After 14+ years, Retro Studios has created a faithful entry into the Donkey Kong Country series, and it's a success.
That's right people, Donkey Kong Country is back! Retro Studios, developer of the Metroid Prime games, is taking the wheel for DK this time. Since they're making it this time, and not Rare, Retro Studios decided not to use a lot of Rare's original ideas. The Kongs are gone, except for Diddy, who is classic and Cranky, who doesn't rant anymore, he runs a shop. The Kremlings are also absent, and instead, we got evil Tiki masks that brainwashed the animals of the island.
Donkey Kong was never a hero of any sort. So why has he been fighting Kremlings during his SNES trilogy? Well, they stole his hoard of bananas. What's a better way to get a gorilla angry? In Returns, his bananas do get stolen, but the aforementioned Tikis took them this time, and Donkey Kong has to get them back. He's not alone in his quest, he has Diddy Kong with him. However, unlike the trilogy, you can't actually control him, you will always control Donkey Kong, and Diddy will be on your back. You can control him while playing co-op though. Remember the animals? Well, only Rambi made the cut for the returning animals.
The graphics look JAW-DROPPING. This is definently one of the best looking Wii games to date, right up there with Super Mario Galaxy and Sonic Colors. Everything is detailed and colorful, and the frame rate is smooth. Retro Studios definently has a lot of experience from the Prime games.
The controls work great as well. Some may complain that they are a bit clumsy, but they aren't that bad. If you're using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, then you use the analog stick to move, the A button to jump. You can slam the ground by shaking the Wii remote and nunchuk. You can also blow air by holding down on the analog stick and shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. You can roll into a ball by running and shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. If you have Diddy on your back, you can roll longer.
The music is wonderful as well. Even though Retro Studios wasn't using a lot of Rare's original ideas, they still brought back classic tracks like Jungle Hijinx(that's also the name of the first level), and the song that plays when on a mine cart level. Speaking of levels, let's talk about those. I got these words to say about the level designs.
THEY ARE FREAKIN' AMAZING!
Really, Retro Studios outdid themselves. They have created some of the most creative, over-the-top levels Rare couldn't even do in their platformers. There is a lot of objects on the screen and it's amazing. Rero Studios also re-created themes from past DKC games, like the mine cart levels.
In the levels, there is plenty of stuff to collect. You can find banana coins, which you can spend at Cranky's shop. You can also collect bananas, which, if you collect 100 of them, you get an extra life. If you get every puzzle piece in a level, you get pictures. And just like the classics, you can find the letters K-O-N-G and get an extra life. There are also secret areas in levels where you can find bananas, lives, and puzzle pieces.
The Donkey Kong Country games on the SNES were notorious for their brutal difficulty. This one is difficult for sure, but not as difficult as the others. How come? Well, the save points are gone. The original trilogy's difficulty came from the save points, and the distance between them, plus the fact the game was already difficult enough. This time, there are no save points, the game saves automatically. This detracts the difficulty a tad bit, since you won't always have to worry about dieing, since if you lose all your lives, you'll come back at the level you were trying to beat. The levels themselves are very challenging, and you will be frustrated with them, but in the end, you will still have a great time.
At the end of each world, there's a boss to fight. These bosses were fairly challenging, since they had a weak point you had to hit. These bosses are animals that were brainwashed by the Tikis.
If you are stuck at a level, the game offers the Super Guide feature, which was used in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The guide will show you how to pass a level. It won't exactly beat it for you, but it will show you how to do it. Think of it like the saying "if you give a man a fish, he will be fed for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, he will be fed for life" or whatever it is.
The game also has co-op play with another player, including yourself. One plays as Donkey Kong, the other plays as Diddy. The person playing as Diddy can jump onto Donkey Kong so that if a player is in a tight situation, he can jump on Donkey Kong, and let him sit back. Plus, Donkey Kong will also gain advantage of being able to using Diddy's jetpack when he is on him. If one of the players leave the screen, he will appear right next to the character that was on the screen. If a character dies, and if you still have lives left, the player that is dead can press 1, and he will appear in a barrel floating down, and the other player has to get him. You can also revive him by finding a DK barrel.
THE VERDICT!
The final question is, did Retro Studios do a good job making a faithful recreation of the DKC trilogy on the SNES? The answer is yes. Retro Studios not only created a faithful entry into the DKC franchise, but also accomplished what even Rare couldn't do. This game also proved that Retro Studios is now Nintendo's new replacement for Rare and now Rare could now go die in a hole pissing away the talent that they had making Kinect knock-offs of Wii games. RETRO STUDIOS FTW!
Final Score: 9.5
Superb!