Wii, Nintendo, cert: 3, out now
Nintendo, it is fair to say, can take much credit for innovation in gaming's recent past. The company popularised gesture-control though the Wii, and used the DS to charm swathes of non-gamers into picking up a stylus. And yet, in spite of this reputation for leading the medium into new realms, where Nintendo often excels is in a gaming form largely consigned to history: the humble platformer.
Like the Super Mario titles of generations past, Donkey Kong Country Returns challenges the player with the apparently simple task of moving from A to B by traversing a two-dimensional plain generously peppered with ledges, moving scenery, bottomless pits and wildly jerking contraptions that are all designed to outwit the titular protagonist. Itself a sequel to the 1994 game Donkey Kong Country, Nintendo's latest in a long line of platformers is an elaborate showcase of level design and a marvel of pacing.
Donkey Kong's destination as he jumps and climbs hardly matters. It is the journey across a large tropical island that counts. Indeed, the sun-kissed assault courses that he must negotiate look basic at first glance, friendly even, draped as they are in luscious flora and bristling with lolloping island wildlife. In fact, thanks to incredibly sharp level design, each is a rich playground filled with surprises, and many are genuinely challenging. Every few minutes of play introduce a clever new spin on what can be done with such a simple template, as platforms and ledges are combined in inspired and original ways. Such is the game's wit and cunning that it teases with fresh conundrums at the exact moment you feel you have learned all its tricks.
Turning the typical relationship between user and game on its head, Donkey Kong Country Returns plays with the gamer ? probing and prodding at your quest to master its nuances. Hidden areas and secrets abound, rewarding repeated return visits with concealed items that beg for discovery. There's also an immensely satisfying momentum to the action, and to dash through a level successfully is to feel like the conductor of the game's melodic score. It is, of course, yet another visit to a tried-and-tested genre, but it is also testament to Nintendo's skill that 29 years after the release of the original Donkey Kong arcade game, the company can innovate and delight with the familiar as successfully as with the contemporary.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/dec/05/donkey-kong-country-returns-nintendo
