Donkey Kong Country Returns - Nintendo Wii

Donkey Kong Country Returns – Nintendo Wii - 2010


Introduction.

Returning from after 16 years of hiding away, Donkey Kong Country Returns is back! As soon as you turn on the game, the nostalgia begins, and you feel great. Donkey Kong Country Returns is the sequel to Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and has returned with new items, enemies, weapons, levels and even a brand new storyline. The difficulty has increased, the power-ups powered up, more levels than before, but this is not a bad thing. This is in fact a wonderful thing, even with the added difficulty, its still great. This game has been 2 years in the making, and I’m hoping, just like everyone else, that this game will live up to its reputation as one of the greatest game series ever.

Story.

The Tiki’s from the Tiki Tak Tribe have hypnotized all the animals that are on DK Island. The Tiki’s make the animals steal all of Donkey Kong’s bananas. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong notice this and set out to regain their bananas, battling many a foe on the way.

Gameplay.

Donkey Kong Country Returns gameplay is, without a doubt, near perfection. You can jump on enemy’s heads, swing on ropes, jump over sharks, stamp an enemy into the ground, the amount of things you can do is almost limitless. Donkey Kong Country Returns plays like a side-scroller, just like New Super Mario Bros Wii. This is a welcome return from the original Donkey Kong Country, as it is completely playable, never gets boring, and allows for the whole game to function.

There are always the items you need to collect to ‘clock’ the game, such as the KONG pieces and the puzzle pieces. There are many different ways that you can collect these items, such as just walking back a little bit at the start of the level, climbing a rope, dodging an enemy and then climbing up a vine, there are many different ways.



The controls are simple, with only a few moves, such as down-shake, which blows away leaves and the such, and side-shake, which lets Donkey Kong do a commando roll. There are always the default moves such as jumping, running, walking and ducking, and the occasional ‘grab-a-barrel-and-throw-it” move, which requires you to just press 1. These moves take a little getting used to, but once you have the hang of it, its really great to use. Now, you can’t use the Classic Controller or a GameCube controller to control Donkey Kong, you can only use the Wii Remote in this game. I played this game holding the remote sideways, not with the nun-chuck, but you can choose either, as I’m sure it wont mess up the experience.

The different areas of the Donkey Kong area range from the Beach to the Ruins, the Forest to the Caves. In each of these areas are around 7 levels, and there is around _ areas. Each area has their own ‘Boss’, which you have to fight, and boy are they hard to defeat. After the Jungle world boss you will think, “Meh, not too hard”, but then you get up to the next area’s boss and suddenly the level of difficulty is upped. The boss fights can sometimes be un-explanatory, and may take a little bit of thinking, but you figure it out eventually, and it’s all part of the difficulty of the game.

The levels get increasingly difficult as the game goes on, and you might think, “What if I’m not good enough?” After all, the original game gave you only one life to beat a whole level with. But with Donkey Kong Country Returns you have two hearts, which you can also replenish with additional power-ups picked up from the course of the level. These power-ups may be hidden in secret areas or just unlocked by defeating an enemy. Overall, the gameplay in Donkey Kong Country Returns is fantastic, and competes with the great gameplay the original first provided to us, many years ago.


Graphics.

Donkey Kong Country Returns, first off, is one of the most beautiful and amazing looking games on the Wii. Its detail is extraordinary, and everything looks like it the designers of the game have spent countless hours adding in the detail. Every little thing is well animated, and looks vibrant, colourful. One of the best ways of showing this is the Mine Cart level in the first world, when you’re passing by all the mountains and clouds.

The artwork of each level is completely different to the next, even if each world is themed to a different area. The beach area is based solely on the beach, but the levels can change by a pirate ship appearing and you have to fly with a barrel strapped to your back, or you may have to jump from swinging platform to swinging platform, avoiding falling and jumping sharks and the same time, and this same design change happens in every single area that there is to behold. The characters animation is insanely smooth, with each characters design fantastically imaginative. Just looking at the Tiki’s, Octopus, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Crabs, Sharks and many more is a reward. With all this eye-candy about, you cant not love the look and feel that this game gives. One of the best looking games on the Wii, even if it isn’t up to Monster Hunter Tri’s level.



Audio.

You cannot simply go past the great audio on Donkey Kong Country Returns. There are many new tracks to be heard, each and every single one of them sounding great. The tracks change from time to time, depending on how intense the game is getting, a new area is unlocked, a new enemy appears or when you reach a boss battle. The changes in the game are always smooth, and always work well. There are also many of your favourite old tracks coming back re-orchestrated from the old game, which is always fantastic, and fills you with nostalgic joy. These tracks almost sound the same as the original, which can give you a little hint of ‘game-recycling’, just like what is shown in Super Mario Galaxy’s 2 cut-and-paste levels, but alls well, and this doesn’t upset the enjoyment of the game.

Conclusion.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is a welcomed come-back for the great Gorilla that we call Donkey Kong. The amount of levels is massive, the combat is balanced, the controls great. The replay value is immense and the graphics are vibrant, not to mention the superb animations and imaginative designs. Donkey Kong Country Returns rivals its originals greatness with an overall excellent experience. As one of the best games on the Wii yet, for every Wii owner this is a must have and an essential. If you are to get a Donkey Kong title, get this one. I cannot express how immensely satisfying this game is to play.

+ Incredible, flawless animations.
+ One of the most vibrant games on the Wii.
+ Gameplay is superb.
+ Light, energetic soundtracks.
+ A whole load of levels.
+ Massive replay value.

- Boss fights can be occasionally un-explanatory.
- Recycled audio tracks.
- Controls take a little getting used to.

9.5/10.

Written by LegendOfBanjo.

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