Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii, 2010)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-8/9* Story-4.5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8.5/9.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-5
Overall Score-7.5
*100% and 2-player mode
+
2-player coop
Some new moves (hover jump w/ diddy and donkey in 1P mode - like hovering in Yoshi's Island, blow air while crouching; Donkey can carry Diddy in 2P mode, shoot as Diddy in 2P mode while on donkey's back)
Very good variety and sometimes great visual variety within levels
Item inventory (can use items before beginning a level and the effect wears off after the level or after dying?)
Shops (temporary +1 HP item, key, temporary invincibility item, parrot - helps with finding puzzle pieces, lives)
Some alternate paths on the hub map (buy keys with coins found in levels at the shops)
Some interesting new gimmicks (tide water, ceiling and spinning platform climbing, shots from the background that remove obstacles - Yoshi's Island, the colored switches in Switcheroo (similar to some parts of Mario Galaxy), music madness level where traps move in rhythm with the music)
The 4 letters spelling KONG unlock one level per world here and if you beat those you unlock the golden temple, a single fruit themed level which unlocks mirror mode if beaten. Mirror mode=no diddy or inventory items+you only have 1 HP (not that fun)
Decent bosses overall
+/-
Auto-save after every level
Extra lives system (easy to gain them and they do save here - 100 bananas, occasional red balloons)
Mid-level checkpoints
Boss finisher QTEs
2 HP per player char
Limited air under water
No option to move the controller sounds into the game itself
Puzzle Pieces only unlock artwork and dioramas
Can skip levels via the pig at the start of each level (it sounds like a recording when asked but the silver kong that appears actually beats the level for you) - a softer version with one more checkpoint or letting you start from the checkpoint even after a game over might've been better as you'll basically not learn the game and lag behind in skill if you abuse this. The items already help although there could've been a specific item to help with pit heavy levels
Many death pits and instant death hazards later on - makes the potion (gold gorilla form) not that useful as it won't protect against them
No difficulty options
Can roll infinitely as Donkey in 2P mode with the other player standing on top of you?
The 3DS version made a few things easier: You get more hearts and there are a couple other balancing changes
-
Some control/interface issues (can't hold the run button and pick up barrels you run into - see the SNES games, can't remap the shake-based moves to buttons or button combos (used to slam the ground+blow air and even to roll), can't transition into blowing while shaking to smash/shoot, somewhat unforgiving hit detection at times (when standing on a higher platform near the edge and an enemy on the platform below walks near you, when jumping onto minecarts from below or the side, a few enemies and bosses), picking up a DK barrel and throwing it while the other player is flying in via balloon (after dying) does nothing, can't blow while on a rhino, )
The game automatically kicks you out of a level after a game over (about 15 seconds of loading) - no option to immediately retry which makes no sense when it also gives you 5 lives for free every time
No casual/kid friendly 2-player mode where if the other player keeps falling behind they don't die from it - the 0 year old age limit is way too generous and should be something like 6+ because the game has more advanced controls than the SNES games (an alternate mode where both players are automatically kept on screen might also have been a good option to have)
Trial & error (minecart levels in the cave area have plenty of it, most later bosses, finding various puzzle pieces without the parrot, gets pretty bad from the Cave world onwards with several cheap enemy placements and other gotchas)
Lose two lives per full life lost in 2-player mode+can't access the silver kong - makes this mode a lot harder
Various parts feel balanced for 1P mode
Blowing air or ground slamming to deal with some enemies and obstacles slows down the tempo a bit and various item containers only hold 1 banana
Can't play as Dixie Kong
Some difficulty spikes (middle of cave world, rocket barrel segments, chase segment in forest world, etc.)
The production quality of the music is somewhat disappointing (all midi/synth-based?), Sometimes bland compositions
Some tedious stop and go parts (boulder level) and the cave world boss is kinda drawn out. Some bosses also make you wait too long in-between short time windows during which you can hurt them
Missing most animal buddies/mounts from the previous side view games (Enguarde the Swordfish, Winky the Frog, Expresso the Ostrich, Rattly the Rattlesnake, Squitter the Spider, Clapper the Seal, Glimmer the Anglerfish, the carrying function of the parrots (Quawks, the purple one, is completely missing), Ellie the Elephant)
Bugs:
-In one of the minecart levels, jumps wouldn't register if I'd land close to the left edge of a small platform near the beginning but would if I landed near the right edge
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8.5/9.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-5
Overall Score-7.5
*100% and 2-player mode
+
2-player coop
Some new moves (hover jump w/ diddy and donkey in 1P mode - like hovering in Yoshi's Island, blow air while crouching; Donkey can carry Diddy in 2P mode, shoot as Diddy in 2P mode while on donkey's back)
Very good variety and sometimes great visual variety within levels
Item inventory (can use items before beginning a level and the effect wears off after the level or after dying?)
Shops (temporary +1 HP item, key, temporary invincibility item, parrot - helps with finding puzzle pieces, lives)
Some alternate paths on the hub map (buy keys with coins found in levels at the shops)
Some interesting new gimmicks (tide water, ceiling and spinning platform climbing, shots from the background that remove obstacles - Yoshi's Island, the colored switches in Switcheroo (similar to some parts of Mario Galaxy), music madness level where traps move in rhythm with the music)
The 4 letters spelling KONG unlock one level per world here and if you beat those you unlock the golden temple, a single fruit themed level which unlocks mirror mode if beaten. Mirror mode=no diddy or inventory items+you only have 1 HP (not that fun)
Decent bosses overall
+/-
Auto-save after every level
Extra lives system (easy to gain them and they do save here - 100 bananas, occasional red balloons)
Mid-level checkpoints
Boss finisher QTEs
2 HP per player char
Limited air under water
No option to move the controller sounds into the game itself
Puzzle Pieces only unlock artwork and dioramas
Can skip levels via the pig at the start of each level (it sounds like a recording when asked but the silver kong that appears actually beats the level for you) - a softer version with one more checkpoint or letting you start from the checkpoint even after a game over might've been better as you'll basically not learn the game and lag behind in skill if you abuse this. The items already help although there could've been a specific item to help with pit heavy levels
Many death pits and instant death hazards later on - makes the potion (gold gorilla form) not that useful as it won't protect against them
No difficulty options
Can roll infinitely as Donkey in 2P mode with the other player standing on top of you?
The 3DS version made a few things easier: You get more hearts and there are a couple other balancing changes
-
Some control/interface issues (can't hold the run button and pick up barrels you run into - see the SNES games, can't remap the shake-based moves to buttons or button combos (used to slam the ground+blow air and even to roll), can't transition into blowing while shaking to smash/shoot, somewhat unforgiving hit detection at times (when standing on a higher platform near the edge and an enemy on the platform below walks near you, when jumping onto minecarts from below or the side, a few enemies and bosses), picking up a DK barrel and throwing it while the other player is flying in via balloon (after dying) does nothing, can't blow while on a rhino, )
The game automatically kicks you out of a level after a game over (about 15 seconds of loading) - no option to immediately retry which makes no sense when it also gives you 5 lives for free every time
No casual/kid friendly 2-player mode where if the other player keeps falling behind they don't die from it - the 0 year old age limit is way too generous and should be something like 6+ because the game has more advanced controls than the SNES games (an alternate mode where both players are automatically kept on screen might also have been a good option to have)
Trial & error (minecart levels in the cave area have plenty of it, most later bosses, finding various puzzle pieces without the parrot, gets pretty bad from the Cave world onwards with several cheap enemy placements and other gotchas)
Lose two lives per full life lost in 2-player mode+can't access the silver kong - makes this mode a lot harder
Various parts feel balanced for 1P mode
Blowing air or ground slamming to deal with some enemies and obstacles slows down the tempo a bit and various item containers only hold 1 banana
Can't play as Dixie Kong
Some difficulty spikes (middle of cave world, rocket barrel segments, chase segment in forest world, etc.)
The production quality of the music is somewhat disappointing (all midi/synth-based?), Sometimes bland compositions
Some tedious stop and go parts (boulder level) and the cave world boss is kinda drawn out. Some bosses also make you wait too long in-between short time windows during which you can hurt them
Missing most animal buddies/mounts from the previous side view games (Enguarde the Swordfish, Winky the Frog, Expresso the Ostrich, Rattly the Rattlesnake, Squitter the Spider, Clapper the Seal, Glimmer the Anglerfish, the carrying function of the parrots (Quawks, the purple one, is completely missing), Ellie the Elephant)
Bugs:
-In one of the minecart levels, jumps wouldn't register if I'd land close to the left edge of a small platform near the beginning but would if I landed near the right edge