You could call Donkey Kong Country Returns HD a sort of definitive edition. It brings with it the levels and features that were added to the 3DS version as well as the graphical upgrades you’d expect, though the main purpose of this release is obviously just to bring Donkey Kong’s triumphant revival to join the Switch’s library of games. The game is still excellent after all these years, even if its sequel, Tropical Freeze, was released on the console years ago. For those fans who haven’t yet played Returns, it’s the perfect opportunity, but for those who still have the Wii version, the purchase price might be a disincentive to buy it again.

It’s funny, but my memory of Donkey Kong Country Returns is of a laid-back platformer: a colourful, friendly, simple good time, unlike those other tough-as-nails platformers that make me want to throw my Switch into the void. I can’t believe I was gaslit by Donkey Kong.

I think it’s down to Donkey Kong Country’s inviting aesthetic. The image of a smiling DK and Diddy on the game case promises you a good time, and the first world or two lulls you into a false sense of security that you’ll get through this game easy-peasy. But Donkey Kong Country Returns is deceptively difficult, and soon you’ll be churning through those lives as if you’ve never played a platformer in your life. The mark of a masterpiece platformer, though, is that instead of releasing that Switch into the void, you knuckle down and try, try, try again until you nail it. That’s the kind of game Returns is.

I’ve heard people generally like the co-op play, which puts Player 1 as Donkey Kong and Player 2 as Diddy. I find shared-screen co-op problematic at the best of times, since it forces me to match pace with another player. Bananas and other collectables inevitably get scooped up by whoever has more playing experience, leaving the other player to eat their dust, and you churn through lives even faster to bring back a KO’d partner. These aren’t issues unique to Donkey Kong though, so chalk that one up to personal taste. All I’ll say is that co-op is awkward to control with Joy-Cons – those buggers are just too small to reach all the buttons comfortably. Trying to reach the ZL and ZR buttons, which are often required to hang off of walls and ceilings, is a nightmare. Save yourself and use two Joy-Cons each, or better yet, a Pro controller.

It’s times like these that I miss the iconic Virtual Console. In an alternate reality where Nintendo had expanded it instead of scuttled it, we might have had the classic Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns available for sub-30 bucks. In yet another alternate reality where Nintendo Switch Online featured a larger library of games, it could have been added there to incentivise more users to the service. As it is, it’s possible that a lot of gamers could miss out on this great game.