Donkey Kong Country Returns is a 2010 side-scrolling platform game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii console. The game was released first in North America in November 2010, and in PAL regions and Japan the following month. The game's story focuses on an evil group of Tiki-like creatures known as the Tiki Tak Tribe that are unleashed on Donkey Kong Island and hypnotize the island's animals to stealing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's banana hoard, prompting the two to traverse the island to reclaim it.

Donkey Kong Country Returns was the first installment of the Donkey Kong Country series to not involve the original series developer Rare. The game was a critical and commercial success; it has sold over 6.53 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling titles on the Wii and received positive reviews for its graphics, level design, and gameplay, although its motion controls and high difficulty received more mixed responses.

A Nintendo 3DS port developed by Monster Games, titled Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, was released in North America and PAL regions in May 2013 and in Japan the following month. A sequel, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, was released for the Wii U in February 2014 and ported for the Nintendo Switch in May 2018.

Gameplay

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong riding a rocket barrel. Donkey Kong Country Returns combines 2D gameplay with 3D graphics such as the character models and this train in the foreground.

Players take control of the series's protagonist Donkey Kong, as well as his friend Diddy Kong in certain situations,^[1] with many traditional elements of the Donkey Kong Country series returning, including mine cart levels, the ability to swing between vines and collect bananas, the golden "KONG" letters and puzzle pieces.^[2] New gameplay elements include levels in which the characters and foreground environments appear as silhouettes, spawning several new gameplay mechanics.^[3] In single-player mode, players can only play as Donkey Kong, although Diddy Kong rides on Donkey Kong's back, and Donkey Kong can use Diddy's jetpack to jump further. Multiplayer mode enables a second player to control Diddy Kong.^[3] If a player's character dies in two-player mode, it can be brought back by using the other character to hit a "DK Barrel" that floats into view, a mechanic similar to the one used in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. To avoid problems arising from differences in the players' skills, Diddy can hop on Donkey's back to take on a more passive role, while his jetpack can be used to make his partner's jumps easier.^[3] Both Donkey and Diddy can pound the ground to defeat enemies and unveil secret items.^[3]

The game has two control schemes, with the standard system using the Wii Remote in conjunction with the Nunchuk, while a more classical approach requires that the Wii Remote be held sideways. Both methods use motion controls for the "Ground Pound" move.^[1] In addition to common series elements like secrets and unlockables, there is also an optional time attack mode.^[3] Two animal buddies, Rambi and Squawks, appear and assist Donkey Kong at certain points in the game.^[4] The game also utilises the "Super Guide" feature that previously appeared in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2. If the player loses eight lives in a single level, they will be given the option to allow a white-colored Donkey Kong named Super Kong to take over and complete the level for them. However, Super Kong will not look for collectible items, nor will he show the player where they are. He also keeps anything he happens to collect, so the player is not rewarded for these items.^[5]

After beating Tiki Tong, an additional stage called "The Golden Temple" is unlocked. In order to play the stage, the player has to find objects called "Rare orbs" hidden in each world's temple. Upon competing the Golden Temple, a new mode is unlocked known as the Mirror Mode. In this mode, the stages are flipped, Donkey Kong only has one unit of health, he cannot use items bought from Cranky Kong, and he cannot get any help from Diddy Kong.

Plot

The game's story revolves around creatures known as Tikis, which are new to the series. The different types of Tikis fill the role of the antagonists in the story, replacing the Kremlings from Donkey Kong Country.^[1][3] Cranky Kong, who owns shops throughout the island, is the only Kong family member that appears other than Donkey and Diddy.^[6] The story begins when a group of evil Tikis known as the Tiki Tak Tribe arrive on Donkey Kong Island after being awoken by a volcanic eruption,^[6] and play music to hypnotize the animals, mostly elephants, zebras, giraffes, and squirrels on the island into stealing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's bananas. Since Donkey Kong is resistant to the Tikis' music, he works with Diddy Kong to retrieve their hoard of bananas from the Tikis. Throughout the game, the pair travel through nine worlds to recover their stolen bananas: the Golden Temple, the Volcano, the Factory, the Cliff, the Forest, the Cave, the Ruins, the Beach, and the Jungle.^[7] In each world, they must defeat a Tiki Tak Tribe leader: Kalimba, the Maraca Gang, Gong-Oh, Banjo Bottom, Wacky Pipes, Xylobone, Cordian (who hypnotizes other inhabitants on the island to fight the Kongs), and Tiki Tong, the king of the Tiki Tak Tribe. After Tiki Tong is defeated, the Kongs are launched into space where they punch and headbutt down on the Moon, crushing Tiki Tong's base and sending bananas flying everywhere.