Review – Donkey Kong Country Returns

The original Donkey Kong Country was a key title in the SNES. Now 16 years later, Donkey Kong Country Returns to a new console, new developers and new level of challenge. Its been a while since we got a REAL Donkey Kong game, with Rareware out of the picture can Retro Studios pick up the mantle?



The core controls has not changed much. You still roll to attack enemies, and slap the ground in order to look for secret items, except that now it is on the Wii so we need to incorporate motion controls! In order to slap the ground you need to shake the Wii mote and Nunchuck, which is actually clever because the motion is similar to one of slapping the ground.

However, in order to roll, you need to run and shake the Wii Mote, which definitely crippled the game’s controls. I died countless times because I accidently shaked the Wii mote causing me to roll into a pit. On top of that, the roll attack does not feel very responsive. I do not know why they chose to have the layout that way, but there were plenty of available buttons to use on the Wii mote.

You have the option of using both Wii Mote and Nunchuck, or you can go old school and have just the Wii mote. Both ways worked pretty well, so it is just a matter of preference.

There are more issues than just motion controls, platforming requires very precise jumps, jumping and running feels a bit floaty, bumping into objects will knock you back, and levels with barrel rocket will drive you crazy. There is a strict learning curve to the controls of the game, and it will take most of the play through to get used to it.

Overall, the controls would have been much better off without motion controls and tight platforming. To me it felt that the controls were a major part of the challenge, and a game should not rely on cheap control mechanics in order to be difficult.

Gameplay wise everything is well executed, while staying true to the original game. You are still trying to collect all KONG letters, while attempting to find secrets in each level. Every level has a certain number of puzzle pieces for you to collect (reference to Banjoo Kazooie maybe?).

While some pieces will be easy to spot, others will require a lot of attention. It will take you multiple runs in order to get every single piece in a level. I have only been able to collect all the pieces in one level in my first run through, so I pretty much have to play through the entire game again in order to get all the pieces.
After beating a level, you will unlock a time attack mode for that level. The time attack mode has some sadistic records setup for them, and it will require you to master that level in order to get even a silver medal.

Unlike its predecessor, Donkey Kong Country Returns is incredibly difficult. The game has many one hit KO situations that will take plenty of your lives away in heartbeat. This is where the game truly shines; somehow, even though I was dying like crazy I was still having fun. There might be times where you want to throw the Wii Mote against the wall. But, there is nothing more satisfying than beating that hard level that kicked your ass for 20 minutes.

You now have a heart meter instead of only having one hit per Kong. The game will be much easier if you have Diddy Kong. His jet pack will be a major help with the tough platforming. Each Kong have two heart pieces per life, if you have Diddy Kong you will have four heart pieces. Once you lose the first two pieces, you will lose Diddy. There are very few DK barrels per level, so losing Diddy can be quite frustrating.

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