I’m certain I’m just one of many folks initially disappointed to learn that the Nintendo Wii’s major entry in the Donkey Kong series was to be a side-scrolling successor to the SNES trilogy and not a new 3D platformer. After all, developer Retro Studios had spent half a decade proving that it could create compelling and innovative 3D gameplay with the excellent Metroid Prime games. Sometimes what we want and what is right are two very different things, though, and in this case what was right was Donkey Kong Country Returns.
At a time when Nintendo’s 2D platformer stable was erring too far into the familiar, like New Super Mario Bros., or the pretty-but-painfully-placid, like Kirby’s Epic Yarn, this fresh DKC title from a studio entirely new to the series wound up being something pretty special. It was a bold, beautiful, and often brutal banana-fuelled bash that offered up a platforming challenge worthy of the original games without aping them wholesale.

The best home defence system? A good set of guns
All of this is to say that if you missed Donkey Kong Country Returns the first time around for whatever reason, now’s the time to turn that around with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD swinging in to help roll the Nintendo Switch’s creaking chassis across the finish line.
It’s strange, admittedly, that we’re getting a Switch port of this first Retro-led DKC game after its direct sequel Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was brought over from the WiiU nearly seven years ago. I’m sure there are a ton of reasons why it’s happened this way from a development, publishing and release perspective but simply as a player it felt strange to dive into DKC Returns HD with its comparatively light feature set and more straightforward composition.

This is what we in the business call “hanging Kong”
Things are kept pretty simple here, with just the original duo of Kongs to play as in DK and Diddy, and solo players limited to just the big boy himself, but I actually found some comfort in that limitation and the incredibly tight level design that results. This is still a mighty challenging endeavour, and my gosh do I still struggle with those damned Rocket Barrel levels, but going between the two I’m almost certain that Tropical Freeze’s ratio of hits to misses comes up less favourably overall than this one.
Thankfully, Returns HD takes lessons both from the Switch version of Tropical Freeze as well as the 3DS port of Returns when it comes to smoothing over some of the friction of its challenge, offering two distinct modes of play.
The new Modern Mode is essentially a lock for the 3DS’s New Mode, giving players an increased health count and additional assist items purchasable from Cranky Kong’s Shop—including items that can make players temporarily invincible in Minecart and Rocket Barrel levels, let them carry an additional DK Barrel to summon Diddy or simply save them from fatal falls. I’m not at all ashamed to admit that I played through the entire game this way, even going as far as starting over when the Original Mode began to get the better of me. Unfortunately, once you select a difficulty option you’re locked in for that save file, which is a bit of a bummer.

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It really is a best-of-both-worlds scenario with Returns HD also benefiting from the additional levels and unlockable gallery bits from the 3DS iteration, while its presence on the Switch means that it’s a bigger and better experience either handheld or on the TV.
As a visual upgrade, this is a clear step up from the Wii version (and a massive leap from the 3DS) that stays staunchly faithful to the source material and simply adds more detail to things like textures, geometry and effects. It ends up being fairly comparable to Tropical Freeze, though simply by virtue of that game having a more modern base to work with, this one does look just a bit less lush. One aspect that’s truly praiseworthy are the level backgrounds though, many of which have taken on an almost painterly look as part of this upgrade and come up wonderfully.

For DK, any mole’s a goal
The game’s controls are similarly beneficiary of the two existing versions of this game, giving players the choice of Wii-like inputs that include some basic “waggle” functions or traditional button controls. The motion stuff already felt a little unnecessary on the Wii, so I can’t imagine most will opt for it, but it’s there to let you flail your Joy-Con or Pro Controller to make DK slam his palms on the ground. Kong’s ability to gently blow on things in this game—small fans or flowers on the ground, flaming enemies, and so on— makes even less sense now than it did on the Wii, but it’s almost more endearing at the same time.
It’s really the quality of the original content that’s going to carry this effort though, with the “HD” moniker in the title proving a solid indicator that this is a very well-considered port and little else. Everything about the levels and bosses, the highs and lows, is the same here as it ever was. That means that Foggy Fumes, Sunset Shore and Music Madness are still top-tier platforming, while every Rocket Barrel level can get in the DK’s banana-scented compost bin.
Final Thoughts
As a package, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD isn’t exactly inspired stuff with nothing strictly “new” to offer over the Wii or 3DS versions of the game, but it manages to be a fantastic excuse to revisit Retro’s stellar DK debut thanks to sharp Switch visuals and the full suite of extra content and more approachable gameplay settings. If you somehow missed this one the first time around, I recommend you make like a banana peel and get around it.
Reviewed on Switch // Review code supplied by publisher
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- Forever Entertainment
- Nintendo
- Switch
- January 16, 2025

Kieron's been gaming ever since he could first speak the words "Blast Processing" and hasn't lost his love for platformers and JRPGs since. A connoisseur of avant-garde indie experiences and underground cult classics, Kieron is a devout worshipper at the churches of Double Fine and Annapurna Interactive, to drop just a couple of names.
