This came out of nowhere. Today, one year after its release, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has received a significant update, which enhances its resolution on the Nintendo Switch 2 and even adds Game Share for the cooperative multiplayer mode. But that's not all, it comes with new features and improvements that can also be enjoyed on the Nintendo Switch still.
First of all, it fixes a number of issues that came with either the Nintendo 3DS version, which then carried over into the HD remaster, or with the remaster itself. These are missing details, like the sunset in the background of certain levels, or that the bounce boxes of enemies were immediately disappearing, which made the coop mode borderline unplayable in some areas. The final boss still hasn't gotten its blob shadow back, however...
Anyway, the most important addition is that of Dixie Kong. Well, she was basically ripped out of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and works pretty much the same way, including the rotating barrels, but this is a very cool addition nevertheless.
Curiously, you can even use her in Classic Mode, even though it was meant to strictly recreate the harder Wii experience. And Dixie Kong can make the game easier with her helicopter hair, which increases the height of your jumps. In Tropical Freeze she even made Diddy Kong pretty much obsolete... However, this game was not made with her in mind, so in some levels it might be still better to go with Diddy, because otherwise you will be jumping into some spikes on the ceiling.
Still, this makes me a bit sad that I already had 200% completed the remaster last year when it came out, because Dixie Kong would have added some much needed novelty to the game. Now, there is also the new Turbo Attack mode to play, which doubles the game's speed and brings its own percentage rating on your save file. But I don't think that I'm going to bother with it, much like I have never bothered with the Time Trial mode.
Playing the levels at increased speed feels very clunky because of Donkey Kong's heavy weight, but it is an interesting challenge nevertheless. And if this was all this mode was about, then I would be playing this game from start to finish yet again this weekend... But they also based it on the horrible Time Trial mode and ask you to beat certain times again.
It is the exact same mode, simply sped up and with the clock now ticking down. And I'm not sure who was asking for this. The Time Trial mode has always been flawed, because the clock keeps running when you die. In order to get the best time, you will have to manually restart after each single death, but then it actually loads the whole level again.
At least the loading times have been decreased down to a quarter on the Nintendo Switch 2, so the Time Trial mode is now somewhat bearable. But the concept is still broken by design, where it would need instant reloading to be not broken. Well, you can still play the new Turbo Attack mode for the Silver Medals, ignoring the time goal, but imagine how it would feel if Mirror Mode also asked you to do it fast and only gave you an ugly mirror whenever you don't meet the allotted time...
I hate this obsession with speed running in the gaming culture, where beating a tough game isn't enough anymore, you also have to do it fast and perfectly in order to truly complete things. So, one mode for this paradigm was already more than enough.
One good thing to say about both modes is that they will let you choose a barrel type. So, if you want to play the levels with Dixie Kong, because she lets you potentially skip whole sections, then you don't have to wait for the right barrel. That's a smart decision.
All in all, it makes you hope that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will follow up shortly and also get a free upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2. Maybe a Turbo Attack mode there could be handled a bit more nicely.
This update also answered a lingering question I had about all those remasters with "HD" in the title. The Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD, Skyward Sword HD, Luigi's Mansion 2 HD... If you bring them onto the Nintendo Switch 2, those should be technically all have to be renamed into "4K". But apparently not. I suppose the title still indicates that this was originally made for HD resolutions and now they have simply upscaled it.
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