Donkey Kong Country Returns

I'm looking forward to picking this up once it comes out in Japan, but I'll have to wait until Dec. 9th

DKC, for me, has always been about the secrets and hidden bonus stages etc.
Did they do a good job of hiding stuff this time, Angie?
Few companies seem as good at that as Rare...

I'm disappointed that the music isn't up to snuff but not entirely surprised.

It's interesting that you mentioned New Super Mario Brothers when it comes to music. That game was solid, but the music was also mostly forgettable.

I'll be picking it up on Wednesday. Really looking forward to it!

Just finished World 1 and my thoughts mostly mirror Angela's. It's a lot of fun, if not up to the quality of DKC2. I especially miss hunting for those elusive secret barrels. There's some in this game but they're throw-aways, there to give away puzzle pieces (which I'd be more interested in if the rewards were better). This time around, collecting the KONG letters unlocks the secret levels but they're too easy to find (at least at this point in the game).

Graphically, the game is gorgeous and the level designs are top-notch. Musically? ... well, the remixes are okay, although it's disappointing how many of them are from DKC1. I always thought 2 had the best music. I haven't heard many original pieces but they don't linger long in the memory.

I spent maybe thirty lives trying to beat the secret level in World 1. Haven't been this pissed at a game in ages.

Just had one long play session with a friend last night. Preliminary conclusion:

The bad:
- Feel of controls. I just don't like them coming off the original series. They are too loose, too heavy, and the choices of putting the jetpack thingy to jump button and roll to waggle are making speedier runs and attacks way more difficult to get used to than necessary. Makes single player mode completely unenjoyable to me personally.
- Respawning enemies. The original series were somewhat more about exploration for me, clean up an area and you're no longer in danger. Returns completely throws that and even goes the incredible cheap route of having enemies appear without any cause (i.e. instead having a beatable enemy shooting something the shot object appearing endlessly without ever seeing a source).
- Unability to play as Diddy in single player. Diddy doesn't throw stuff in front of him anymore like in the original series, instead it gets thrown ahead his head similar to how Donkey does it.
- Hit detection. In the original series if one enemy (not dying instantly) is hit there is a short period where that enemy doesn't hurt the player. Not so in Returns, making several of the bosses highly annoying.

The inoffensive:
- Music. So far it works well in-game, but has no chance of rivaling any soundtrack of the original series.
- Enemy designs. The rather silly animal based enemies of Rare fare get replaced by more childish enemies by Retro. Not a big deal, but at several points I thought the resulting enemies didn't exactly support the atmosphere which is unfortunate (what are those blue/red/yellow blob enemies in the temple anyway?).
- Level/gameplay variety. I personally consider DKC2 my favorite platforming game of all times, due to good usage of level themes for different gameplay approaches, riding or turning into animals, getting in and out of rising/heatening/freezing water, winds from below or the sides, diverse bonus levels, hidden levels and so on and so fort. Returns does quite well, but there are many areas which could have been done better. Bonus levels often are little more than life collection areas (similar to but not even as varied as in DKC1). Interaction with the environment is excellent and the strong point of Returns, but variety in different gameplay controls is more that of DKC1 & 3. A rather annoying aspect to me are the background levels that stay zoomed out, messing further with the judgment of jump height/width and speed.

The good:
- Graphics. Really good. There are people making highres screen of it in the emulator Dolphin, and the visuals are great even (or rather especially) there.
- Multiplayer. The controls and respawning enemies lose somewhat of their offensive character when playing together with a friend. Coop is very nicely realized there thanks to the split/combined abilities and health. The one single saving grace to me.

Looking forward to continue playing it when my friend comes over once again.

You know, I really should bust out the SNES games; playing the first again two may convince me to get the third.

Bernhardt wrote:

DKC2, Summer when it first came out

Not to be nit-picky here, but DKC2 was also released in the fourth quarter of its respective year (1995).  Maybe you got it the following summer?

Bernhardt wrote:

DKC2 KIND OF rewarded you for discovering its bonus rooms, but you didn't need to discover ALL of them, in order to get the special second ending.

I'm sure you did. But it wasn't made as blatantly apparent as in DKC3.

Last edited by Datschge (Dec 1, 13:18)

Amazingu wrote:

Datschge wrote:

Bernhardt wrote:

DKC2 KIND OF rewarded you for discovering its bonus rooms, but you didn't need to discover ALL of them, in order to get the special second ending.

I'm sure you did. But it wasn't made as blatantly apparent as in DKC3.

I think you needed all bonus coins to "buy" access to the True Final Boss.
The DK coins were just for show, I think.

I can't remember myself, but I know you needed all the bonus coins (Kremcoins) and Banana Birds to do that in DKC3. Then there was playing through the game without the continue barrels to get the last 2% and get the 105%.

Ashley Winchester wrote:

You know, the more I think about it, the less I like the title. For some reason, "Returns" has an odd, somewhat negative connotation to it. It sounds kind of lazy. They might as well have named it "Donkey Kong Country Returns... Finally!"

"Returns" kind of sets up the player up for more dissapointment than a normal sub-title like "Attack of the Jujubes" would.

It's still better than "New Super Mario Bros." and the even worse "New Super Mario Bros. Wii," especially the way both of those have the "New" written with a freakin starburst callout.

XLord007 wrote:

Bernhardt wrote:

DKC2, Summer when it first came out

Not to be nit-picky here, but DKC2 was also released in the fourth quarter of its respective year (1995).  Maybe you got it the following summer?

???

I remember Nintendo Power reporting on it as if it was still new, in May 1996, or so...I know I GOT the game Summer 1996, around June, or so...huh...

The original DKC was 1994...okay, yeah, DKC2 = 1995, and DKC3 = 1996. I got DKC2 Summer '96, and DKC3 February 1997. Man, why'd I lag on purchasing those...? I know I got 'em brand new...

When I think back, it's amazing for how long you could still pick up a game brand new; stores were great at keeping inventory; these days, if you don't get a game when it first comes out, good luck trying to get it in stores after that!

Finally d-loaded DKC and DKC3, since they were (and still are) favorites to play during the Winter. Good times! Memories are all just flooding back!

Last edited by Bernhardt (Dec 3, 0:47)