Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

While this remaster doesn’t do justice to this game’s significant legacy, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is still a good way to play a very addictive game.

It's always a treat to go hands-on with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, even if this isn't the most ambitious of HD remasters. Still, it's a solid platforming game, with over 80 levels to sink your teeth into — all with collectibles and extra challenges, too. It's just a shame the controls aren't quite as tight as they should be.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a great experience, mostly because the base work is very good and could be considered without any doubt a modern classic in what is the Nintendo catalog.

It's hard to give this title a lower score, as its proposition is as effective and demanding as it ever was. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD remains more for absolute fans or those who have never laid their hands on its Wii or 3DS versions, though.

I had a lot of fun playing through this game again, even after giving it a shot back in its Wii days. The ability to pick it up and put it down for short bursts was a perfect fit for the game, and helped keep my blood pressure under control for some of the endgame levels that really got me boiling over. Frustrated as I get at my own stupid thumbs for not keeping up, I could never snap my 3DS shut for more than a few minutes before giving it ‘just one more shot’. Give it a try, you’ll be pleasantly surprised (and angry).

The quality of its level design, the two-player coop and a wealth of stages, including the 3DS ones, are enough to recommend a purchase, but Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is sort of lazy if compared to other remastered versions of Nintendo old classics. If you have already played it before elsewhere, there is really no reason for a second playthrough.

Far from being unpleasant, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD still bears the weight of time. Although the golden age of 2D platformers is far behind us, many games, including those in the gorilla license, have modernized the formula in the last few years. This port to Nintendo Switch may therefore seem bland to the most fervent fans of the genre. However, it retains a flavour of yesterday that's a pleasure to savour in small doses, all the more so in the absence of a new opus. It has to be said that Donkey Kong's colorful, comic universe still works as well as ever. And let's not forget the soundtrack, just as memorable even fifteen years on. The game is even more enjoyable in two-player co-op mode. But, we're bound to raise our eyebrows at the €59.99 price tag for a remaster, which settles for the bare minimum.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is a throwback through and through. It's a little less novel than it was when it first appeared on Wii and was the first DKC game in more than a decade, and at this point a lot of its refinements and clever level ideas have been surpassed by the later Tropical Freeze. It's the best way to play DKC Returns and to revisit some truly top-class level design, though. The visual overhaul looks nice on modern displays and it encompasses the improvements made to the 3DS port. Just be warned: Given the sharp and sometimes frustrating difficulty spikes, only the most dedicated ape enthusiasts need apply.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is finally a definitive way to play Retro Studios first Donkey Kong adventure that’s untethered from forced motion controls of the Nintendo Wii or the performance of the Nintendo 3DS. However, outside of that, it brings nothing new to what is probably the weakest entry in the series, apart from a high price point.

A classic platformer with great levels and a cranked-up level of difficulty works great as a representative of the genre, but I'm not sure it has stood the test of time well enough to conquer the market today.

Those who haven't experienced Donkey Kong Country Returns in the past owe it to themselves to try it out. It's a masterpiece with inspired level design, a beautiful art style, and fun that can be experienced alone or with a friend. However, those who have already taken this journey on Wii or 3DS won't really find anything new in this barrel of monkeys. It's safe to go back in your treehouse and wait for Donkey Kong to return again.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a solid remaster of an already amazing game. Graphics and gameplay are smooth and truly offer a feeling of a modern game, despite being a remastered version of a game that was originally released 15 years ago. I played the Wii version when it launched and yet still loved every second I spent in this Switch version. It brought back nostalgia while still being a truly fun experience that left me once again wanting more from the Donkey Kong Country series.

Purposefully old-fashioned and frequently frustrating, but despite being a 15-year-old retro themed Wii game this remaster still holds up surprisingly well.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a fine way to play the 2010 original, but it’s also lacking any real reason for fans to double-dip beyond waggle-free controls. It’s less of a remaster and more of a port, to be honest, which would be all well and good if it wasn’t being sold at such a premium. There's plenty of fun to be had, but we can't help but walk away from it with a slightly sour taste in our mouths. Our advice? Grab the superior Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze instead.

Without going overboard or using any extravagance, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD revitalizes the Nintendo Wii classic with decency. You can still have fun and stress out equally, but in a satisfying way in the excellent platforming challenges and the beautiful scenery worthy of the masterpiece it is known for. The addition of the Nintendo 3DS-exclusive stages gives it an air of novelty, but it's still too little to justify the full price of a title that hasn't even been localized into Brazilian Portuguese. In short, the game is a timid addition to the catalog of a franchise that deserves more and has been forgotten since 2014, when Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was released. Who knows, maybe on the Nintendo Switch 2 we'll see our beloved Donkey Kong shine again.

While Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a commendable platformer and one I am glad to have on the Nintendo Switch as an exclusive swansong, when Tropical Freeze already lives on the console, it’s hard not to view its predecessor as inferior. It’s a challenging retro platformer that is a delight to play for the most part, but with each new set of levels, I wanted to see what a new Donkey Kong excursion might look like, instead of love letters like this that are defined by their attachment to the past.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD offers a fairly straightforward update of the original game: it is simply in HD. That means that all of its best platforming goodness is untouched, but it also means that some of the more frustrating aspects of the game remain as present as before. In that sense, the update is perhaps bare-bones.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a basic remaster that's just enough to bring the game to Nintendo Switch for new players. With its intricate and creative level design, fun soundtrack, and solid replayability, this is an excellent platformer that fits right in with many others on Nintendo Switch. However, if you aim to experience the game in co-op, a frustrating bug makes the experience nothing like the original game, leaving Donkey Kong Country Returns HD in desperate need of a patch.

Donkey and Diddy Kong's return to adventure, alongside their whole family, features refreshed visuals but keeps its gameplay intact. Although this new installment is a full remaster of the original game, Nintendo could have added new levels or greater challenges—especially considering its price point—to attract the original audience with fresh content.

Taken in isolation, DKC Returns HD stands as a generously endowed 2D side-scrolling platformer in the grand tradition of the series. Colourful and punchy, it taxes the reflexes and the brain via 80 levels densely packed with hazards, secrets and optional challenges.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a bit of a hard sell at full price, especially if you still have a Wii with a copy of the original lying around. Its visual improvements are welcome but are marred by enough inconsistencies and technical setbacks that fans may find themselves dreaming of what could have been.

A straightforward remaster that struggles to outshine the Switch port of Tropical Freeze, but Returns HD is still a challenging and satisfying platformer that stands the test of time.