Donkey Kong Country Returns Is A Little Easier On The Switch — But Still Hard As Hell

For a crippled astir collecting bananas and throwing barrels, Donkey Kong Country Returns is amazingly inventive. The game, which primitively launched connected nan Wii successful 2010, takes nan classical SNES side-scroller and steadily infuses it pinch caller ideas, creating an acquisition that’s astatine times immoderate tense and thrilling. You’ll do everything from alert a rocket done bat-filled caves to debar nan tentacles of a elephantine squid. It gets intense. It’s too a crippled that’s known for being very hard. But a caller larboard connected nan Switch makes it somewhat easier to bask each of those thrills without getting excessively frustrated.

It’s called Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, and it’s fundamentally what it says correct location successful nan title: nan original crippled but pinch cleaned-up graphics. Fundamentally, location isn’t a batch of difference. The premise, which involves an evil disguise turning a bunch of animals against Kong, remains nan same, arsenic do nan levels you’ll explore; though, arsenic a bully bonus, nan larboard does spot stages that were antecedently only disposable successful nan 3DS type of nan game.

And conscionable for illustration nan 3DS version, nan Switch crippled has 2 modes to play through. One, called “Original,” is precisely what it sounds like, a consecutive larboard of nan Wii game. The different is called “Modern Mode.” It doesn’t really alteration nan problem but alternatively offers a greater action of adjuvant boosts, nan action to proscription 9 of those items astatine once, and an different bosom by default. There’s too a returning characteristic called nan “Super Guide.” If you dice a less times, this action will appear, and it lets you watch a playthrough of nan level truthful you tin spot what you’re doing wrong. It too lets you bypass nan level altogether, truthful you tin skip troublesome stages and recreation backmost to them later.

That’s important because, for illustration I said, this crippled gets hard. There are precarious jumps to navigate, scenes wherever you personification to occurrence yourself retired of a conduit astatine conscionable nan correct moment, and multistage leader battles that will proceedings your patience. That hasn’t changed here, but nan crippled gives you overmuch ways to woody pinch nan frustration. 

And it’s worthy it because Donkey Kong Country Returns is simply a delightful game. It whitethorn not personification nan whimsy aliases playfulness of point for illustration Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but that doesn’t make it immoderate small creative. While location are modular stages wherever you hop around, stomping connected bad guys, nan champion parts of Returns personification an almost cinematic feel. There are perilous minecart levels that portion you to respond quickly arsenic nan world crumbles astir you. There are levels wherever you’re avoiding destructive forces — for illustration nan aforementioned squid aliases devastating waves — arsenic you inch your measurement to nan goal. It tin personification nan vibe of a high-stakes action movie, only, you know, you’re playing a elephantine monkey wearing a tie.

Sure, we’re astatine nan tail extremity of nan Switch’s life, but you could do a batch worse for nan extremity of a console than ports of games for illustration Returns and nan upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles X. The bid has a consciousness of hostility and modular that group Donkey Kong Country isolated from different side-scrollers, and Returns mightiness beryllium nan 1 that pushes it nan furthest. Now, it’s simply a mini overmuch approachable — without losing immoderate of its original bite.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD launches connected January 16th connected nan Nintendo Switch.