Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Review

Depending on whom you talk to and the platform they played them on, you’ll hear that Donkey Kong Country Returns is the better game compared to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and vice versa. However, one thing is for certain: Tropical Freeze has had two clear advantages over Returns in both of its releases — it was in high definition, and didn’t force motion controls on you. 

Returns originally released on the Wii, which, despite being a beautiful game for its time, was limited to standard definition and included annoying motion controls. We’re 15 years removed from the original release, and no level of rose-tinted glasses is going let me say that using waggle for key mechanics in that game was in any way fun. The 3DS version fixed the motion control issue but still suffered from low resolution, despite being quite the showcase for the stereoscopic 3D effect. The 3DS version also added new content and, perhaps most importantly, some difficulty relief in the form of “modern mode.” In its original form and difficulty, Returns is a challenging game. While it might look like a simple Nintendo platformer, don’t be mistaken — it’s anything but.

In Donkey Kong County Returns, DK’s banana hoard has been stolen yet again and all of his animal friends have been hypnotised. Through the 9 worlds the game offers you’ve got to get DK and Diddy through the levels to get the hoard back, and take down the Tiki Tak Tribe. 

If you play Returns in the original mode you’ll get all of the game’s difficultly intact. Platforming in this game requires precision, with Donkey Kong understandably heavier and slower to turn around than Mario is. Once you’ve built some momentum things move better, but you’ll be punished quickly for doing the wrong thing and then it’s back to the checkpoint or start of the stage for you. The game’s modern mode softens that blow adding more health, purchasable items to add more hearts, more lives, or even offers up a second chance should you fall off a stage. The game also has the Super Guide which can play a level through for you, remember when Nintendo had that in every game? 

The other thing the game has a lot of is the familiar platforming tropes like having all the platforms beneath you fall, projectiles shooting at you and you need to jump on them for collectables, and despite there being no underwater levels in this one, there’s a fair amount of water based ideas borrowed from other games. Classic Donkey Kong Country things like the mine carts, and shooting between barrels are here and just as frustrating as they always have- which is part of the fun. 

You can play the game solo, but if you’re willing to put a relationship in jeopardy you can play the game with local- co-op, but really the game doesn’t feel like it was designed for it with a lot of set pieces, on-rails cart sections and anything in barrel meaning the second player can’t do things, but they’re just going to get in the way. Not only that when you both die, you lose two lives, which makes sense but also – it’s not really a help. Time Attack returns as well, once you beat a stage you can go through as fast as you can to set a record. 

Making the jump to HD has made Returns a lot nicer, to look at – but it was never ugly in the first place. If you compare the games side by side, frame by frame, you’ll find many differences, a lot for the better. But there are also a few missing things or things that some might consider worse. For every wave effect in one level that looks a little less realistic, there’s reflections in caves, or changes made to make things more visible in dark areas or the jungle just pops out a bit more. Everything is sharper and vibrant, it’s still a HD version of a Wii game, or a 3DS one, or a bit of both. It certainly is below that of Tropical Freeze. 

Returns’ soundtrack is a familiar riff on the Donkey Kong Country themes you know and love. Tropical Freeze is probably the best soundtrack in a Donkey Kong game outside of the SNES titles, and Returns isn’t bad either, all the familiar themes and jingles are there but it doesn’t do too much to elevate itself over the originals, which we all know were excellent. 

Returns is great, but I am so ready for a new Donkey Kong, whether it be a Country game or something else. We’ve had this game for 15 years and yes it stands up, Tropical Freeze we’ve been treated to twice as well. Now Returns is available to play in the best way possible, so if you’ve never dipped in there’s no better time to, but if you’ve already played this before there’s nothing new here really for you. Still a modern classic.

Rating: 4.5/5