Donkey Kong Country Returns As The Wii’s Best Game

Donkey Kong Country Returns is not the Donkey Kong Country you remember.

Thank goodness for that.

It is no secret that the core gaming audience has been alienated by the Nintendo Wii. You needn’t look far to understand why. Wander through the Wii aisle at any big box retailer, and you’ll find stacks of unimaginative party games and kiddie fare.

Gamers cried out for the old Nintendo, the Nintendo that gave us classic platformers and beloved characters.

So Nintendo, clamoring to regain hardcore loyalty (and dollars), gave us New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The game was a traditional Mario platformer in the truest sense. Jumping was satisfying, co-op was fun, and the worlds were pretty. But even with all of the comforting Mario tropes, the game isn’t all that memorable.

Why? Because we’ve played New Super Mario Bros. Wii before.

What went wrong with New Super Mario Bros. Wii was Nintendo not heeding the first word of the game’s title. There isn’t a whole lot “new” in the title. Sure there’s co-op and a new suit and some new worlds, but much of the game was taken straight out of the SNES era.

Enter Donkey Kong Country Returns, a game much more deserving of the “new” moniker.

When the game begins everything feels familiar. Donkey Kong’s beloved bananas have been stolen and it’s up to him and his pal Diddy to retrieve them. Familiar music and sound effects play throughout the opening cutscene. But just when you begin to feel comfortable, the game diverges rapidly from its SNES counterpart.

Here, Diddy is no longer your playable counterpart, but actually functions like a power-up. Diddy gives DK more hit points and a jetpack to facilitate platforming. Enemy and boss designs are unique and painfully adorable. At one point DK fights dancing crab pirates that are so cute I stopped fighting them just to watch them dance.

Perhaps most importantly, moves like ground pound — where DK beats on the ground in order to stun enemies or retrieve items — make excellent use of motion control.

Did I mention the game is hard? There will be times when you will want to chuck your Wii Remote — especially during the optional Golden Temple levels. Just in case that sounds like a turnoff, I have to say Donkey Kong Country Returns is the right kind of hard. Platforming is precise and tricky, but the controls are tight and the difficulty is fair.

While playing through the first few levels of Donkey Kong Country Returns I kept thinking, “This is it! This is the game I’ve wanted to see on the Wii all along!” It’s beautiful, inventive, and most important of all, free of gimmicks and pure fun.

Here’s to hoping that Nintendo feels the same way.

Originally posted on digitalhippos.com