Ape’s retrograde escapade makes for great update

You know, it’s just occurred to me that the only Donkey Kong game I’ve actually played has been the original arcade version. I’ve never actually played a game where Donkey Kong was the focus, so I’m glad to have fixed that with this game.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a level-based 2-D side-scrolling platformer, initially released for the Wii and now remade for the Switch in crisp HD.

The story here is pretty straightforward, Donkey Kong’s bananas are being stolen and he gives chase to get them back.

While obviously a standard platformer, with a lot of jumping and crushing enemies to death, Donkey Kong Country does stand out from others. The controls are a bit more weighty-feeling than a traditional platformer as Donkey Kong has acceleration on his movement, so you need to be careful to stop early before you crash into enemies. He can also roll while moving to smash into guys, or slam the ground while stationary, which interacts with buttons and loose floors to find collectables, or just dazes any enemy in front of him for an easy takedown. There’s also a few vehicle sections, like mine carts — which are more platforming puzzles — and barrel cannons which are timing-based puzzles in which you avoid traps to get to the next barrel.

Then there’s the DK barrel. Throwing this will spawn Diddy Kong to balance on your back, granting another two hearts and a jetpack to cross larger gaps and hold you in the air for a little bit. Diddy will last throughout stages, but will vanish if you die or lose two hearts in a row. You can also have a friend play Diddy in the drop-in/drop-out multiplayer feature, but I didn’t manage to test this.

Scattered over the levels are bananas — collect 100 of these and you’ll unlock a new life — and coins, which allow you to purchase items from the shop. In case you missed that little tidbit, there are lives in this game! They’re a rather rare novelty nowadays, and it’s always fun to see them again, but they seem a little half-baked here. Unless you are constantly dying, you can pick up enough lives to mitigate your mistakes with plenty to spare; it never became an issue for me. You can also find the letters K-O-N-G and puzzle pieces, as well as small bonus levels, where you generally have to collect every banana to get another collectable like a life or a puzzle piece.

As with the 3DS port Donkey Kong Country Returns, you can select one of two difficulties. Original Mode, has, unsurprisingly, the same settings as the original. Two hearts and normal shop items. You can also play in Modern Mode, where you have three hearts and more shop items that you can use to give yourself an advantage.

The most annoying part of this game has to be the rather strict checkpoint system, paired with the instant kill traps and puts. You are only given one or two checkpoints a level, so dying anywhere feels like a big setback, especially because Donkey Kong Country Returns is a rather challenging platformer as you progress. They also reset all of the pickups, which is a double-edged sword. Any life pickups get reset, but the K-O-N-G letters do too. Even if you play on the easier mode, the instant death trap will still take all your hearts, so don’t expect the game to be a walk in the park, even on the easier difficulty.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a faithful port of one of the most popular games from the Wii era. It’s fast-paced, decently challenging, extremely replayable and a blast to play. However, this is really just a neat visual upgrade, so there’s nothing for old fans to come back to. For new fans, however, I can wholeheartedly recommend this platformer — and enjoying some of its absolutely stellar music as you go.

By Michael Robertson