Donkey Kong Country Returns HD review: old monkey business

Mario may be Nintendo’s mascot but you shouldn’t discount Donkey Kong, who’s been around just as long – and the original star/antagonist of the company’s smash arcade hit more than four decades ago. These days however, we know the ape better for his own console platforming series, which actually celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.

Yet rather than a new game to commemorate the occasion, Nintendo has been more content on recycling the fella’s past outings, with Mario vs Donkey Kong early last year and now Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. Indeed, for a genuinely new DK experience, you’d have to visit his ride that opened in Super Nintendo World in Japan (and coming soon to Universal Studio theme parks Stateside).

While the original Wii game was responsible for, well, returning the ape to his side-scrolling platforming glory that was lost following the the series creators Rare being sold to Microsoft, you’re getting the sense that this is just another re-release that Nintendo’s using to plug its release schedule while everyone waits for the Switch successor. So is this still a welcome return or is it not worth giving a monkey’s about?

Ape escape

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD isn’t even the first time the game has received a port that’s playable on a handheld, having also received a port on the 3DS (it even got an HD port via the Nvidia Shield for the Chinese market). This latest iteration is also not handled by original developer Retro Studio, who’s naturally busy with the highly anticipated Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Instead, porting responsibilities had gone to Forever Entertainment, who was behind HD remakes of Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead.

An external developer is no cause for concern as it’s certainly a perfectly serviceable port that looks up to modern standards, including up-ressed CG cutscenes that first introduce you to the new antagonists, the Tiki Tak Tribe, who start hypnotising the animals of Donkey Kong Island to steal Donkey and Diddy Kong’s bananas. But that also makes it a pretty bare bones port, with no exclusive new content to shout about, while still having to pay more than the game’s original price.

At least it’s gone with the wise option of bringing over all the additional content and features that were present in the 3DS port. This includes the very welcome ‘Modern mode’, which by most folks’ standards should be the default and least frustrating way to play the game, with more health points to start with and the option to buy more items that can help you out. Frankly, the classic mode feels designed for old-school masochists and it’s almost amazing to think the original was released on the Wii at a time when the console was courting a much more mainstream audience.

In any case, I prefer a modern difficulty mode compared to when the Switch port of Tropical Freeze added ‘Funky mode’. No offence to Funky Kong fans but there’s a difference between making a game more approachable and one that not only makes a game too easy but also marks this out visually. That said, the additional health points still won’t do away with sections where one hit means an instant fail, notably those rocket barrel sections. But at least you won’t have to engage with any awkward motion controls if you don’t want to.

Going bananas

Even if Tropical Freeze is arguably the better game, with more visual variety, Returns HD is nonetheless a welcome port that gives Donkey Kong Country fans more of what they want. That is to say, the series is very much a hardcore side-scrolling platformer in the ways that 2D Mario isn’t. Owing to the ape’s weight, every jump really requires more thought and consideration to execute, while you have to time your roll if you want to pull off a long jump rather than just holding down a sprint button.

Besides manual dexterity, the secrets and collectibles are arguably more fiendish than any the plumber is tasked with finding. Even if you’re to buy and use the parrot from Kranky Kong’s shop that indicates when a jigsaw piece is nearby, you’ll likely still be racking your brain as to where or how you can obtain it, which also involves observing with what parts of the environment you can interact with, whether that’s pounding the ground or blowing on an object. There’s definitely plenty there to keep completionists coming back then, including post-game content that requires some painstaking collecting from the eight worlds of the base game to unlock.

Whether the sweat, blood and tears is worth it will however depend on the kind of player you are. Personally, DK is just a difficult platforming character to control with a lot more purposeful friction that often rubs me the wrong way. It’s also not helped by what feels at times like unresponsive controls. I swear there are times I press roll only for him to walk off a platform to his death, while there are sections where a normal jump feels insufficient but a rolling jump also risks you overshooting it.

In other words, if you enjoy Super Mario Bros. Wonder, don’t automatically assume this is a 2D platformer for you. You’d be better off trying the original SNES games that have been added to the Switch Online library to make up your mind first.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD verdict

Back in 2010, Returns was an aptly named return to glory for Donkey Kong who had been left floundering and proved there was still something for hardcore Wii owners to sink their teeth into. 15 years later though, it feels too much of a retread when realistically there ought to be something genuinely new to be monkeying about with. Plus, if Nintendo really wants to give fans a platforming classic from the Wii era, then Super Mario Galaxy 2 is right there.

DKC fans will nonetheless be grateful that this is at least the best version of the game that’s playable today, bringing all the additional content from the 3DS port but better HD graphics and control options. Still, let’s hope the rumours that Nintendo is preparing an all-new 3D Donkey Kong game for the Switch successor bears fruit. Or failing that, let’s at least bring Donkey Kong 64 and the DK Rap to Switch Online.