Get ready to snag those bananas again—Donkey Kong and Diddy are coming back to town, and their fans couldn’t be more excited. With the arrival of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD on Nintendo Switch, gamers have another opportunity to play the incredible platformer that was one of the best of the last decade. In fact, this re-release is less a facelift than a celebration of how the devs at Retro Studios, the studio that originally made Metroid Prime, managed to bring a classic back to life and cement their own name in Nintendo’s legendary library.
In the beginning, when Retro got the spotlight for the Metroid Prime trilogy, they were already recognized as the best creators of dark, atmospheric first-person experiences. Therefore, the news of them doing a reboot of Donkey Kong Country was surprising to the majority of people. The story of how it happened, as told by the veteran Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe, was more like an accident. With key staff departing from Retro, the studio was in a dilemma about its next move. Miyamoto’s proposal of a Donkey Kong restart and Tanabe’s recommendation of Retro as the best team for the job convinced them that it was the perfect fit. One idea later, the company was working on Donkey Kong Country Returns, a game that would both pay homage to the SNES classics and take the series to the next level of innovation.
They didn’t have much time to get used to the idea of the new game, as the pressure was exerted on them straight away. The trio of developers, Kynan Pearson, Mike Wikan, and Tom Ivey, revealed later on that the changes in the studio, which led to an emptiness there were the reason for the pressure they felt, but also a chance for new ideas and vision. The majority of new members were fans of the original trilogy, and their deep-rooted love was reflected in their work. Pearson talks about how the team’s shared passion for the series pushed them to innovate and how their enthusiasm was fueled further by the fact that they were working side-by-side with Nintendo’s developers in Kyoto. Their joint effort bridged the gap, filled with doubts about whether Retro could do something so different from Metroid.
Donkey Kong Country Returns, the title, was one of the major points of the 2010E3 show, and it gained great attention. The game not only achieved the series’ character platforming precision and inventiveness in the level design but also offered a more colorful look and fresh gameplay mechanics. The game’s success in both critical and commercial terms was very quick in silencing those who doubted it. As a matter of fact, Tanabe would later say that it was Retro’s deep and instinctive perception of what made Donkey Kong Country great that led to its success.
Currently, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is enabling the whole new generation to experience that magical jungle. The HD remaster is scheduled to be released on January 16, 2025, and it will have all 80 levels from the original Wii version, plus the additional content for the 3DS. Whether you are doing mine carts in a solo run or in local co-op, the Switch version is made to keep the original intact with the added benefit of upgraded visuals and a smoother performance to meet today’s standards.
Anyway, no Donkey Kong title would be fully-featured without some unforgettable antagonists, and Retro was generous with them. In Donkey Kong Country Returns, the player had to fight the hypnotic Tiki Tak Tribe, but Tropical Freeze did the real work when it comes to changing the game by the introduction of the Snowmads led by the fat, horn-blowing Lord Fredrik. His cold invasion and Viking-like design features helped the game to have a certain taste, and although his boss battle was somewhat similar to King K. Rool’s, at least he brought some freshness into the series. Transitioning from icy battlegrounds to summoned frost dragons, the Snowmads were there to make Tropical Freeze different, even if Fredrik himself was somewhat of a mixed bag for the fans who have been around for a long time.
Notwithstanding, it is quite obvious that the members of Retro Studios gave equally deserved parts of their reverence and riskiness in the product. They were certainly not troubled with shaking up the formula if that entailed changing the villains or experimenting with the level components. This readiness to do new things while also having a strong love for the source material allowed the series to develop without abandoning its roots.
The rebirth of Donkey Kong Country revolves around a deep love for history, coupled with a relentless drive to go beyond. Retro Studios did not just re-release a platformer—they rejuvenated a franchise. Basically, the Switch release of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD will be very soon, and that means that both old school and newcomers will be able to experience the charm, challenge, and creativity that is the hallmark of this great series. Whether you’re up for bashing the jungle again or handling a barrel for the first time, Kong country is calling—and it’s more colorful than ever.