Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Review – Third Time’s (Barely) the Charm

When Donkey Kong Country Returns originally launched for Nintendo’s Wii console back in 2010, it benefitted from a lot of circumstances that made it an instantly beloved classic – it was the first Donkey Kong Country game in about a decade and a half; it was near the start of the 2D platformer resurgence, before an era where the genre got oversaturated due to a glut of releases from the burgeoning indie sector; it launched before multiple critically acclaimed 2D platformers that raised the bar for the genre came out, such as Celeste, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Donkey Kong Country Returns’ own follow up, Tropical Freeze.

All of this, plus the fact that it really was a great 2D platformer, made Returns a successful return to form for the franchise. However, the context of that original 2010 release, and for this 2025 release of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, couldn’t be more substantially different. In addition to everything listed previously, this is also now the third release for this game (it also got a 2013 re-release for the 3DS). It is the most expensive this game has ever been (the Wii version cost $50, the 3DS version cost $40. This Switch release is $60). While the Switch version consolidates and touches up content from the Wii and 3DS versions, it adds no new content or modes. And, perhaps most perplexingly, in many regards, the game feels technically worse than the original standard definition 480p Wii release, missing several graphical effects and flourishes that added panache to the game’s excellent stylistic presentation.

This makes Donkey Kong Country Returns HD a curiously conflicted release, because the core product is good. It’s held up well. It isn’t great, to be clear – at this point there are several other, better 2D platformers you can pick up on the Switch alone for a whole lot cheaper. That makes this a bit hard to recommend, because very honestly, who is this release for? What was the projected audience for this? To be sure, there are probably millions of new players who never played the original release or the 3DS version (which itself is over a decade old at this point), for whom having a version of this game readily accessible is a good thing. But assessing it on those merits, this is not a great release. It’s a poor remaster and overpriced considering the relative quality.

All of which makes it tempting to pretty much write the entire release off. But that’s where we come back to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD still being legitimately good. Retro Studios nailed the movement and game feel, two absolutely paramount qualities in any platformer, and they did it so well that Returns still stands out as one of the best playing platformers even today. Donkey Kong’s heavier controls can take a while to get used to, but once players get into the rhythm of using his momentum to chain jumps, rolls, and attacks together, the game enters an almost rhythm game style.

It’s intensely satisfying to complete the perfect run of a Returns level, or to manage to grab an out of the way collectible, especially because Returns is a hard game. While this release does maintain the 3DS version’s “Modern Mode”, which is supposed to sand off the rough edges as far as the difficulty goes, said Modern Mode isn’t great. It does give you more health and expands the items you can get for yourself at the in game shop to make things easier for yourself, but the game still expects full stage memorization and twitch response from the player. At most Modern Mode buys a bit of a buffer to make a few more mistakes than usual, but as far as optional easy modes in Nintendo platformers go, Modern Mode is surprisingly withholding. Tropical Freeze’s Switch re-release added an optional easy mode too (in the form of Funky Mode), which gave players not only more health but a whole lot more moves as well.

Of course, that’s assuming you need the easy mode to get through the game in the first place. If you’re an experienced player, then as mentioned, there are few things in platformers as satisfying as pulling off a level completion in Returns. And even beyond the Modern Mode, the game gives you options to scale the difficulty to your liking. You have Diddy Kong, who acts as a “power up” for Donkey Kong in single player mode and augments his move set with his own. You have the aforementioned in game shop, that still sells a bounty of power ups to use and stack and make the game comfortable to play for yourself, even in the Normal Mode. And in the absolute worst case, the game supports co-op too (with player 2 taking control of Diddy), which can help make things easier as well.

All of which is to say, while the difficulty is rougher compared to the options provided by other modern games in the genre, including, again, its own follow-up, it’s not really a dealbreaker, even for less experienced players. The game will definitely be a challenge, and adjusting difficulty is suboptimal compared to other points of reference, but it still gets the job done.

Aspects other than the gameplay are a mixed bag too. The original Returns was a stunner, but as mentioned, there are several graphical downgrades in this release that definitely blunt the impact of how it looks a fair bit.

So, we’re left with an extremely weird release. Returns HD is undoubtedly worth playing in that it’s a good game still; but it seems to be far too overpriced for what it is, and the game having very changes made since its last re-release over a decade ago means that it doesn’t have as many modern quality of life features that can help it appal to a more expanded audience. Simultaneously, it being the third release of the game, means that enthusiasts are unlikely to bite it, especially at that price and with those shortcomings.

But if you do end up falling within whatever demographic this release does end up being for, you’re in for a good time. Whether you’re returning to this game for a replay, or coming to it for the first time, Donkey Kong Country Returns is a very good platformer, and the Switch HD release is, on pure technicality if nothing else, the best way to play it. I guess that’s good enough for now.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.