When it comes to Nintendo and updates, one of their weirdest tendencies has been to release DLC months or years after a game seemingly faded from the news cycle. It happened to the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, which got extra features and content after Nintendo Labo came out. It happened to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which suddenly had the Booster Course Pass announced years after its initial release. It recently happened with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which got a major update and Switch 2 upgrade a good 5 years after Happy Home Paradise.
And now it’s happened to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD as well. Why? Because a major update has not only made the game run better on Switch 2, but added Dixie Kong and Turbo Mode into the game too!
Yep, it’s exactly as you’d expect. Dixie Kong is now an alternate playable character alongside DK and Diddy, and can be both paired with the former and played as in two-player mode. Meanwhile Turbo Mode lets you replay the game at a much higher speed, with both the player and enemies sped up significantly to increase the level of challenge.
There are also some tweaks to make it run better on Switch 2 as well. Now, players with that console can enjoy higher resolution graphics and faster level load times, making it a hell of a lot better in the performance department as well.
Finally, the update also fixes various annoying bugs and glitches that people have complained about online too. The issue where enemies would disappear too quickly upon being killed and prevent the second player from bouncing on them? Gone, it now works like in the Wii version instead. The messed up fur textures in certain situations? Fixed, DK’s fur looks exactly as you’d expect it to now. And the same goes for missing level effects too, like the sunset in Tree Top Bop being restored.
So, yeah. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is now the definitive way to play the game. It’s got all the mechanical complexity of the original Wii version, while adding the extra content and options from the 3DS one and more. Definitely give it a shot if you haven’t played the game yet.
Source:
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD – Update Overview – Nintendo Switch & Nintendo Switch 2 (YouTube)