The Many Missing Graphical FX in Donkey Kong Country Returns HD 

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="83">1:23</a> dks arms also weren’t glitching into the ground 14 years ago

Someone should really send the devs (Forever Entertainment) a link to this video. For the purposes of providing constructive criticism of their 'enhanced' port. A remaster of an old game should at least have the same quality and consistency of effects and details as the original.

Out of all of the changes, the one that looks the most jarring is the smoke ring from the cannon, even the 3DS version appears to be fine on that one. Doesn't even make sense unless the ship was moving very fast.

I'ma be honest "not seeing this as an issue" is a horrendous take The game is $60 for what has mainly been shown to be a downgrade whereas a game like Metroid Prime Remastered was a complete graphical overhaul for $40

"Yo we heard you like ports. So we made a port of a port!" - Mr. Nintendo 64

This is probably a controversial opinion, but I don't get why the remastered versions always seem to tone down the shading. The colors on the Wii version also look more vibrant and less blocky in places, such as the blue lighting on the octopus and there is more specular.

Definitely outsourced to a third party that's definitely not as passionate. They read the brief, it said "Make it HD" and hit it, but didn't bother with all the things Retro artists cared about.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="80">1:20</a> something small that bugs me is that in the Switch version DKs fist clips through the ground, while the WII version didn't.

Hope they fix all these mistakes by the time it's available on switch!

This game deserved more than it got. Should rival Tropical Freeze, a nearly decade old game, in looks, and add more new content. Not be a port of a 3DS game

You missed some differences, such as Rambi being smaller and thinner in the Switch version, and the stakes disappearing almost immediately in the Switch version when Rambi runs them over, when in the Wii version you could see the stakes fly back and it made for a cool effect, I really hope they fix all of these for the final version.

Oh dear. I do prefer the colours being more vibrant but the lack of effects does make this look like a rushed port.

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="375">6:15</a> the waterfalls in the background are completely missing. This really is unacceptable, I'm sorry.

can we point out the animation error when his left fist touches the ground at the beginning of the trailer? i has a pop and goes trough the floor, the wii version doesnt has that error. around <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="15">0:15</a> of the video, his fist looks like are bouncing around

Donkey Kong returns returns and returns again, in HD

there's one more that digitalfoundry brought up in one of their videos which is incorrect transparency on the effect that shows when Rambi breaks the hanging statues. you can see the outside edges of the square around the effect that should be completely invisible

Hopefully the issues present are fixed. I doubt Forever Entertainment wants to be known as a team that can't even be trusted to do a great job with a simple remaster

It almost feels like Sonic Colors ultimate all over again. Unless Nintendo has time to patch them.

Switch version aside, this video did a great job making me aware of all the small details the devs put into the original game. They really crafted every environment with care and attention to detail.

The lighting on the giant Octopus really bugs me, mainly because that’s one of my favorite levels in the game. Hopefully some of these graphical setbacks do get addressed before release because this game is more than capable of looking great on an HD console.

This is a port of the 3Ds version not the Wii version, because it has the extra 3Ds levels...

I thought I'd have been the only one to notice this, thanks for covering it! And DAMN, didn't even notice the missing background in the minecart level, it's just an empty void now. 😭😭

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="118">1:58</a> The old water looks better. You can actually make out ocean waves with those few white horizontal lines instead of having this overdetailed white pattern on the water. The horizon also blends better.

In the trailer, there are explosions with square backgrounds; possibly from using the incorrect blending mode.

They could have done so much more with a proper remake, like the much improved character models from WiiU, adding swimming to the Beach world, dynamic camera during minecart and barrel sections, making DK visible on the Overworld like in Tropical Freeze, maybe add a New Game+ with Dixie and Cranky Barrels. They will sell this for 50$ so you could expect some effort.

nice to see this getting attention, people were dunking on that thread for nitpicking, but like... nitpicks add up. there's straight-up missing effects. one nitpick here and there, no biggie, but when they add up like this, it's not something that should be brushed aside, even if it ain't personally a dealbreaker. luckily there's time to polish it all so hopefully it'll look much better in the next trailer

Retro Studios is like: “look how they massacred my boy!”

A game in 2024 should not look worse than a Wii game 😭

I feel like the old water. While less realistic and detailed. Was better for the use. The dark water feel way more stormy than the reflective versions. And the clear turquoise water look better than, again, too much reflection.

What I’ll never understand is showing off a game seemingly half baked or with noticeable framerate changes for the worse (especially when it’s a HD version of a pre-existing game). HD-ify some areas but revert others to worse than the original… it feels (and I hope it is) that the trailer was rushed out of the door to meet the showcases deadline.

I knew something looked off but I couldn't tell what

What’s probably happeningis that they started with the 3ds version because it has the most content and they are adding all of the Wii versions graphical effect over the next six months.

I'd imagine visual effects are lower priorities and one of the last things added, possibly just slapped together last second a trailer, I feel like they will be fixed, these are small issues.

This is a port of the 3DS version who had a few additional stages. Thats why it look worse than the Wii version. This is a 3DS game.

I also noticed some of DK’s animations were missing too, like for example in the Wii version when the giant blimp near the beginning of the first level appears on screen, DK kind of looks up and stares at it, or when you’re in close proximity to a kong letter, a endgame barrel, or the tv in DK’s treehouse, he just doesn’t have those animations when he stares at them when’s he’s faced in that direction.

Good points but honestly, Well said throughout, especially in closing. Cheers Andre!

Forever Entertainment showing off their pedigree lol

The remix of the DK Jr music at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="285">4:45</a>-ish. What's that from?

Whoever made these matching clips did a really good job.

meanwhile, Miyamoto is counting bills in his solid gold mansion

Well hopefully they add more polish to it in the upcoming coming months

I'm so hyped for the videos about the idle animations to start coming out lol

No offense Ganexplain but you know this remaster isn't releasing until January. They still have time to fix all this, contact Retro for advice, and talk with Miyamoto.

Demeech is gonna have a field day with this news 😂

Some of Dry bones points feel like nitpicks, But the particle effects and lighting really need a lot of of work

The octopus's body DOES still have specular highlights in the upcoming Switch port. They're just pretty small, and you have to zoom in to see them. But they're still there, at least.

There is a single bubble that appears right before the last tentacle pops up covering it. The specular highlights look over blown on the Wii, and the Switch version now has this water effect that slides down the tentacles, even some around the eyes.

Well, the game is not finished and most of that things are probably the last low-priority tasks to do in the development. Things like the smoke of the cannon not fading out are clearly little tweaks in the particle system that will probably be fixed in the final release. When the companies say the demos are not the final product they are not lying. The graphical polish of a game is usually the last step in the development.

I swear of Nintendo let's slide this im gonna be very disappointed because a 60 buck game that looks worse than the original is nefarious

Good comparison video. I’m glad the game is coming to Nintendo Switch and here’s to some extra polish in the next half year!

Im happy to see my gut feeling was correct. I thought "why does this look bad?" during the direct.

Curious if anyone here happens to have any game development experience and could possibly explain why such lighting/shadow issues and the like exist even when ported to more powerful hardware.

Maybe that's why it's only scheduled for 2025. And fixing the horrible control scheme of the wii version is already a plus

I never got to play this on the Wii. Can’t wait for it to come out on the Switch!

Let’s all keep in mind that this game is still in development. It doesn’t come out until 2025. Also, this is not game breaking. I still think the game looks nice and I will be purchasing it on day one.

Maybe I’m naive, but I think most of these things will be fixed by the time the game releases. Although the reveal was rushed.

it’s really notable how plastic-y and lifeless nintendo’s modern treatments are

I have come to learn almost ALL PORTS EVER throughout the history of games have similar issues to this. Playing on OG is always the best option, sadly not available to most.

Is this version stuck on easy mode from the 3DS version or something? Why is there only 3-6 hearts compared to the 2-4 hearts from the Wii version?

I hope the developers fix the backgrounds and other details but Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of the first video games I played so I’m still going to buy the remaster

Game comes out next year. Footage is most likely early.

We all know how freaking lazy Nintendo are when it comes to remakes. They just port them and add something here and there, but also take something out from here and there, and you got it. Best example: Skyward Sword. That said, I enjoy your optimism saying they might change things in the following months: They will most likely not.

I noticed when DK is running along side the ship in the background he used to look towards it, in the new trailer he doesn’t.

I would say that the water looks better for the cave, but outside in the ship chase scene, the water looks worse as it lacks the stylization and waves from the original. It just appears to have a generic "water" texture plastered on it, which looks worse in a situation like that.

Please fix this, Retro. I have faith in you.

I just figured it out -- the port is deliberately "cheap" bc the long-rumored 2D DK game will most likely be a launch (year) title on Switch 2, and by making this last DK game look worse, the new one will look _mind-bogglingly_ and _jaw-droppingly_ better. Well played, nintendo :) it's like the dlc for mk8, which probably deliberately looked objectively worse than the original courses, probably bc nintendo wants the next mario kart to _really_ look visually superior by any person's standards, thereby auto-affirming the upgrade switch 2 will bring.

Things I would have NEVER noticed without this video lol.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="40">0:40</a> The way Nintendo works is that this project likely wrapped at least 6 months ago and was already in production and has likely been sitting in a warehouse awaiting scheduling.

I will say, Nintendo opting to do $40 - $60 ports of GameCube and Wii games makes me concerned that we might not get them on NSO.

the funny thing is, I just recently started reminiscing over Donkey Kong Country Returns because it was one of my favorite games as a kid. and now, I find out theyre going to release a version for the Switch. I really hope they fix the missing effects before they release it (it's a very simple fix).

It seems they used the 3ds version as base instead of the wii version, it would be interesting to do the same comparision with the 3ds version

I wish they added Dixie and Funky

They probably are still rendering the graphics since this was a teaser

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="107">1:47</a> Let’s hope IGN doesn’t notice the water…

Oof, they better fix that lighting on the octopus, and everything else of course.

Okay but the light glistening through the tree gaps in the forest, the lack of the good bat wave launch, and the lack of detail in the caves are the three that are genuinely important. All of these are tiny nitpicks that it’s a little annoying but those two truly are. Having tiny little details throughout the background helps things feel more immersive and the sun shining through looks extremely great and of all does the best at truly making you feel like that monkey in the Forest. The ripple effect from those launched purple waves is really disappointing because in moments like that they should be heightening the effects so that way you can truly feel the chaos. If people are noticing these things in the little snippets that means it could be prevalent all throughout. It’s kind of sad because like for the bat as an example that should be improved not taken from and I’m sure the game will still be more enjoyable than the original but cmon it’s sad because it’s heavily limiting the potential and just feels lazy for a port that will probably cost $60 and we aren’t gonna be getting anything new so graphical enhancements feels like the bare minimum. Like the shading on the banana coins looks so wierd. And the lazy shadows like cmon. I get we have six months but for a trailer they are choosing the best clips they can and it reminds me of GTA PS5 edition, the trailer was lazy and the port was lazy. I’m fine with paying $60 for a game that I already have on the 3DS but not like this.

Yep. That's Forever Entertainment. I'm also very concerned with House of the Dead 2 Remake.

Really curious, but also many of those changes appear to be deliberate.

I thought the colors looked off, but I thought that maybe I was just crazy. I don’t care much about this remaster since I already own both the Wii and 3DS versions, but for newer fans who started with Tropical Freeze on the Switch, it’s nice that they get to play it now.

Maybe its just a situation where Nintendo is just like “hey we also have dkcrHD” i feel like they’re gonna do some work to this

We should definitely signal-boost this video and the Twitter thread as much as possible. Video game developers should always be reminded that consumers are paying attention to quality.

I really hope they fix these issues. Everyone expressed concern over Pokémon Scarlet and Violet back before release and look how those games turned out

DK got the Sonic colors ultimate treatment.

99% of people wouldn't even notice these without a video like this. As long as it plays the same is all that matters

Priced at $60 🙄

They better fix these issues before release. They rerelease all those classic games and sometimes make 'em a little bit worse then the old ones and re sell them for the full price 😡 TBH <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="154">2:34</a> i like the way hoe the sunset level on the switch looks a little bit better.

Jesus the smoke ring from the canon looks like a flash game ☠️.

Crazy how the Switch hasn't gotten a new DK game yet. This port does look unappealing with nothing new added similar to Luigi's Mansion 2 HD and the worst part it's going to be $60💀

And then there’s the accurate shadows! They’re dead…

i would have also expect for a new donkey kong country game where it returns back to the SNES Era gameplays as appose to having other kongs ride dk's back

You nailed it, this is the 3ds version, it already has the adapted controls so i may be easier to por from it instead of the wiimote controls version.

Would not be surprised if this was a port of the 3ds version, not the Wii one

So this newest "HD" version is actually the worst version ? 😡😡

To be fair, with it being 6 months away and all of this being small details, I guess (and hope) that they still work them out. I'll need a follow up video when the game releases to see if they fixed it

I'd like to see a technical comparison with Tropical Freeze in regards to effect, shadows, etc.

Is it possible this is based on the 3ds version?

I am not buying this one, it's LAZY. After so long this IP needed a new game. PERIOD. Luigi and Mario, Zelda, Metroid all great.

Sonic Colors Ultimate, we got company.

actually the shadows aren't even a problem, since this is a new engine clearly, it uses a setting in the lighting called radius which basically adds ray tracing to your lights since it makes the lights bounce and since that's the case, the radius makes the shadows softer and less hard like in the wii version, the only reason why the wii version has those hard shadows if because lighting back then was pretty primitive and did not make use of such techniques as radius

Sounds like they are basing the port off the 3ds version. Less detail, simplified/missing effects and lower fps in cutscenes, sounds like some cuts you would do on a handheld. Perhaps a comparison between the three versions might be evident.