The best donkey kong game yet?
It's pure platforming bliss, and will especially impress hardcore gamers. The wii's motion sensing is put to subtle use- mainly for hammering the ground, one of Donkey Kong's many actions. There are eight worlds to explore, each with their own nine or so levels. There's a jungle world, a cave, and more. These may not seem original, but the many original mechanics, objects and bossses you come across certainly are. The settings are brought to life by lush graphics full-of-life scenery, charming music and great sound effects. Enemies are creatively designed and levels are expertly crafted. The difficulty is especially high, and will even challenge hardcore players. Seriously, Country Returns has a brutal difficulty level that will delight fans of the series. Many a time I got a game over, but it's never unfair- every time you die, it's due to your own mistakes rather than dodgy level design.
One of my favourite elements of Country Returns is the barrel blasting. This mehanic has you time your exit out of a barrel/cannon thing. It propels you quite some distance. It's all about the timing to blast out of the cannons and land safely in the next one. This idea is used a lot in Country Returns.
The bosses are excellent too, and they take many hits to kill. The bosses are all very challenging, even the very first one, because the more you hit them, the harder they get. Of course, this isn't a new concept to videogames. But Country Returns uses it a huge amount in boss battles, which makes them very hard and satisfying.
Hidden in each level are various collectibles- four KONG letters and seven to nine puzzle pieces are to be found in each level. They are so difficult to get, even the best of the best will be challenged by these. Often these collectibkes introduce an element of puzzle into the platforming.
There's also an addition called Rambi- a bit like Yoshi, except he's a rhinoceros. It's fun using him, but he only actually appears in three or four levels, which is slightly strange.
Other than that, Country Returns is perfect in every way.