Little perspective on this title/announcement.

So I've seen a lot of DK fans online disappointed by this announcement, a lot of Nintendo fans saying DK fans are just ungrateful and complain too much, and I've seen some newer Nintendo fans excited to play this title for the first time. I want to put in perspective my full thoughts on this whole situation so hopefully we all can understand where each side is coming from and where Nintendo themselves are coming from. Buckle in its gonna be a long read and in order to fully understand we are gonna have to travel back in time to 2010 and even further back…

2010 – Nintendo releases Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii system developed by Retro Studios. Retro Studios of course taking in the IP after Rare was sold to Microsoft in 2002 who was the primary developer of the series. DK as a franchise has had no stable home within Nintendo since the Rare acquisition hopping from different studios such as Namco, Paon, and even Nintendo themselves. DK era from 2002 – 2010 was rough for the franchise. Consisting of nothing but ports, Mario Spin-off cameos, and middling spin-offs that didn't light sales or reviews ablaze. DK as a franchise was in doubt struggling until Retro Studios got their hands om the property and they ended up releasing a very successful reboot of the series going on to sell 6 million copies plus between both the Wii and 3DS versions.

2013 rolls around and we get the 3DS version of Returns ported over by Monster Games. Featuring 3D visuals, button controls, and 8 exclusive levels. It was a moderate success selling a bit over a million copies. However Returns would be the only DK game to ever release on the 3DS. But that's okay because…

2014 arrives and Retro Studios is back along with Monster Games as co-developer to bring Wii U the sequel to Returns named Tropical Freeze. The sequel has been considered by many to be one of the best 2D platformers ever made and sold 2 million copies on Wii U (despite the console itself only selling 13 million units). However the initial reaction to Tropical Freeze reveal was not met with glowing reception. Many people were angry at Retro for making "another damn Donkey Kong" game and "wasting development time on a 2D platformer for the failing Wii U" or upset that Retro was not making a new Metroid Prime game. Vitriol was so bad Nintendo had to release a video with Reggie Fils-Aime talking with Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh to explain him and his teams rationale as to why they decided to make a sequel to their most financially successful title Returns. Nintendo also rereleases Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii U eshop in 2015.

2014- 2019 is a dry spell for Retro Studios. Releasing no new titles for 5 years until Metroid Prime 4 restarts development in January of 2019. But why though and how does it relate to DK? This portion is mostly speculation but Retro while being happy with Tropical Freeze's final results probably was deterred from working on a 3rd DKC title immediately due to fan backlash. Kensuke Tanabe producer at Nintendo that oversees all Retro Studios development had an interview back in 2014 saying him and the team had some leftover ideas that they couldn't incorporate into TF that they would love to incorporate into a sequel. Tanabe also stated that "maybe in the future the DK series can have both 2D and 3D games like the Super Mario series" So why did that sequel never come to fruition? Retro Studios is very in tune and receptive to fan feedback so they probably wanted to move away from the DK franchise and create something new. However none of those projects ever saw the light of day for one reason or another so DK as a franchise was left to rot until…

2018 where Retro Studios ported Tropical Freeze to the Nintendo Switch. It was a very basic port all things considered with no new content added other than Funky mode (which is just an easier difficulty). But this port was early on in Nintendo Switch's life so hope was that we would eventually get a new DK game later in the Switch's lifecycle. I mean why wouldn't we considering DK has recieved a new game for every Nintendo home console since the SNES. Clearly Retro made that port to tide us over until they finished their 3rd DKC game right? That is until..

January 2019 rolls around and Nintendo announces that Metroid Prime 4 was being rebooted and restarted from scratch by Retro Studios due to the former build rumored to be made by Bandai Namco Signapore was complete dog water. So what does this mean for DK, if Retro Studios will be working on Metroid Prime 4 moving forward…maybe they started development on a new one in 2017 or beyond?

2022 – Nintendo announces a DK theme park expansion to Super Nintendo World to open in Japan by 2024 and Florida by 2025.

2019 – 2024 – Nothing DK game releated gets announced, direct after direct go by and always nothing until June of this year. Nintendo announces Donkey Kong Country Returns HD coming to Switch in 2025 (to mixed reception). A very obvious tide over title until the Switch 2 and a tie-in title for the theme park opening in Japan. The port is being developed by Forever Entertainment.

So that is the DK timeline for greater context. So now to finally address the different reactions.

DK fans who are upset by this announcement – I feel we have every right to be upset by this game. This will be the 3rd time Returns has been rereleased. It was released on the Wii in 2010, then 2013 on 3DS, then 2015 on Wii U, and now 2025 on Switch. We have gone 10 + years without a new game. It also hurts that Returns HD was the only "new" announcement in the direct that wasn't a new game. This game also just feels very late and honestly shouldve lauched alongside Tropical Freeze on the Switch in 2018 as like a double pack. We also know this game will more than likely be $60 and have very little to no actual new exclusive Switch content to justify the price. The original launched on Wii for $50 then later for $20 for the Nintendo Selects line, then 3DS for $30 then later for $20 in the Nintendo Selects line, then Wii U eshop for $20. It also doesn't make matters better than the release is over 6 months away. I feel a shadow drop would've softened the blow and gave DK fans more hope that this game is just another "stop gap" until we get a new one sooner rather than later but instead Nintendo is positioning as if it's a brand new major release which brings me to

New time players who are excited to play for their first time – I hope you guys enjoy this game. At the end of the day it is a very good 2D platformer and will have the benefit of having no motion controls and the extra levels of the 3DS version on a home console for the first time along with the 60fps the Wii original had but the 3DS version didn't. If you like this game and are willing to pay full price for it but haven't played Tropical Freeze yet. I recommend you pick that one up as well as IMO it's better than Returns in almost every way.

Finally I want to address the Nintendo fans that are saying DK fans are ungrateful/entitled – To that I question how? It has been 10 years of nothing new for the franchise. Why should we settle for a HD remaster after 10 years of nothing but a port. DK has had 5 retail releases in the span of 15 years but it's only been 2 games on a loop. That's not great and ask yourself how would you feel if your favorite franchise did the same? Let's say your favorite franchise was Kirby. But this was Kirbys release schedule:

2010 – Kirbys Return to Dreamland
2013 – Kirbys Return to Dreamland 3D
2014 – Kirby Triple Deluxe
2018 – Kirby Triple Deluxe
2025 – Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe

You would be pretty upset/disappointed too. "But DK has no development studio like Kirby does! Retro Studios is working on Metroid." You say. But what I will say to that is there was another series that had no development home that was revealed in this direct, that being Mario & Luigi: Brothership. AlphaDream went bankrupt back in 2018 yet Nintendo found a new development studio to make a new game in the franchise in a quicker time than they have done for DK. So why can't they do the same with DK? I'm sure there are many Studios that could make a really solid DK game. Why doesn't Nintendo make one in house? Jungle Beat was fantastic afterall. As stated above DK has always been a series that hasn't had a stable home but Nintendo in the past has always had something new for the franchise in a quicker manner without being a decade plus like we are in now. So us DK fans have every right to be disappointed.

"Disappointed how? DK is getting a freaking theme park! Which is more than other franchises are getting" to that I say you would be right and it is amazing in of itself there is no denying that. However at the end of the day as cool as it is, it's still very limited for most people. Not everyone has the time or money to travel to Japan or Florida to visit. It is far more limited for most people than a new game would.

One final thing I will say as I'm sure this comment is coming as well is "Well F-Zero, Golden Sun, or [insert whatever smaller more niche franchise here] hasn't had a new game in over 20 years!" The difference is DK is a huge IP sales wise where as series like F-Zero, Kid Icarus, Punch-Out, etc. are not. Even with its limited amount of releases the series still sales consistently more than most Nintendo franchises. Even some that get consistent releases like Kirby, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Pikmin, and Xenoblade. So you would expect Nintendo as a business would want to prioritize a series that sells millions each release. Nintendo has the luxury of having a huge staple of other franchises that sell extremely well that they can let a franchise as big and as important to Nintendo's history as DK to just go Dormant for a decade. Any other publisher would kill to have a series that sells as well as DK and you bet top dollar if the developer of said series were to go under that publisher would find a new developer for the series. Halo didn't stop once Bungie was sold, COD wouldn't stop if Treyarch or Infinity Ward were to go under, Activision found multiple developers for Crash back in the day once they bought the IP.

Basically I just wanted to give my perspective on this. At the end of the day as a DK fan I am disappointed by this and would greatly enjoy a new DK game soon. I was 20 when Tropical Freeze released on Wii U and am now 30 years old. I would like a new game before I'm 35. Lmao All that being said I will still be getting Returns HD and will enjoy it for what it is.

So what are your thoughts on this? Congrats if you were able to read through all of this and get to the end.