After heavily enjoying Tropical Freeze, I decided to replay Returns for the first time in years since I was a child. I played the 3DS port and it was... an alright port. Sacrificing 60fps for 30fps and pop-out 3D graphics is almost never worth it especially when it comes to platforming... but MAN I didn't want to shake my Wiimote every time I wanted to roll. Sucks that this is yet another of those "no definitive version" kind of games.
Once again I am sad to have played the sequel games before the original game because Tropical Freeze is just Returns 2.0, therefore Returns is Tropical Freeze minus one. The art direction and level design, while fun and reminiscent of the SNES trilogy, doesn't hold a candle to the bold, creative uniqueness of Tropical Freeze's.
I've heard this game be described as one of the most fair difficult games ever made. I suppose that's true... if you're just doing a casual run. If, like me, you were going for the 100% getting all the KONG letters and puzzle pieces, then prepare to die a hundred times. The checkpoints are mostly fair, as are the hidden collectibles, but there were a handful of times when Retro Studios decided to be sneaky rat bastards and hide puzzle pieces in the most obscure, bullshit places possible, such as pieces of scenery that look 99% identical to the rest of the scenery, bottomless pits and/or ceiling vines that you can't see until you make leaps of faith, and one time, behind the fucking UI. Getting all the KONG letters is easy, though. What's strange is you have to get a checkpoint to keep your current letters after death, but as soon as you touch a puzzle piece, it's yours forever. Sometimes I would just throw myself into death nabbing a few puzzle pieces because what's the penalty? I never have to risk my life to get it again.
The difficulty curve is kinda whack. Game starts out easy in the first three worlds, then spikes with the middle three, and then ends up in a beautiful sweet spot in the midpoint with the last two plus 3DS-exclusive bonus world. Factory (World 7) easily the best one; jazzy with plenty of fun mechanics and level designs. Cave (World 4) can suck my dick for having not one, but two bad minecart levels back-to-back. Also, y'all cappin' HARD about the rocket levels, I beat 'em just fine and they were all tons of fun. Blowing mechanic is ass though, glad they cut that for Tropical Freeze.
Gotta bring special attention to the worst level in the game: the sixth Kong Temple stage Perilous Passage. Not only does it not give you a DK Barrel (which they should all do btw) but they expect you to find all the puzzle pieces in hidden walls while dodging rising lava by bouncing between two springs while avoiding this asshole fucking bee that spawns RANDOMLY on either side of the level every time. 25% of all of my deaths the entire game go to that bee because I lost the coin flip that shouldn't even be a coin flip. The final level genuinely feels like cut content; I encountered the only bugs I saw there (I swear I teleported off platforms twice) and the curved banana platforms make trying to do those rolling long jumps you've been taught to do the whole game impossible. Similarly to Tropical Freeze, your 100% reward is ass (they give you a hard mode after 100%-ing a hard game, fuck you Retro) but I 100%-ed Tropical Freeze and I was damned if I was gonna let this game beat me.
Donkey Kong Country Returns is a serviceable platformer that's hard to recommend on either platform (just emulate it/mod in button controls on Wii I guess) and harder to recommend when Tropical Freeze is better in every way. Your appreciation for Tropical Freeze will definitely be greater if you play this first, however.
Once again I am sad to have played the sequel games before the original game because Tropical Freeze is just Returns 2.0, therefore Returns is Tropical Freeze minus one. The art direction and level design, while fun and reminiscent of the SNES trilogy, doesn't hold a candle to the bold, creative uniqueness of Tropical Freeze's.
I've heard this game be described as one of the most fair difficult games ever made. I suppose that's true... if you're just doing a casual run. If, like me, you were going for the 100% getting all the KONG letters and puzzle pieces, then prepare to die a hundred times. The checkpoints are mostly fair, as are the hidden collectibles, but there were a handful of times when Retro Studios decided to be sneaky rat bastards and hide puzzle pieces in the most obscure, bullshit places possible, such as pieces of scenery that look 99% identical to the rest of the scenery, bottomless pits and/or ceiling vines that you can't see until you make leaps of faith, and one time, behind the fucking UI. Getting all the KONG letters is easy, though. What's strange is you have to get a checkpoint to keep your current letters after death, but as soon as you touch a puzzle piece, it's yours forever. Sometimes I would just throw myself into death nabbing a few puzzle pieces because what's the penalty? I never have to risk my life to get it again.
The difficulty curve is kinda whack. Game starts out easy in the first three worlds, then spikes with the middle three, and then ends up in a beautiful sweet spot in the midpoint with the last two plus 3DS-exclusive bonus world. Factory (World 7) easily the best one; jazzy with plenty of fun mechanics and level designs. Cave (World 4) can suck my dick for having not one, but two bad minecart levels back-to-back. Also, y'all cappin' HARD about the rocket levels, I beat 'em just fine and they were all tons of fun. Blowing mechanic is ass though, glad they cut that for Tropical Freeze.
Gotta bring special attention to the worst level in the game: the sixth Kong Temple stage Perilous Passage. Not only does it not give you a DK Barrel (which they should all do btw) but they expect you to find all the puzzle pieces in hidden walls while dodging rising lava by bouncing between two springs while avoiding this asshole fucking bee that spawns RANDOMLY on either side of the level every time. 25% of all of my deaths the entire game go to that bee because I lost the coin flip that shouldn't even be a coin flip. The final level genuinely feels like cut content; I encountered the only bugs I saw there (I swear I teleported off platforms twice) and the curved banana platforms make trying to do those rolling long jumps you've been taught to do the whole game impossible. Similarly to Tropical Freeze, your 100% reward is ass (they give you a hard mode after 100%-ing a hard game, fuck you Retro) but I 100%-ed Tropical Freeze and I was damned if I was gonna let this game beat me.
Donkey Kong Country Returns is a serviceable platformer that's hard to recommend on either platform (just emulate it/mod in button controls on Wii I guess) and harder to recommend when Tropical Freeze is better in every way. Your appreciation for Tropical Freeze will definitely be greater if you play this first, however.