Review: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD for Nintendo Switch

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a bare-bones, lazy, and disrespectful port by a shovelware developer. Yet, despite Nintendo and developer Forever Entertainment doing everything in their power to prevent this: I still enjoyed playing the game. That’s a testament to the talent of the original developers, who were unforgivably removed from the credits of this shameless cash grab.

Background: Donkey Kong’s Return

I’m a huge fan of Donkey Kong, and Retro Studios. I loved every game they released (with Metroid Prime 2 being my least favorite, and the original Metroid Prime being at the top). When Retro unleashed Donkey Kong Country Returns in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii, it was a joyous occasion. Not only was Donkey Kong Country back after 14 years since the last Super Nintendo game, but it was being developed by perhaps my favorite developer ever (at the time).

Donkey Kong Country Returns did not disappoint me at all, and neither did the 3DS port developed by Monster Games which added a few new levels in a 9th world (the original game had 8 worlds and one secret level). We’ll talk about why I loved the game in detail later in the review.

Retro later went on to develop the excellent sequel Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Nintendo Wii U (which was later ported to the Nintendo Switch with a Funky Kong mode). Many consider Tropical Freeze a better game than Returns. I’m not one of those people, but I love both games. I just think Returns is better due to more level variety, and the fact that Tropical Freeze’s levels run a tad too long (this may sound like a weird complaint, but it’s true).

Sadly, ever since Tropical Freeze’s release in 2014, Donkey Kong seemed mostly neglected by Nintendo.

For perspective, it was 14 years between release of Donkey Kong Country 3 and Returns, but in that time there were lots of ports and spin-offs like DK Jungle Climber (for Nintendo DS), the racing game Barrel Blast (for Wii), and so forth. Hell, there was even a Nintendo-developed Donkey Kong Jungle Beat game for Nintendo GameCube and Wii.

In contrast, it’s been 11 years since Tropical Freeze’s release until now, and the only Donkey Kong games we’ve gotten in those 11 years are ports of the two most recent games for Nintendo Switch.

With that in mind, when Donkey Kong Country Returns HD was announced in a Nintendo Direct on June 18th, 2024, I was excited to replay one of my favorite 2D platformers ever made. At the same time, I was perplexed it wasn’t a new game. Surely, I thought, this port would at least feature new levels or enhancements to make the long wait for a proper new Donkey Kong game a little more endurable. Right?

It’s the Same. Damn. Game.

Well, it turns out I was wrong about this port. Not only does it not feature any new levels, but it also doesn’t really have any enhancements over the Nintendo 3DS version developed by Monster Games. In fact, it seems like a direct conversion of that 3DS port, with the only “major” change being Donkey Kong’s fur.

Look, I get it. “Don’t fix what isn’t broken.” That’s a fine bit of advice, and maybe I’d agree with it if there weren’t already two different ways to play Donkey Kong Country Returns. Forever Entertainment could have, and should have, done something new with this version of the game.

Fans have plenty of ways to replay the original game if they want to. And, hell, nothing was stopping Nintendo from offering both the original experience and something new in one cartridge.

Sure, this version of the game looks better than the Wii and 3DS originals—but just barely. I’ll be brutally honest: you can make the game look just as good on an emulator (which, of course, I’d never condone the use of). That’s pathetic, isn’t it? Sure, on an emulator you won’t get the new fur textures, but even on Nintendo’s Switch port those fur textures don’t show up all the time.

Yes, Forever Entertainment didn’t update the cutscenes or the dioramas with the new fur textures. You can’t tell me with modern technology and AI that it would’ve been impossible to update these. Sorry, I don’t believe that at all. This flaw reeks of laziness, as does the rest of this port.

It’s the Same Amazing Game!

While I have plenty of complaints to share about the laziness of this Forever Entertainment-developed port, let’s take a moment to appreciate the original game by Retro Studios (and the port by Monster Games for 3DS). Almost everything I’ll write in this section applies to the Switch port as well.

Donkey Kong Country Returns released in 2010 when the competition for 2D platformers consisted of the likes of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Kirby’s Epic Yarn. While I loved Epic Yarn and liked NSMB Wii, there’s no mistaking that Returns was in a different league. It felt like a big budget 2D platformer with amazing “set pieces,” whereas Nintendo’s other 2D platformers at the time felt like budget releases with no “wow” moments.

Great Graphics

First, the 3D environments in Returns where you could traverse between the foreground and background were all super fun compared to traditional 2D platformers like NSMB Wii. Everything looked amazing for a Wii game and ran super smoothly with zero noticeable slowdown. The level design was likewise great, and every platform felt like it served a realistic purpose (there are no floating platforms with no attachment to the ground—well, mostly).

The overall graphics were a highlight of the experience, just like the Super Nintendo originals. While I kind of still prefer the styling of the original SNES games and wish Retro went for an updated take on that, the Wii/3DS/Switch game is still beautiful and well animated.

Decent Enemies, So-So Boss Fights

While I’ll never understand why Retro got rid of the Kremlings in favor of the Tiki Tak tribe, the enemies in the game are mostly fun to kill. The only major complaint I have (outside of personal preference for Kremlings) is that the boss fights can be rather boring or frustrating. The second boss, for example, is just a bunch of pirate crabs that lift their claws at the worst possible time, annoying the heck out of me. I think these boss battles go on for too long, too, with the bosses having too many hit points. And, worst of all, some of them (like the crab boss) are just not fun to play.

To be fair, some bosses (like the final boss) are fun, but I can’t say the boss fights are a highlight of this game overall. Tropical Freeze mostly fixed this issue, or at least dramatically improved the situation.

Satisfying Movement & Controls

Donkey Kong felt weighty and substantial in his movements (which many people had trouble adjusting to), but it gave the character a uniqueness and sense of realism. This is a giant gorilla jumping and stomping around, and you really do feel like one. His movements felt right.

Diddy Kong, meanwhile, acts like a power-up for Donkey Kong in this game, adding the ability to hover in mid-air with his jetpack and roll faster. Donkey’s little buddy makes the game much more fun, so be sure to always use him when possible.

While many people had complaints with the Wii Remote motion controls, I never had a single issue with them. In fact, I liked them. Still, if you had an issue with motion controls, the 3DS version had button-only controls that were fine, and this Switch port supports both the Pro controller and button controls with the Joy-Cons as well as optional motion controls.

Story & Personality

This is a bit of a joke, since the story is basically identical to every Donkey Kong game (aka, non-existent). A big bad enemy emerges and steals Donkey Kong’s banana hoard, and it’s up to Donkey and his pal Diddy Kong to rescue his stolen bananas. Riveting.

Make no mistake, the personality of Donkey Kong Country is quite fun. The original Super Nintendo games had far more of the 90’s attitude than Returns, but by 2010 standards the game still had charm. Most of that charm comes from Cranky Kong’s shop, where the old man will berate Donkey with insults for daring to purchase items to make the game easier.

Cranky Kong is definitely neutered a bit compared to the original games, but having him in the game at all is welcome.

The pre-rendered CGI cutscenes are cute and, in 2010, quite impressive. In 2025, they are not that special graphically, but they are still fun to watch.

Longevity & Replay Value

The original Wii game had 8 worlds with one secret level unlocked after beating every temple level in each world (revealed by collecting every K-O-N-G letter in each level of each world). The levels were lengthy, but seldom outstayed their welcome.

The 3DS and Switch ports, meanwhile, added a bonus ninth world in place of the singular secret level in the Wii version. The Wii version’s secret level is still there, but there’s also 8 other new levels to beat. These levels were developed by Monster Games rather than Retro Studios, and they are quite fun indeed. In fact, it makes me wish that Monster Games had developed their own sequel to Tropical Freeze, because they’re certainly more talented than Forever Entertainment.

You can spend a dozen hours beating every level and collecting all the K-O-N-G letters. You could spend even more hours trying to track down every puzzle piece, which unlock extras like a gallery, dioramas, music, and replays of the CGI movies. The length of the game really depends on how good you are at 2D platformers. This is a hard game (more on that later), so many hours of your playtime could consist of falling to your death.

The game is endlessly repayable, though, just like older Mario titles. You’ll want to come back every couple years to play this game because it’s so fun.

Finally, there’s a time attack mode (a speed run mode, basically) for each level, and a mirror mode which reduces your hearts by one, mirrors the entire level, and forbids you from collecting hearts or using Diddy Kong. I never liked Mirror mode simply because the game didn’t need more difficulty, and Diddy Kong is an almost essential companion (for hovering in mid-air).

Stellar Music & Sound

The music in all three versions of this game sound great, although the sequel Tropical Freeze is even better. Why? Because Tropical Freeze brought back David Wise, the original composer of the Super Nintendo Donkey Kong Country games, to compose new tracks and update old ones.

Returns featured almost entirely remakes of the original Super Nintendo tracks. These covers were crafted by Japanese composer Kenji Yamamoto. They sound good, but the MIDI instrumentation is dated by 2025 standards (and, frankly, even by 2010 standards). There are a couple new tracks (notably, the rocket barrel music), but overall, the soundtrack is merely an update to the original Donkey Kong Country game. To be honest, I wish there were more original tracks.

Unfortunately, this port was a major missed opportunity to bring on David Wise to update the soundtrack. In fact, that would’ve been a rather inexpensive way to make this port special, but Forever Entertainment and Nintendo blew it. Once again, I’ll tell you the truth: this is a lazy port.

Let’s Talk Difficulty

All three versions of Donkey Kong Country Returns are hard. Famously hard. And while the Wii version only had one default difficulty option, the 3DS and Switch ports have two modes to choose from: the original Wii mode, and modern mode.

The Wii version (and mode) is the hardest choice by far since you only have two hearts (hit points) and can carry fewer items with you.

In “modern mode” on the 3DS and Switch versions, you’ll start off with three hearts and can carry nine items instead of three. In addition, there’s more items in Cranky’s shop: the crash guard to survive two mine cart or rocket barrel crashes (very useful), and the green balloon which sometimes lets you survive a fall off a level.

While I don’t recommend anyone (except masochists) play the original Wii mode, the modern mode isn’t that much easier. The game is still hard no matter which mode you choose, with the biggest difference being that modern mode is slightly more forgiving with the extra heart by default (although, in original mode, you could increase your hearts up to three with an item purchased at Cranky’s shop).

Graphics & Sound: Improved…A Little?

Things look cleaner at a resolution of 1080p in docked mode and 720p in handheld mode. The textures are higher resolution, with the file size jumping from 3.66 GB on Wii to 8.3 GB on Switch (more than Tropical Freeze’s 6.3 GB for no apparent reason). There’s no mistaking the game looks smooth, and playing on my 1080p projector at night was a pleasant experience.

That said, while the frame rate is mostly fine running at the Wii’s 60 frames per second (the 3DS port ran at 30 frames), there are occasional slowdowns that didn’t exist in the Wii version.

Honestly, that’s not OK. Why should a port of a 2010 Wii game run worse than the Wii game? The game doesn’t even look that much better, yet it can’t run at a solid and consistent 60 frames per second? Get the heck out of here.

The music and sound effects sound basically identical, although it’s possible they’ve been cleaned up a little. However, I can’t confirm that, since to me they sound the same. That’s the story of this entire port: if there are changes, I can’t notice them, and I’ve beaten every single level.

Loading…

What’s kind of funny, like the cherry on top of this lazy port, is that this version loads slower than the 2010 Wii game. Yes, between levels, you’ll have to wait longer than the Wii version from nearly 15 years ago.

Why? Well, I’m sure the developers will argue that the game has increased texture sizes, but I’ll argue that’s pathetic. This game doesn’t look like a 2025 Switch game, and yet other games can load faster. I’ll be honest: this game should have instantaneous load times. Period.

Missed Opportunities

We’ve talked at length about how similar this port is to the original Wii and 3DS versions. To repeat: there’s basically nothing different about this port. If you’re happy with the Wii or 3DS version, there’s no real reason to buy this Switch update at a cost more expensive than the Wii original, and almost double the price of the 3DS port at launch.

What could Nintendo have done differently then, if they had requested the help of a better developer or tried harder?

Here’s a list of missed opportunities with this port:

1. Dramatically improved graphics.
   The game looks okay, but it’s hardly pushing the Switch to its limits. It looks like the 2010 Wii game upscaled via emulation.
2. Or at least consistent fur texture updates.
   Throughout the game, you’ll see times where Donkey and Diddy’s updated fur textures are not present. Notably, the pre-rendered CGI cutscenes and the dioramas are unchanged. With 2025 technology, this shouldn’t be an impossible task to correct.
3. Redone soundtrack with David Wise.
   This would have been an inexpensive way to make this port special and more consistent with Tropical Freeze.
4. Or at least updated MIDI instrument samples.
   If Nintendo didn’t want David Wise for whatever reason, they could have at least updated the music/midi samples with higher quality versions.
5. New levels.
   Monster Games found the time to add 8 new levels. I understand they’re a better developer than Forever Entertainment, but could Forever Entertainment not even manage one new level?
6. New or returning characters.
   Funky Kong was added to Tropical Freeze’s Switch port. Why not this Returns port? Or, hell, why weren’t more animal buddies added?
7. Bring back the Kremlings or King K. Rool in a secret level or cutscene.
   K. Rool was added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a few years back. Since then, the character has been completely unused. Here was a perfect opportunity to bring him back in some small (or big) capacity, but…nope. There’s nothing.
8. Better load times.
   This was the developer’s chance to fix slow load times between levels in the Wii / 3DS version of the game. Instead, they’re slower than the Wii version. Huh?
9. Added something.
   Seriously, they could have added something that the 3DS version didn’t have. Anything.

An Unforgivable Injustice

Okay, that heading is a bit dramatic, but what the hell. Forever Entertainment has cobbled together a mostly “fine” port of Donkey Kong Country Returns, despite it being bare-bones. What’s unforgivable is that the credits completely remove mention of Retro Studios and Monster Games, instead only crediting Forever Entertainment’s staff.

Sorry, but 99.99% of the work in this port was not done by Forever Entertainment. It’s in bad taste to just remove all the names of the people who did the heavy lifting for this game. Retro Studios made Returns, and they deserve proper credit. Monster Games, too.

Maybe it was Nintendo’s decision not to credit their creators since they seem to love doing that. While I’d love to bash Forever Entertainment, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt here and assume they had no say in the matter. For their sake, I hope that’s true.

To put it simply, this port comes across as disrespectful to the original source material in large part because it doesn’t credit the developers responsible for making the Wii and 3DS versions. That’s not even getting into the additional frame rate hiccups, slowdown, and increased loading times not present in the original game.

Conclusion

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD proves that a good game can overcome even the worst developers and ports. The game is still fun to play, precisely because of people who aren’t even credited at the end of the game. Still, as a port, this is everything wrong with the games industry. This is the least Nintendo could have possibly done—the absolute bare minimum.

There’s nothing worthy of a double dipping here unless you don’t have any other way to play the original game, or you feel you simply must play the game on your Switch in HD. But it’s arguable with the frame rate hiccups and increased loading times that this isn’t even the definitive version of the game.

Worst of all, this is all Nintendo and Forever Entertainment thought Donkey Kong fans deserved after 11 years of nothing else in the way of Donkey Kong games. Shame on them. I know at least Nintendo can do better—but they deliberately chose not to.

Editor’s Note: In case you’re wondering, the original Wii version would earn a 9/10, with the 3DS port receiving an 8.5. This Switch port is receiving a lower score due to the issues mentioned at length in this review.

Verdict

6.0 Disappointing

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is still a fantastic platformer, but that's a credit to the original developers rather than the effort put into this port. It’s a lazy, missed opportunity that only serves as a reminder of how neglected the Donkey Kong franchise has been. Buy it only if you lack access to previous versions or insist on playing it on Switch in high definition.

Ups

1. Great level design.
2. Engaging platforming.
3. Great graphics by 2010 standards.
4. Stellar replayability.
5. Satisfying challenge.
6. Retains the 3DS levels and
7. The music is good, albeit the worst in series history.

Downs

1. Lazy porting effort by shovelware developer.
2. The graphics are barely improved.
3. Inconsistent fur texture in cutscenes and dioramas.
4. Missed opportunities galore.
5. Performance issues that didn't exist in the original game like slowdowns and frame rate drops.
6. No real improvements to the music (MIDI samples) or sound effects.
7. Underwhelming boss battles (in all versions).
8. Disrespectful to Donkey Kong fans.
9. The removal of the original developer credits is ridiculous.
10. Overpriced, costing more than even the Wii and 3DS originals with zero new content to justify the increase.

• NintendoUp's Rating 6
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