#Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD – Destructoid

It was troublesome to be a Nintendo fan through the Wii years. The preliminary hype round its movement controls died fairly shortly when it grew to become clear its real-world software was extraordinarily restricted. Worse, Nintendo appeared to be trying to achieve favor with a broader viewers and it appeared that its output suffered.

What sucked most was that it felt like movement management was being shoehorned into all the things. Largely as a result of they had been. I believe 2010’s Donkey Kong Nation Returns is exemplary of this. Retro Studios did an admirable job persevering with Uncommon’s legacy, however the completely baffling choice was made to include controller shaking. Specifically, you needed to shake the controller to get DK to roll. Rolls had been essential as a type of assault, however extra importantly, rolling was used to increase jumps. Exact jumps, particularly. Jumps that you’d see within the hardest ranges. And it didn’t matter how easy the movement was, it was unreliable.

There was no motive for it, it may have simply been certain to the identical button as “choose up/seize,” you realize, similar to it was in earlier video games. You couldn’t flip it off. The mere incontrovertible fact that it needed to be this was frustrates me to even speak about, however truly enjoying essentially the most troublesome ranges with this hamstringer drove me insane.

So, anyway, Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD doesn’t use movement controls and is healthier for it.

Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD (Swap)
Developer: Retro Studios, Perpetually Leisure
Writer: Nintendo
Launched: January 16, 2025
MSRP: $59.99

Technically, you can play Donkey Kong Nation Returns with out movement management on the 3DS already with Donkey Kong Nation Returns 3D, however I really feel like this kind of sport wants an even bigger display.

The unique Donkey Kong Nation collection was a heavy-hitter on the SNES, virtually placing Uncommon on the map. If somebody tells you that these video games had been solely beloved for his or her graphics and had customary gameplay, they had been clearly in a Genesis family. Uncommon might have fronted with the lavish 3D-to-2D sprites, however the stage design was top-notch. Typically maddeningly so. A great deal of selection throughout its worlds.

After Nintendo and Uncommon had cut up, it appeared unlikely the collection would proceed in any kind, so it was a shock to see it once more in 2010, and much more stunning to search out out that it’s each bit pretty much as good as the unique trilogy (movement management frustration apart). Truthfully, whereas I want the vibes of the SNES titles higher, the degrees in Donkey Kong Nation Returns attain offensive ranges of creativity. From driving rockets to avoiding large rhythmic hammers, it’s a grasp class at setpieces. It supplies a stiff however honest problem throughout its eight (predominant) worlds, and always finds new methods to shock.

One of many first issues that greets you while you begin up a brand new sport is a problem setting. There are two, they usually’re hilariously named “Fashionable” and “Traditional,” which made me surprise what 12 months that is. “Fashionable” is simpler as a result of I assume COVID prompted our thumbs to atrophy and our endurance to skinny. You have got three hearts by default, and Cranky’s store carries extra objects.

Past the truth that one thing from 2010 is taken into account not fashionable, I discover it amusing that there’s a neater problem as a result of Donkey Kong Nation Returns already has problem choices. It prompted a little bit of discourse on the time, even earlier than the Darkish Souls Straightforward Mode debate. There’s the Tremendous Information that performs the extent for you in case you screw up just a few too many instances, one thing that grew to become insulting after the movement controls let me down throughout troublesome segments. There are additionally potions that make you invincible for some time. However, yeah, additional problem choices by no means damage. I simply want they didn’t additionally make me really feel previous and nervous for the brand new generations on the similar time.

The story of Donkey Kong Nation Returns is considerably divorced from the unique collection, which was an escalating battle towards an insane lizard. Donkey Kong’s banana horde is stolen once more (as Cranky Kong factors out, “So, who hasn’t stolen your bananas at this level?”), however this time, it’s by an odd military of tiki idols that may hypnotize the wildlife. Fortunately, DK’s superior primate mind is proof against hypnosis, so he units out to reacquire his bananas, assumedly earlier than they flip brown.

A lot of Donkey Kong Nation Returns seems like a re-tread of the primary sport. You have got all of the barrel blasting and mine carting that made that title stand out. Furthermore, the heaps of tantalizing secret objects which are dangled simply out of attain make a return. Whereas it’s a linear platformer, Retro Studios adopted Uncommon’s instance of sticking additional challenges and hidden nooks to search out as you race to the purpose. Extra importantly, you’re rewarded for looking issues out, with further ranges awarded, primarily for accumulating all of the KONG letters.

The view is zoomed out lots farther, and climbable surfaces have been added, which permits ranges to have much more verticality to them. This additionally signifies that minecart sections require fewer split-second reactions. Personally, I by no means had an issue with the minecarts within the SNES sport, however I do know some hate these ranges, so perhaps that is much less vexing? If it’s not, you’re going to hate the rockets.

Alongside the minecart segments, there are ranges the place you experience a rocket barrel via a compelled scrolling part. These require you to press the leap button to drag up and lift your altitude, so it requires a bit extra consciousness than, say, a scrolling shoot-’em-up. It requires a really feel for the responsiveness of the rocket, and there are some actually slender components which may find yourself irritating. I beloved the rocket segments each time; they might be my favourite a part of the entire expertise. There’s one thing to be stated in regards to the simplicity, however Retro Studios was nonetheless capable of put in some extremely thrilling segments round your rocket-propelled journey.

The bosses are a bit extra of a blended bag. Each is closely pattern-based, and there’s quite a lot of selection between them. Sadly, that very same selection signifies that some are higher than others. I had problem even determining what I needed to do on a few of them. Including to that, the collision detection in Donkey Kong Nation Returns is questionable quite a lot of the time, and this appears to manifest most in terms of bosses. I’d discover myself taking harm after I was away from hazard to the purpose the place I captured a video of 1 second, then considered it and confirmed that the 2 fashions didn’t intersect. What the hell? I’m unsure if the shaky collision was this manner within the unique model. It’s solely a minor annoyance general; it simply looks as if an out-of-place unfastened thread in an in any other case tight and polished sport.

The graphical glowup in Donkey Kong Nation Returns is fairly understated. It’s principally what it says on the tin: a higher-resolution model of the unique. Donkey Kong has some added fuzz, however it’s clearly set earlier than Tropical Freeze since he hasn’t but found the wonderful conditioner that gave him his unbelievable coat in that sport.

The very best comparability I may give is to say it’s like Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. Nothing has actually modified art-wise. The lighting is healthier, however it’s removed from astounding. The textures are sharper, however they haven’t actually modified. Backgrounds are largely untouched. It’s not the identical magnitude of improve that Paper Mario: The Thousand-12 months Door bought, it’s largely simply Donkey Kong Nation Returns with extra pixels.

It was good to revisit the sport. I discover that with platformers, until they’re extraordinarily unconventional, they type of get sectioned away in my mind. Even once they’re notably well-executed, as is the case with Donkey Kong Nation Returns. However truly sitting down and enjoying them, I discover I can nonetheless admire them.

And whereas Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD doesn’t revolutionize the sport, it nonetheless manages to grow to be the definitive model of the title. In case you haven’t performed it earlier than, you owe it to your self to attempt it out. Retro Studios outdid themselves. They took what got here earlier than and expertly expanded and improved on it. It’s an astounding show of artistic stage design that’s close to unmatched in sidescrollers. And now you may play it with out having to shake your controller.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}