From the little bit I saw and played recently,
it was clear that Donkey Kong
Country Returns is being made by people who have really studied the
older DKC games. On a basic level, it just feels the same -- you can
somersault into enemies for a small boost of speed; you can do that same
roll off the edge of a platform and still jump for extra air; and you
know what to expect from a barrel that has an explosion symbol on it as
opposed to an arrow.
In fact, aside from the obviously improved graphics, the bigger
differences are the main troupe of bad guys -- a nefarious tiki tribe
instead of the long-gone Kremlings -- and the average length of a stage
feels extended (being so familiar with the series, I was genuinely
delighted to see a mine cart track that went outside). There
are some other marked changes, though. For one thing, player one is
always Donkey Kong; you can't switch between simians like in the older
games. That sounds a bit sacrilegious on paper, but in play, it's no big
deal. For one thing, I always liked Donkey Kong better, but more
practically, Diddy stays on DK's back, and his jet pack can be used to
float the duo after DK jumps (which, funnily enough, had me thinking of Banjo and Kazooie).
