“A commendable Switch adaptation with some unforeseen shortcomings”
The folks at Digital Foundry have this week examined the latest Switch title Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
In brief, the resolution and frame rate are “remarkably good”. This Unity-engine game operates at 1080p when docked and 720p in handheld mode on the Switch – offering realistic visual quality and crisper textures. Regrettably, it is not without issues – featuring “some peculiarities” and glitches such as diminished effects and rough animation.
“The more closely you observe, the more you begin to notice some oddities. Visual effects that were absent in the initial trailer have been added and enhanced, but there are still minor glitches – the dust clouds released when striking the DK icon are subdued, and the animation of the barrel breaking as DK emerges from it is rather unrefined.”
“You might overlook these details while simply playing, but you’d likely catch the missing sunset in stage three, the dimmer KONG letters that float, and the simplified shadows during the introduction of the first boss fight. These types of minor alterations are present throughout, and while they might seem trivial, it’s still peculiar to observe a game launched on a significantly more powerful platform with fewer effects and details.”
The loading times for this HD version have also been reported as being “nearly twice as long as they were on the Wii version using a disc”, which feels like a “considerable regression”.
Regarding the frame rate, this edition of the title maintains a steady 60fps at 1080p, a significant enhancement over the 3DS version that dropped to 30fps. Overall, Digital Foundry describes this latest iteration as both “promising and disappointing” – while the remastering efforts were “generally effective”, the aspects where it falls short “feel”