Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the latest in a series of comebacks for DK, bringing the original Wii-era adventure back for the Nintendo Switch as the platform sails into the sunset. It’s an interesting project too, as Nintendo handed the reigns to Forever Entertainment, who then rebuilt the whole thing to run in the Unity Engine.
The Return of Kong Returns is a certainly a choice but there is some logic here – the more enjoyable DKC Tropical Freeze already exists on Switch, so bringing over the Wii game means you can experience both of Retro Studios’ Kong adventures in one place.
This was their first non-Metroid Prime game, released back in 2010, and was quite a pivot given the difference in genres. I personally enjoyed the game back then, but its controls felt a little lacking compared to the Super NES titles and the soundtrack felt like a bit of a cheap imitation of the originals. Three years later, the game was ported to Nintendo 3DS, necessitating a change from 60fps to 30fps gameplay, with the port handled by Excite Truck developer Monster Games.
For the current port to Switch, I was a bit nervous about the game’s prospects given Forever’s track record, which includes slightly sub-par remakes of Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead. However, I shouldn’t have worried – this is fundamentally the best work to come out of Forever Entertainment to date.