Back when I was a wee lad with a SNES, there were two games I have strong memories of playing. The first game was Super Mario Kart, a fantastic game that has gone on and stayed with gaming for many years. The second game, although just as fantastic, was left behind after a while. It was called Donkey Kong Country. This game is something of an icon in my family – even my dad has played it, and he rarely played games, and loved it to boot!

Any gamer will have heard of the Donkey Kong Country series. Arguably the greatest platformers on the SNES, the trilogy has received numerous praise. The second game, Diddy's Kong Quest, is one of my favourite games of all time. There was also Donkey Kong 64, a fun 3-D platformer for the N64. These four games were created by RARE, who have since left Nintendo. The once great series soon became was soon reduced to rythmn games or handheld climbers, and although Jungle Beat was a great game, fans couldn't help but cry for a new Donkey Kong Country game. But with RARE gone, who could possibly take up the mantle?

Enter Retro Studios of Metroid Prime fame. Tired of shooting ice at metroids and morph balls, Retro asked Nintendo for something new. Thus, Nintendo delved into their great vault of resting IPs, brought out Donkey Kong Country, and handed it to Retro, saying “Here's Donkey Kong Country; dust it off, bring it back, and make it awesome”. Thankfully, Retro have more then managed to follow Nintendo's instructions; they've made a game that is not only steeped in nostalgia, but that feels both fresh and original.

Donkey Kong Country Returns. The game's story follows that of the original SNES game; DK Isle's volcano has erupted and several creatures known as Tikis are flying forth from the firey mountain and are brainwashing the animals of the isle. This leads to the animals stealing DK's bananas, who alongside sidekick Diddy Kong is none too pleased about this, thus he goes off to retrieve his bananas.

Wait, Tikis? Is K. Rool behind this? What about the Kremlings? Sadly, they are nowhere to be seen or even heard of. Retro decided that the Kremlings weren't very original or had a lot of potential for platforming enemies and came up with the Tikis. So far in my experiences, the Tikis are kind of equal to the Kremlings. They lack the personality folks came to love in the Kremlings, but they do bring a little extra to the gameplay, which seems to have been Retro's first piority here.



So let's discuss some gameplay aspects. The traditional platforming aspects are here; DK can move, jump and also roll all as he did in the original games, as well as being able to pick up barrels to throw about. But there's been some new revitalizing additions to the games. Ground Pound has been revamped to a fast and furious pound rather then the slow version in the first game, and if DK crouches, he can now blow in front of him. Rolling, Ground Pound and Blow are all activated by waggling the Wii Remote and Nunchuck depending on if you're moving, still or crouching respectively. At first this seems like a bit of a hinderance, especially considering how often you'll be using these moves, but they actually blend really well into the gameplay and you'll only take notice on the rare occasions where, say, you have to roll continously to escape collapsing platforms.

Diddy Kong no longer follows Donkey, and instead piggybacks. You make think this lazy of the scamp, but Diddy is actually able to use his trust Jetpack from DK64 to allow Donkey to float while jumping for a short time. You can also Kong Roll instead of a normal one, which sees Diddy comically on top of a rolling DK. This is much faster then your normal roll. This also means you can no longer play as Diddy unless you do co-op, which is a bit of a shame as I much preferred him to DK in the original. He also uses his traditional cartwheel and can even stun foes with his Peanut Popgun in co-op. Thankfully, the new piggyback mechanic Retro applied here works really well, and there isn't a major difference between Donkey or Diddy in terms of strength or movement, so it's for the better.

Speaking of Kongs, who else is here beside Donkey Kong and Diddy? Well, almost no one. Candy is no longer here to save your game, Funky no longer flies you around the island and not even Dixie has a cameo. This may also seem like a bad decision (Dixie and Swanky were my favourite Kongs! ;_ but it actually isn't. Candy was only there for saving purposes, and now the game saves automatically. You can also choose where you want to go and move between world freely at anytime instead of getting Funky to take you everywhere. Consider also that you had to reach these two if you wanted to either save or go to another world in the previous game, and it's actually quite annoying looking back. So who does return? Cranky Kong. Yes, the 'old codger' is still in his rocking chair and loves to critize you, with lines such as 'Don't ask me how many bananas you need to get an extra life; I only ever needed one!'. Cranky runs the game's shop where with bananas coins from each level you can buy balloons for extra lives, Squawks in order for easier help to find puzzle pieces and even keys to unlock new levels. Comically, he says “What, you can't bust through some flimsy lock?” when you buy one of these.

But wait, Bananas? Balloons? Puzzle Pieces? What are all these? Bananas are just as they were in the original; numerous bananas are dotted around in each level and if you collect one hundred, you gain an extra life. Grabbing a balloon also nets you an extra life, and only one; the green and blue balloons that gave you more aren't present. Still, you get enough balloons that you won't need them.
Puzzle Pieces are exactly what they sound like; pieces of puzzles that are hidden in each level. They're often in places out of the way and hidden, so you have to look around well if you want them. Squawks is also available for an easier time of finding these. Getting each level's Puzzle Pieces reveals new artwork in the Image Gallery of the game. There's tons to collect, which equals a lot of re-play value! Oh, and the 'KONG' letters are also back, still giving you an extra life.

In case it sounds like it, yes, ala New Super Mario Bros. Wii, you will get plenty of lives thrown at you even if you don't want them. There's a clear reason for that; Donkey Kong Country Returns is tough as nails. You will die a lot during your time playing this game as Retro has gone to town to best Rare in making the game more difficult. Both Kongs even have two hearts instead of one now, and trust me, you'll be glad you've got more. In case that's not enough, you have the game's Super Guide in the version of Super Kong, who goes through a level for you if you die enough on said-level. You can take control of Super Kong at any time, but you won't get any KONG letters or Puzzle Pieces for completing the level afterwards, so try not to die enough that you need him. I've yet to encounter him, but I've definitely gotten close.



The game however is not so difficult that it feels cheap. It's one of those games where you die because you mis-timed a jump, or didn't take out an enemy quick enough. Thus, it keeps you coming back without every feeling frustrated or angry; there's always a sense of 'right, I'll do better next time'. It's also why the game now saves automatically; the flow of the game is disrupted when you died as the original DKC games didn't give you anywhere near the amount of lives this does and you often have to go through other levels to get back to the one you failed at. It was a cruel feeling and DKCR thankfully fixes that for the better.

Rambi is also back, but only for a few rare levels and is the only animal buddy alongside Squawks, so don't get too used to him. The Bonus Levels also return, but sadly seem to have taken a bit of a step backwards. Instead of clubbering enemies, collecting stars and finding tokens as in Donkey Kong Country 2, you...just have to collect bananas and coins. Sure, you might bounce for them or climb for them, but one can't help but think the Bonus Levels could have been more varied. Instead of underwater levels, which are also gone, you have Rocket Barrel levels. I've only played one, but it was a nice break from traditional platforming and just as tough as the other levels. Oh, and the minecart levels are back. Yay for minecarts! They're much more fun and varied then the original DKC minecart levels.

Let's delve more into less of how the game works and more how it looks. Simply put, stunning. The level design is absolutely fantastic. You'll play through lush green jungles, stormy dark oceans and foggy mechanical factories, all which look beautiful, and are great fun to play through. The level designs also suit the gameplay mechanics really well; you'll climb around on moss, hop from pirate mast to barrel to pirate mast and burst through statue after statue with Rambi. There's a really clever and tough part of the game where you blast yourself around a statue from surrounding barrels and then fire yourself into the statue's open mouth. Instead, you're fired back out and the statue begins to rotate. If you mis-shoot, you get caught in a barrel on the bottom, but there are only three and they vanish after each use, so you only have a number of tries to get it right. It's a very interesting and fresh take on the platforming aspect of the game.

The bosses are also nicely varied and very fun to fight. The second boss for example is a group of pirate crabs who you can't take out simply by jumping. So what do you do? You jump on them, stun them and then ground pound, flipping them over and then hitting them for damage. They all require some clever use of tactic and are up there with the original bosses in terms of greatness. As for the music, there is no David Wise, but Retro have been very kind to Rare and re-used many of the great tracks they made for the original DKC. But while Retro breath fresh life into the melodies, they still re-tain their original tunes for a perfect blend of something old and new; the Aquatic Ambience remix is a perfect example of this. Instead of a slow and sad tune, it's now much more dreamy and peaceful.



Overall, the feel of the game is very nostalgic, yet fresh. You'll smile when you go minecarting, or shoot from barrel to barrel, or collect a KONG letter, but Retro have re-vamped the game very much gameplay-wise to become an experience that is not only familiar, but not the same game. It's very refreshing and makes the game a title of it's own as well as standing out from it's previous titles. Is it better then the original DKC trilogy? I'm still out on that, but it's definitely up there with them at any rate.

Pros:
-Gameplay feels nostalgic, yet fresh.
-Level design is absolutely fantastic.
-Tons of re-play value.
-Soundtrack is excellent.
-Difficult, yet not in a cruel way.

Cons:
-Bonus Levels could be more varied.

There is no need to suffer any longer; Donkey Kong Country is back and as fun as ever. Deep in gameplay and atmosphere, this should be on anyone's list for Christmas 2010. Newcomers and oldies of the series will adore this revival.

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Thought I hadn't done a review for a while, and DKCR was the perfect chance for me to flex my reviewing skills. Feedback please? Thanks for reading~

Wow, You might have just actually convinced me to get this!

Iiiiiinteresting! Thanks for this. I almost got this today while I was out as a Christmas present for my brother...even though I want it, too.

I could go on and on about all the things I don't like about this game (there is a lot, but you might as well look at GameFAQs if you want an idea about them), but I still would recommend buying it for the things I do like about this game (A. the chance to get a new one with Retro addressing the issues I have about it but also keeping the things I do like).