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Retro Studios

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is heading to Switch, Nintendo just revealed. It releases on January 16, 2025.

Donkey Kong Country Returns originally released on Wii, and later 3DS. Speaking of 3DS, new levels from that version will be included.

Find more details in the following overview:

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze martian theme

If things had gone in a different direction, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze could have featured a martian theme.

The game ultimately starts out with the Snowmads freezing DK Island, and players go on a journey to take down Lord Fredrik. However, Retro Studios artists that worked on the title says that the martian theme was considered, albeit briefly.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Cranky Kong

Some of you may recall that in 2013, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime appeared at VGX to show off Cranky Kong in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. VGX was the new take on the Spike Video Game Awards that ran for a decade prior. It only took place that single year – Geoff Keighley then went on to form The Game Awards.

Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who worked for Nintendo for over a decade, reflected on the whole thing in an episode of Kit & Krysta Podcast. Ellis started out by sharing the following, which goes into why the Cranky Kong news was chosen in the first place:

Retro Studios Adept The Blob Game

Thanks to Did You Know Gaming, we have insight into a couple of short-lived Retro Studios projects – specifically Adept and “The Blob Game”.

Adept was playable in a rough state, but was ultimately just a pitch that Nintendo turned out. It was running in the Metroid Prime 3 engine and was intended to show off mechanics. In late 2007 and into early 2008, Retro was working on Adept that took inspiration from Portal while evolving on the premise – primarily by introducing combat.

After years of rumors and speculation, Metroid Prime Remastered was unveiled during a Nintendo Direct last week. Even better, you can play it right now by picking it up from the eShop. The physical version will also be in stores very soon.

Metroid Prime Remastered obviously isn’t a new game, but some of you might be playing it for the first time. We’re also sure that some of you only played it back on the GameCube and haven’t revisited it until now.

No matter what your experience is, what do you think of Metroid Prime Remastered? How do you feel about the upgraded visuals? Which control style are you going for? Let us know in the comments below.

Metroid Prime Remastered frame rate resolution

Metroid Prime Remastered ended up on Switch last week following a reveal in the latest Nintendo Direct, and Digital Foundry has now provided a technical analysis that includes coverage on aspects like frame rate and resolution. Retro Studios seems to have done a great job bringing back the GameCube classic here, and it’s closer to a remake.

Here’s the full roundup of tidbits:

A classification listing for Metroid Prime Remastered has some fans wondering if the game was ready to go as early as 2021.

Now that the title has been released, it has been added to the USK database. The classification date is listed for July 2021. We’re now in February 2023, so it goes without saying how that was quite a long time ago.

Metroid Prime Remastered developer Retro Studios

Thanks to the credits for Metroid Prime Remastered, we have new insight into the team behind the release.

While Retro Studios largely handled development, a number of other companies were involved. Iron Galaxy Studios, who previously worked on Switch versions of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Diablo III, and Overwatch seemed to play a prominent role during development. Airship Images Limited, Atomhawk Design, CGBot, Gamesim Inc, Liquid Development, Original Force LTD, Shanghai Mineloader Digital Technology, and Zombot Studio are also listed in the credits.

Thanks to GameSpot, we have a new comparison video for Metroid Prime Remastered that has the Switch version going up against the GameCube original. Additionally, new gameplay has surfaced.

It’s clear that Retro Studios put quite a bit of work into Metroid Prime Remastered. Aside from an updated resolution, assets have been updated, lighting has been improved, and more.

Metroid Prime Remastered boxart

Nintendo has passed along the boxart for Metroid Prime Remastered as well as a bunch of screenshots. This follows the game’s announcement and immediate launch.

Below is an overview of the game:


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