The developer Retro studios has once again cradled one of Nintendo's biggest franchises in its bosom and raised a fantastic game. The last year has been a banner year for platformers on the Wii and the 2D platformer genre in general. Games like New Super Mario Bros, Super Meat Boy and Donkey Kong help prove that its still one the best game designs around and with the right team, can compete with anything 3D games have to offer. I wanted to give you guys a quick roundup of my thoughts so far about the game and what you can expect if this game is on your radar.
It's just a 2D platformer why should you care?
Retro Studios seems to be Nintendo's ace in the hole and boy they don't disappoint. Granted this game doesn't have the same 3D rendered graphics like the originals, but it does have beautifully animated colorful characters and environments. Donkey Kong Country Returns level design is fantastic and offers tons of secrets to find, challenging platforming, and creative uses of the levels environments to effect gameplay. Each level in the game seems to be always asking you to do something a little different and each level feels fresh. Your also going to be in for a challenge; in the first world alone I died at least 10 times and didn't even come close to finding all the KONG letters and puzzle pieces in each level. Oh yeah, did I mention that each level also has a time attack mode as well? In case you looking for more of a challenge. The game can be difficult at times, but the game does offer you lots of ways to make it easier on yourself by adding checkpoints and banana coins. With the banana coins you go to old Kranky Kongs shack and purchase extra balloons, a puzzle revealing parrot, and invincibility juice. Much like Mario Bros 3, you access them on the main map and use them before you enter levels.
