Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii Review) by Carl B.

Donkey Kong Country Returns
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios
System: Wii
Release Date: November 21, 2010

November 22, 2010, by Carl B. - On November 24, 1994, Nintendo released a new series on the SNES starring one of their classic mascots: Donkey Kong. The game, developed by Rare and titled Donkey Kong Country, was a 2D platformer with a high difficulty curve and fantastic, pre-rendered visuals. Donkey Kong Country instantly became a beloved title in the SNES library, and spawned two sequels over the next few years: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble. Donkey Kong Country never saw a release on the N64, with Nintendo and Rare developing Donkey Kong 64 instead of a "Country" title, and then in 2002, Rare was bought out by Microsoft. Luckily, Donkey Kong Country was a Nintendo-owned property, so Microsoft wasn't able to claim that license. The series skipped over the GameCube, but at E3 2010, Nintendo revealed the next "Country" game: Donkey Kong Country Returns. Developed by Retro Studios, the same team behind the outstanding Metroid Prime series, Donkey Kong Country Returns is a sequel to the SNES Donkey Kong Country titles. Was Retro Studios able to breathe new life into the series like they did with Metroid, or is Donkey Kong Country Returns stuck in the 90's?

To the dismay of hardcore Donkey Kong Country fans, the Kremlings aren't the main antagonists in Donkey Kong Country Returns. Instead, Retro Studios took a new direction with the game's story. A tribe of magical Tiki's have hypnotized animals in the jungle and ordered them to steal the Kongs' bananas. While it may have been more of a fan service to include the Kremlings in Returns, having a new set of evil-doers gives the game a more authentic feel.

There are eight total worlds in the game - nine counting the bonus world - which players will travel through as Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. The island features a wide array of locales, including a jungle, beach, Cliffside, factory, and even a volcano. Retro Studios pushed the GameCube to its limits with the first two Metroid Prime titles, and while Donkey Kong Country Returns doesn't have as large a scope as Metroid Prime does, the game certainly has fantastic visuals, both on a technical and artistic side. The original Donkey Kong games had pre-rendered backgrounds, which looked great for the time period. Donkey Kong Country Returns doesn't follow suit, however, as the game's environments are presented in real-time, and feature several layers in the background and even the foreground. There are a few aesthetically pleasing levels in the game where all objects and environments are merely silhouettes - one such level in the factory has platforms that are completely black, enemies that are all black, and grey smoke covering up most of the screen. The game's cut scenes also look fantastic, and the entire experience runs at a flawless 60 frames per second.

Creating a great-feeling atmosphere was something Retro was able to do with the Metroid Prime series, due to the method of story-telling used, visual style, and soundtrack. They've done it again with Donkey Kong Country Returns, albeit the atmospheric feel is completely different from that of Metroid Prime. There is no dialogue to the story-telling; just Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's facial expressions as the plot unfolds. The soundtrack features remixes from the SNES games, which are sure to make veteran games feel nostalgic. There are also many new great sounding tunes, and I can't help but think the theme found in many of the volcano's levels sounds eerily similar to the Magmoor Caverns from Metroid Prime.


Donkey Kong Country Returns, like its SNES predecessors, is a side-scrolling platformer. Players travel from left to right in a level, jump over and avoid obstacles, jump on top of enemies, and try not to deplete their two hearts before they reach the end. What sets Returns apart from the previous games in the series, however, is the creative and unique level design. One example of such was present at E3 2010: the ability to move from the foreground to the background in certain part of a level. These moments are usually brought about by being fired from a barrel into the background, and provide a nice change of pace to the action. The screen doesn't zoom up on Donkey Kong, either, so players have to pay extra-close attention to their jumps. Objects in the background, such as pillars or rolling rocks, can also fall into the foreground.


The only relatives of Donkey Kong in the game are Diddy Kong and Cranky Kong, the latter of which owns a shop in each world that players can buy items from. Freeing Diddy Kong in any given level has more advantages than it did in the SNES games. Not only does Diddy Kong give the player two extra hearts, but by holding down the jump button Diddy's jetpack will activate, allowing players to fly in the air for about two seconds. The entire game can be played with a second player as well.

In Cranky Kong's shop players are able to purchase lives in exchange for coins found throughout the game. These extra lives come in very handy midway through the adventure, as that's when the difficulty really starts to ramp up. These super-hard levels aren't in the form of standard "go left to right" platforming stages, but instead are incorporated as mine cart and rocket levels. The beloved mine cart levels from the SNES Donkey Kong Country games are back in all their glory, and are even harder and more exciting than they have ever been. One mine cart level, world 4 level 3 to be exact, is quite possibly the single-hardest level in a platforming video game, ever. Not only do players have to time jumps in their cart from rail to rail, but the ceiling is filled with blue spikes that kill Donkey Kong upon impact. Throw in blazing fast speeds - blinking during this level is an almost instant death - along with a ridiculous ending part that's too complicated for words and Retro Studios has created a level truly worthy of the Super Guide, which will appear to players after numerous deaths. I died 12 straight times in that level alone, and had to call upon the Super Guide to complete it. The weird part about it, however, is that these crazy-hard mine cart and rocket levels are actually tons of fun, whether it's because of the pure joy after completing the level or the knowledge that if players die too many times and can't get by, the Super Guide will be there to save them.


That's not to say every level in Donkey Kong Country Returns is that hard, even later in the game. There's enough balance between insanely hard and just challenging to prevent players from throwing their Wii Remote at the screen. A control issue that is surely to give players some frustration, unfortunately, is the method in which players make Donkey Kong roll. On the Wii Remote and Nunchuck setup, a swing of the Nunchuck while moving makes Donkey Kong roll. Oddly enough, to make Donkey Kong perform a ground pound, players have to swing both the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. If Donkey Kong is even slightly moving, he may roll instead of pound, resulting in his untimely death if near the edge of a cliff. I found that playing the game with a long Wii Remote in horizontal position is much easier, even though rolls and pounds are still controlled by swinging the controller.


Donkey Kong Country Returns is a pretty long game by platforming standards. I finished the game in just over nine hours, and that was only with 30% of the collectables obtained. In each level the classic "KONG" letters can be grabbed by the player. There are also numerous puzzle pieces in each level, which are a lot harder to find; it will take players several playthroughs to get 100% collectables in Donkey Kong Country Returns.

The Verdict

Sound
15/15 - Remixes of old tunes will keep players feeling nostalgic and brand-new beats keeps things fresh.

Graphics
20/20 - Retro Studios has always applied a fantastic art style to their games, and Donkey Kong Country Returns is no different. Every level has a great deal of detail, silhouette levels look amazing, and the entire package runs at 60 frames per second.

Appeal
21/25 - A nine hour adventure at minimum is longer than most 2D platformers, and a multitude of collectables makes the experience even longer. Anger-prone gamers should stay away from the title's harder levels.

Gameplay
38/40 - Classic elements from the series are present in Donkey Kong Country Returns, and there's enough new content and gameplay mechanics to make the concept feel fresh. Later levels, despite being a ton of fun, are very difficult. Control issues with rolling and pounding may frustrate some players.

Overall
94/100 - Donkey Kong Country Returns isn't Retro's best work - that award goes to Metroid Prime - but that isn't a particularly bad thing, either. Returns takes everything gamers loved about the Donkey Kong Country series on the SNES and combines it with fresh ideas, some very challenging level design, and beautiful visuals.