A stylish remaster with technical chops – yet the Wii original is much better in some aspects.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the most recent in a series of returns for DK, bringing the initial Wii-era experience back for the Nintendo Switch as the platform cruises into the sundown. It's an intriguing task too, as Nintendo handed the reigns to Forever Entertainment, who then restored the entire thing to run in the Unity Engine.
The Return of Kong Returns is a definitely an option however there is some reasoning here – the more pleasurable DKC Tropical Freeze currently exists on Switch, so bringing over the Wii video game suggests you can experience both of Retro Studios' Kong experiences in one location.
This was their very first non-Metroid Prime video game, launched back in 2010, and was rather a pivot provided the distinction in categories. I personally delighted in the video game at that time, however its controls felt a little doing not have compared to the Super NES titles and the soundtrack seemed like a little an inexpensive replica of the originals. 3 years later on, the video game was ported to Nintendo 3DS, requiring a modification from 60fps to 30fps gameplay, with the port dealt with by Excite Truck designer Monster Games.
e.preventDefault(); e.currentTarget.closest(‘. video_wrapper'). innerHTML = e.currentTarget.querySelector(‘design template'). innerHTML; enableElements(); )(occasion)” title=”Click to play video from YouTube”Donkey Kong Country Returns HD – Nintendo Switch Review – It's Fine But Something's Not Quite Right Here's the complete Digital Foundry evaluation for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. View on YouTube
For the existing port to Switch, I was a bit anxious about the video game's potential customers provided Forever's performance history, that includes a little crappy remakes of Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead. I should not have actually fretted – this is basically the finest work to come out of Forever Entertainment to date.
The remastering is tastefully done, the brand-new textures typically look exceptional and it feels genuine to the initial. As a Unity video game on Switch, the resolution and frame-rate are remarkably strong, specifically provided how badly Forever's previous Switch video games carried out, however there are some unanticipated defects.
Let's begin with the opening FMV. This has actually been enormously enhanced and may even have actually been totally remade if the initial properties still existed. This might appear like a small thing, however the handling of video properties generally exposes a lot about the quality of a conversion. When little attention is paid to FMV quality, it generally shows that corners have actually been cut, a minimum of in my experience. The good news is, that's not the case here.
In-game impressions are likewise favorable, with the remaster staying real to the initial visual style. The focus here is on brand-new textures, customized results and upgraded character designs, with the hidden scene geometry staying mainly the same. The brand-new textures are much sharper, holding up well at the greater resolution – 1080p in docked mode and 720p in portable mode – and image quality is sensible.
