Donkey Kong Country Returns – Hands-on Impressions: PAX Prime 2010

Donkey Kong Country Returns debuted at this year’s E3 with a wave of nostalgia attached. The first new game for Donkey Kong in years and the first non-Metroid Prime game by the acclaimed Retro Studios, can the game live up to years of expectations?

I was able to get hands-on time with one of the four levels Nintendo brought to PAX. The first thing that struck me was the similarity to the original game. I’ve praised Nintendo’s other big PAX game, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, for taking a basic structure and trying something new. Donkey Kong Country Returns is merely more of the same. Your taste for nostalgia will dictate how much you enjoy the game.

To be fair, there were some new additions. The actual platforming was more varied, with background elements to consider while timing tricky jumps. In that sense, the game is much more modern than the visuals, made to look like the old SNES games would have you imagine. The animation for Donkey and Diddy Kong is better, and the look of the game benefits from being on a more modern console. It really is a newer version of a game you’ve played.

That is also the problem. It’s essentially a game you’ve already played. At its core, it feels, sounds, and plays like the old SNES games. I had a brief moment of glee playing the game, but once I left the booth, I realized it was more related to remembering when I played the old games in my youth rather than anything I played on the show floor. In the same way the new Kirby game takes a genre and shapes it in a new, innovative way, Donkey Kong Country Returns takes it and regurgitates it back to you with some motion control sheen.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is not as bad as I make it to be with that statement, but it does feel like the all the worst aspects of Nintendo’s nostalgia-driven game making in one product. I did want to get my hands on the game at the show to either prove or disprove my own feelings about the game but sadly, I was correct. If you enjoy buying newer versions of games you’ve already played, Donkey Kong Country Returns is right up your alley. Otherwise, steer clear.

Donkey Kong Country Returns releases on the Nintendo Wii on November 21st, published by Nintendo and developed by Retro Studios.