Donkey Kong Country Returns HD 90s style platforming from 2010 (Nintendo)Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns gets a new remaster on Nintendo Switch, but has it become just a bit too retro?Theres an obvious joke to be made here, about Nintendo remasters scraping the bottom of the barrel, but were not going to encourage that. We dont want to suggest that Donkey Kong Country Returns isnt a good game, or not worthy of keeping in print, but considering Nintendo already remastered its Wii U sequel, Tropical Freeze, it seems clear they originally thought thered be no point bringing over the original.But the Switch 2 still hasnt been announced, so in the meantime new titles are still needed for the current console and this remaster of the original 2010 Wii game is a perfectly reasonable choice. It was one of the best-looking games on the Wii and even with little in the way of improvements this still looks great 15 years later.The choice of remaster might also have something to do with rumours that a new 3D Donkey Kong game will be one of the first titles to be released for the Switch 2, possibly as a new Super Mario title. There has been a small uptick in visibility for the great ape in recent months, including a remake of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, but that could easily just be because of the new area at the Super Nintendo World theme park in Japan.Of course, in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, which was also the debut of Mario, Donkey Kong was the antagonist. In later games and spin-offs, including Super Mario Kart, there was the chance to play as Donkey Kong Jr. (who, ironically, rarely turns up in new games nowadays) but it wasnt until the first Donkey Kong Country game on the SNES, in 1994, that DK himself became a playable character.The series use of pre-rendered graphics was a revelation at the time, and one of the key reasons the SNES eventually outsold the Mega Drive, but the games were relatively generic mascot platformers. In hindsight that seems a rather uninspired choice, since apart from a certain fixation with barrels the Country games dont make any real reference to the original games or the fact that Donkey Kong is a super strong gorilla.Wed hope that if there is any new game coming it would play a bit more imaginatively with Donkey Kongs potential, but as the name implies that was never the intention of Donkey Kong Country Returns. The original games were made by Rare, but since theyre now owned by Microsoft development duties were handed over to Metroid Prime creator Retro Studios.Originally, they seemed an odd choice, but the two Returns games are an excellent continuation of the series assuming what you wanted was exactly the same thing only with modern (or as modern as the Wii could provide) graphics.That means surprisingly slow-paced, precision-based platforming; a sky high difficulty level; and plenty of rote learning. The original version featured some unreliable motion controls, but this remaster makes that just an option. Although we still found ourselves accidentally doing a forward roll sometimes, when we didnt mean to.It goes without saying that the end result is a very old-fashioned feeling game, where youre ruthlessly punished for every mistake and theres a lot of trial and error involved, avoiding obstacles and enemies you could never have anticipated the first time around. Donkey Kongs weight means he has a lot of momentum and needs a bit of space to get up to full speed, so you not only need to be very precise in your jumps, but you need to plan ahead too.This can be very frustrating and while older fans will appreciate it, you spend the whole game feeling very vulnerable (which doesnt feel like a good match for Donkey Kong) and forever on the edge of disaster. For the majority of the time this works to add tension to the standard platform levels, but it turns the minecart and rocket stages into an absolute nightmare of trial and error and pixel perfect precision. Indiana Jones has a lot to answer for (Nintendo)The Switch version adds a Modern mode which offers you more hearts and various perishable items that can make a level easier. This makes the normal platform levels a lot more approachable, but it does nothing for the long distance between checkpoints and the trial and error nature of the mine cart and rocket-powered barrel levels. However, you can also skip any level you want by using Super Kong to beat them for you, while watching how he gets through it for tips.We hesitate to describe any of the difficulty issues as flaws, since this is exactly how the games are supposed to be. Our main complaint with the Retro titles is that they were too beholden to the past and not only did they not introduce any major new ideas, but they managed to leave out some that were in the originals.More TrendingRambi the rhinoceros, who you can ride and is the only time in the game you ever feel powerful, is only in a tiny handful of levels and there are no underwater stages at all (there is in Tropical Freeze though). The lack of variety is disappointing and apart from occasionally jumping between the background and foreground the more modern visuals arent utilised for any new gameplay features.You are helped by the fact that Diddy Kong is available in most levels and has a, very underpowered, jetpack. This is useful but if hes killed you have to continue on without him, with often no way of getting him back. A second person can play as him in co-op if you want, but in our experience having two people bouncing around only adds to the confusion.Donkey Kong Country Returns does exactly what it sets out to, and with a great deal of panache. The graphics still look surprisingly good on the big screen and while there are no significant new features here, beyond a small number of new levels from the 3DS version, this is a competent remaster. We do hope it is not a sign of things to come though. We welcome more DK in general, but the world doesnt need the return of another Donkey Kong Country.Donkey Kong Country Returns HD review summaryIn Short: Purposefully old-fashioned and frequently frustrating, but despite being a 15-year-old retro themed Wii game this remaster still holds up surprisingly well.Pros: An excellent continuation of the Donkey Kong Country series, for better and worse, that still looks and plays very well more than a decade later. Great soundtrack and fun visuals.Cons: The original game never had any substantial new ideas and was actually missing some from the originals. Modern mode doesnt help with frustrating vehicle-based levels.Score: 7/10Formats: Nintendo SwitchPrice: 49.99Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Forever Entertainment (original: Retro Studios)Release Date: 16th January 2025Age Rating: 3 The rocket levels are step too far (Nintendo)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy