a globe positively teeming with little moments of magic such as this. Banging a questionable system and having it turn to disclose a covert barrel to among its numerous secret rooms, for example, or crouching to blow a puff of air, just for it to release a tiny, hardly recognizable prop seed into the air with a lot of bananas or puzzle item in tow. Tiny, incidental actions like these make each and every level feel alive with wide-eyed possibility, and the way that expertise after that surges out to the way you approach later levels on Kong Island stays among Returns HDbiggest strengths.

The more likely circumstance, nonetheless, is that youll learn the mass of these strategies by hand — via grit and rips and by dying repetitively to some of its most tough platforming sections where exact application of these skills is your only route to success. Minecart degrees — once the emphasize of DKC video games — are especially negative for this, though curious banana and collectible placements do at the very least assistance to nudge you toward some type of revelation, nevertheless frustrating. Still, when one foot wrong is often all that separates you and a hasty reboot, there are times when Returns HD can really feel exasperatingly abstruse — something you may have hoped would have been straightened out for this remaster — and no quantity of added wellness in its lower problem setting will certainly help to soften the impact here.

Perfectionists will certainly claim this is par for course with Returns. It was, after all, infamously tough at launch, and remains so currently, even for a triple-dipper such as myself. It is significantly more difficult than a lot of various other platformers out there ideal from the outset, though not insurmountable by any stretch — merely collecting bananas and coins to invest at Cranky Kongstore to buy additional lives are more than numerous adequate to ensure you never in fact see a true game over screen. In a similar way, after a number of deaths in a row, those tutorial pigs will at some point offer to release the returning Super Overview function to skip you throughout as well (albeit at the price of any collectibles youve collected, and any kind of continuing to be pride you have).

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD accessibility alternatives

2 problem choices. Separate sliders for music and audio FX quantity. Choice of two control schemes. Optional activity controls. On/off toggle for HD Rumble, and level of sensitivity slider.

Linger with these pains and pains, nevertheless, and therestill an incomparably rewarding platformer to be found beneath — one where mastery is regularly compensated, and discovering its finer details elicits the most effective sort of beautiful satisfaction. It remains a very good video game, even if it will unavoidably seem like something of a step in reverse for those that have already played and liked Exotic Freeze, whose handsomer visuals and even more enthusiastic set pieces quickly surpass this rather simple, no-frills remaster. If you missed it back in the day or just cant resist the lure of fond memories, therestill a good time to be had with Returns HD. But really, if youve yet to play either of RetroDKC games at this stage in the Switch overlifecycle, you ought to probably simply skip straight to Exotic Freeze. Thata Donkey Kong game at the optimal of its powers, while Returns HD continues to be more of a workout act.