Donkey Kong Country Returns HD review: a whole banana hoard of improvements

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is an admirable upgrade over its predecessor, and the definitive starting point for those new to the Donkey Kong Country series.

The Donkey Kong Country series is one that dominated the ‘90s on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, delivering difficult but fair platformers that turned what was once a Nintendo villain into a beloved Super Mario character.

Check out Donkey Kong Country Returns HD below

I have fond memories of playing the initial release of Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Nintendo Wii, and while its platforming proved a little too challenging for my adolescent mind, I remember somehow dragging myself to the final boss and rolling the credits.

Playing through the initial stages of the new-and-improved HD version those memories came flooding back to me, making for a charming and nostalgic playthrough of a solid platformer.

For those new to the game or the series in general let me bring you up to speed. Donkey Kong Country Returns was a fresh-start for the series originally developed by Rare Games. The story begins with Donkey Kong’s hoard of bananas being stolen by floating tiki masks, who’ve taken control of the island’s animals to assist with their dastardly scheme. Donkey Kong, the testosterone-filled ape he is, grows enraged by this and teams up with his friend Diddy Kong to reclaim the hoard and save the island.

The game itself is good fun and plays like your standard Nintendo platformer. Fans of the classic games will feel right at home but be warned Donkey Kong Country games are notoriously challenging at times and Donkey Kong Country Returns is no exception. Granted I had a much easier time with the HD version than I did with the Wii version, probably because I’m an older, wiser, and more patient gamer than I once was, but some of the levels did give me a run for my money.

Every stage has some sort of theme or gimmick to it, and I’m particularly fond of the levels that play with illumination, as some see Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong become silhouettes against a contrasting background, they’re always a treat for the eyes.

Occasionally though you’ll be thrust into a minecart or rocket-barrel level, which can be stupidly difficult at times. Anything that touches you automatically kills you regardless of how many hearts you have, so it’s more a test of patience and muscle-memory than anything else. When playing a level that’s resulted in your untimely demise too many times, the game will offer to have Super Kong complete it for you. This will let you progress to the next stage, but it won’t count as you beating the level so you can come back to it later.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD also makes a few accessibility changes to aid those who don’t want too great of a challenge. Called Modern Mode, Donkey Kong will have three hearts instead of the usual two, Cranky Kong’s shop will stock more items at the beginning of the game than usual, and you can take nine items into the stage with you to make things a touch easier. This includes potions that make you temporarily invincible, potions that make the minecarts or rocket-barrels invincible, potions that give you even more hearts and much more. This isn’t forced upon you either, as you can play the whole game in Original Mode if you’d prefer, but you can’t switch once you’ve selected a difficulty so choose wisely.

Another change the HD versions makes to its Wii predecessor is, bongo roll please, no motion controls! In the Wii version you’d need to shake the Wii Remote to make Donkey Kong slap the ground, which I always found to be pretty annoying and I know others felt the same. Now it’s just a button press and it feels a hell of a lot better for it.

The main bread and butter of the HD version though is of course the HD visuals. When I saw the reveal trailer I wasn’t that impressed, as it didn’t really look any different in my opinion. After looking back on what the Wii version actually looked like I can safely say I was dead wrong, the HD version looks superior by far. When you think back to a game you used to play it always looks better in your head, and for me, this is what Donkey Kong Country Returns looked like to me as a kid.

The image is smoother, the colours are a bit more vibrant and the Kongs look more like themselves. I think there are some areas that could have been improved further, for instance the oceans don’t look as impressive, but for the most part it’s definitely a graphical improvement.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a sweet little upgrade, and it pairs nicely with Donkey Kong Returns: Tropical Freeze also on the Nintendo Switch. For those who’ve never played the game before it’s well-worth picking up, and for those who have I think it’s a good enough remaster to return to, especially if it’s been a while. Hopefully this means we’ll be getting more Donkey Kong Country games in the future, and I’d love to see other Donkey Kong games like Donkey Konga make a comeback as well.

Pros: HD visuals make the game look a treat, quality-of-life improvements are nicely implemented, better accessibility without taking away too much of the challenge

Cons: Some of the visuals could have been pushed further, might not be worth the upgrade for those who’ve played the game before

For fans of: Super Mario, Kirby, Metroid

Score: 8/10 - Excellent

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD will launch on the Nintendo Switch on 16 January.. Review code provided by the publisher. Find a complete guide to GAMINGbible's review scores here.