The level design, especially later on, has been ramped up with effects that just weren’t possible for the 16-bit incarnations. And who can forget Cranky Kong taking every opportunity to insult you and whine about modern games? He even pops up with smartass comments in the instruction manual, just like he did in ’94.īut Retro isn’t relying entirely on old tricks, even if those tricks are more awesome than most new ones. Rambi is back to lend a helping…um…horn (unfortunately, the other animal pals don’t make an appearance).
The soundtrack is chock full of updated versions of old DKC tunes, from jungle hijinx to mine cart mayhem to vine valley. There’s nothing in particular about the graphics that are groundbreaking or innovative for the Wii it’s all the little touches, surprises, and oozing charm that make it something special – DK’s tie flapping in the wind during a mine cart level, a mole worker doing a double-take as he watches the big gorilla fly by, a background in a factory level that’s a tribute to stage 1-1 of the original Donkey Kong (easily missed but guaranteed to put a smile on your face if you notice it). The game is visually appealing everywhere you look. But it’s only fitting that the last big title to come out, with a name like Donkey Kong Country behind it, would be the one to trump them all.
DKCR stays so true to the original design of the series that you would never guess it was developed by someone different.Ģ010 has proven to be a year for the resurgence of 2D platformers, and there have been plenty of good ones, even great, so far. It’s even more impressive that they’ve trumped Rare without ever really appearing to challenge them. For one, they somehow foresaw Rare’s downward spiral from their former glory, but more importantly, they saw a spark of something wonderful in Retro Studios and knew that the new Rare was already waiting in the wings.ĭKCR all but proves that, as Retro has now tackled one of Rare’s crowning achievements and made a sequel as good as, if not better than, the originals.
Read our update policy to learn more.I’ve always believed that Nintendo purposefully let Rare fly the coop all those years ago for two reasons. This review was first published on October 3, 2016.
With locations including ruins, caves, the beach, forest and even a volcano players are spoilt for visual variety.Īll the traditional game aspects are present in this Donkey Kong addition with mine cart track levels, vine swinging, bananas to collect and the infamous KONG letters and puzzle pieces. This new enemy replaces the Kremlings as the culprit for banana theft and sees Donkey Kong team up with Diddy Kong across 8 game worlds.Ĭontained within each of these worlds players traverse the environment and defeat the ending boss who has their own mechanics.
Your Donkey Kong story this time around explores the origins of the evil Tikis (Tiki Tak Tribe) that take control over the various inhabitants on the island. With enhanced graphics and hardware the possibilities in the Donkey Kong franchise have exploded to ensure the variety of gameplay is next to none. Donkey Kong Country Returns brings the side scrolling franchise back onto modern day consoles with a Wii release (and subsequently 3DS).