This is the reason I got a Nintendo Wii. I'd held off buying one for a long time but when I heard that this was on the way, I knew I had to play it. Not only was I excited by the prospect of a new actual Donkey Kong Country game but this game was said to go back to the style of the original game. It sounded like a perfect way to relive the nostalgia of playing the original game for the first time. So, I got a Wii for Christmas and later bought the game myself. I played it for the first time the night I bought it. I immediately knew I was going to love it that first time I played it.
First off, the publicity did not lie when it said it went back to the feeling of the original game. Once I started playing it and heard the music, the sounds, and saw Donkey Kong and Diddy for the first time in years, it was like no time had passed. It felt like a pumped up remake of the original game. While the storyline and gameplay had a bit more to them than the simplicity of the original, the game felt much more straightforward and not complex as the sequels or Donkey Kong 64.
The game looks amazing. The graphics are incredible. The levels are very well designed and shaded, as well as the characters. The animation on the cut-scenes of Donkey Kong and Diddy are really well done and funny at times. I also really liked the feeling of depth in the levels. It seemed like there was a lot going on in the backgrounds, especially in the cave and mine levels. Furthermore, the controls are very responsive. There were few moments where I got frustrated because I couldn't make the characters do what I needed them to do. That's not to say some levels and control moments were more than a little frustrating but that's beside the point. As far as I'm concerned, the developers outdid themselves when it came to making the game look and feel amazing.
The story is similar to that of the original Donkey Kong Country: Donkey Kong's banana hoard has been stolen once again and it's up to him and Diddy to reclaim them. You journey through various areas of the island, completing different levels, fighting enemies and defeating bosses at the end of each area until you reach the final confrontation at the end of the game. The thing that makes this game different than any game in this series before it is that King K. Rool and the Kremlings are not the villains this time. The bananas are stolen this time by an evil Tiki god whose minions uses hypnotic music the turn all the animals on Donkey Kong Island into their slaves. I have no idea why a god would want bananas but whatever. Who's going to try to apply logic to a game like this?
While fairly straightforward like the original game, Donkey Kong Country Returns does have some similarities to the sequels as well. You once again have to collect banana coins to pay for the services of Cranky Kong (the only other Kong family member in this game.) The K-O-N-G letters that have been a staple of every game now have a higher purpose than giving you an extra life. Get all of them in each level of an area and you unlock a special level. There's one for each area. Complete all the special levels and you unlock the door to a lost world: the Golden Temple. Also, you can collect jigsaw puzzle pieces in each level to unlock extras in the game. They're very well hidden and in bonus areas. I like what they did with the bonus areas here: they're great for getting extra lives like in the original but they're also essential to fully completing the game like in the sequels. It's a nice balance.
Like I said, Cranky Kong is the only other Kong family member here. It would've been nice to have had Funky and Candy along as well but oh, well. Now, the grumpy old ape sells you items like extra lives, an extra hit point, banana juice to make you temporarily invincible in a level, and a key to unlock other levels in each area. And as always, Cranky's verbal abuse is free. When it comes to animal friends, there are only Rhambi and Squawks. Rhambi appears in some levels and unlike in the other games, he's pretty much invincible here, able to plow through obstacles and even clear out thorny areas. Really awesome. Squawks, however, can only be purchased at Cranky's shop and his role in this game is to help you puzzle pieces you've missed in various levels. He'll start to make noise when you're near one. He doesn't tell you exactly where it is but you'll at least know that you're close.
Two of my favorite parts of this game are the music and sound design. It brings back many of the great, classic sounds from the original game as well as much of the original music. The world map music, the bonus area completion and failure cues, the hilarious music when you lose a life: they're all back with cool new sounds. I also enjoyed the pumped up versions of the various level themes. I especially liked how the temple level music sounded this time around as well as the beautiful underwater music and snow level music (there are no actual underwater or snow levels in the game but they put the music in at appropriate times). It just felt like my a part of my childhood had returned.
I liked the variety of levels. The jungle, forest, mine cart, cave, temple, and factory levels get really good designs while keeping the feel of those in the original. I also liked the levels on the beach, the tree top levels, the tar pit levels and so forth. One design element I thought was very clever are the silhouette levels like Sunset Shore. Those were designed very well and looked beautiful.
The game is also pretty damn hard at points. The mine cart levels were really challenging and I often kept falling to my doom. The levels in the volcano were some of the hardest in the entire game. Of course, it's the last part of the game so it should be difficult. One that gave me a whole lot of trouble was Muncher Marathon, a level where an gigantic swarm of spiders chases you throughout the level. Trying to get through that one was so difficult. One section in particular kept tripping me up but I eventually figured out how to overcome it. But the absolute worst type of levels for me were the rocket barrel ones. Every time I read a level's name and realized what kind it was, I wanted to cry. The minute you get in one of those rocket barrels, it becomes like the infamous Silver Surfer NES game. If you touch anything, even just slightly bump into it, the barrel explodes and you have to try again. I nearly had a breakdown when I got to the eighth area, the volcano, and saw that the name of the second level was Hot Rocket. I knew it was one of those levels and was probably the hardest of them all. I was pretty much right. All I'm saying is that you wouldn't believe how many lives I lost on those levels.
As great and fun as Donkey Kong Country Returns was, I do have some issues. Some are minor and some are major. One: I don't like how you can't play as Diddy Kong unless you're playing two-player. I sometimes got a little tired of controlling DK's big ass and wanted to play as Diddy, shoot his peanut pistols, and fly on his rocket pack. You can do the latter when you play one player but it would've been nice to change it up. It doesn't quite feel like a Donkey Kong Country game to me if you don't have the option to switch characters. Maybe it's just me. Two: I thought the item selection interface and level selection could have been better. There were some levels where I absolutely needed some Banana Juice or an Extra Heart to complete it and get all the letters and puzzle pieces. My problem is that, even if you have multiples of the items, once you enter the level, you can't get another item unless you quit but if you do, you lose your progress and have to start over from the beginning. That becomes more than a little unfair when you're in a really hard level and you know that every time you die, you have to collect everything again. But I think my biggest problem is that Tiki Tong, the final boss, is next to impossible to beat without Banana Juice and way too easy to beat with Banana Juice. It was next to impossible for me to avoid his hand attacks so I had to use Banana Juice to stay alive long enough and once I did, he was way too easy. It just felt too uneven. Getting up to him in yet another rocket barrel was harder than the actual fight. It could be just me but that was a disappointing final battle for such an adventure.
Minor gripes aside, Donkey Kong Country Returns was one of the most fun games I've played in recent years. It was a welcome return to the series that I loved so much in my childhood, especially the classic first game. Hopefully this will be the start of a new series of games with more nostalgia, more monkey business, and more fun. Until then, be careful out in that jungle, guys!
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