After wrapping up Donkey Kong Country Returns, many of my original sentiments still rang true. It’s still a great game that surpasses the scope and quality of the original by leaps and bounds. The only real flag I need to wave here is that it gets really difficult.
The game puts up a good challenge from the get-go. However, by world 6, things get crazy. You may easily lose a dozen lives trying to pass one particular part of a level, but it never feels impossible or unfair. I always got the feeling that I could pass anything in the game if I played it just right. Eventually, my brother and I got through the whole thing, which felt great.
Speaking of which, the game is actually harder in co-op during the later levels of the game. Those levels weren’t designed with two players in mind, which is readily apparent when we failed miserably on a number of occasions to navigate through intricate platforming sections that required us to sync our movements in a very specific way. During these levels, we actually found it easier if the person playing as Diddy Kong just hopped on Donkey Kong’s back and let Donkey Kong play the entire level on his own.
I appreciated the challenge, but I have a hard time picturing more casual gamers losing their minds trying to beat this game. If you are, you’re in for another awesome Nintendo platformer. If you’re looking for something a bit easier, give Kirby’s Epic Yarn a look.
In Third Person 