Category: Video Games

I owe Donkey Kong Country Returns HD an apology. I laughed in disbelief at its initial announcement because it’s not only the third time Nintendo has sold us a version of this 2010 Wii platformer, it’s also the third Switch re-release Donkey Kong has seen despite not getting a completely new adventure in the last decade. This remaster’s reveal felt like the wrong game at the wrong time, but it only took a few minutes of running across a decently spruced up Donkey Kong Island to realize Returns is still one of the best 2D platformers Nintendo has made this century. It has all the things I want from this genre: satisfying movement that demands skill and precision, a large lineup of replayable challenges stuffed with secrets to find, and a practically unparalleled attention to detail in its superb level design that’s pretty much only rivaled by its sequel, Tropical Freeze. Even though the remaster itself feels barebones and a few elements could have used a slightly more modern touch, this is definitely the best way to play Returns and one of the top bananas in the Switch’s impressive platformer lineup.

As I barreled through 80 levels set in jungles, caves, and more, it struck me just how few games like this are made anymore. In an era where modern platformers like Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Astro Bot mostly focus on wowing you with spectacle and joyously ushering you through their handcrafted digital theme parks, Returns stands out as it doubles down on the platforming itself. It’s full of tough levels and nail-biting moments that require you to master its central jumping, rolling, and swinging mechanics to overcome its biggest challenges. No shade to the two games I just mentioned – I adore them both – but revisiting Nintendo’s version of this classic platformer style is refreshing, and I love how it isn’t afraid to test you.

Difficulty-wise, this is several steps above Mario and Kirby, and that’s another great differentiating factor from the other platformers in Nintendo’s stable. The level design is incredibly impressive: Every stage introduces a new idea and explores it to the fullest as it ramps up the challenge without ever making it unclear what is expected of you. To reclaim Donkey Kong’s home, you’ll have to outrun hordes of ape-eating spiders, avoid enormous lethal waves, and make perfect jumps across crumbling platforms, and it’s always exciting to see what obstacle will be thrown at you next.

The difficulty stays fun rather than frustrating thanks to Donkey Kong’s perfect controls and immensely satisfying abilities. There’s a distinct weight to the movement in Retro Studios’ pair of Donkey Kong games, as if you can really get a sense for the heft of this big ape as you move, resulting in a platformer more focused on momentum where you’ll often have to plan your moves ahead of time and gear up for that next huge leap. The advanced rolling-jump mechanic in particular – where Donkey Kong gets a free jump in midair after rolling off a ledge – leads to some of the most rewarding platforming out there when you pull off a crazy move to save yourself or snag a hard-to-reach collectible. Your options open up even more when you break Diddy Kong out of a barrel. He both doubles your max health and adds an extremely helpful hover ability that’s a game changer in tougher sections.

If testing your mettle isn’t for you, the optional Modern Mode – which is slightly altered from the 3DS port’s New Mode – adds extra hearts to DK and Diddy’s health, expands the inventory at Cranky Kong’s shop with more useful aids (like a Green Balloon that saves you after falling into a pit), and lets you take more consumable recovery items into each level. Plus, if there’s a stage you just can’t clear, Super Kong will eventually show up and offer to automatically beat it for you. I love challenging platformers, so I stuck to Classic Mode and never looked back, but these are at least great options for people who don’t like to get stuck.

The one place Returns occasionally gets a little bit too mean is its on-rails minecart and rocket barrel levels. These areas can suffer from a lot of trial-and-error, where I frequently died to sudden enemies or obstacles I had no way of reasonably avoiding on my first attempt. This is worsened if you’re going for the hidden collectibles in each stage, where you’re almost guaranteed to miss at least some of them the first time through until you know the level’s patterns. It’s especially frustrating because everything in these sections is a one-hit kill; a problem Tropical Freeze later solved by introducing vehicle-specific health bars. To be fair, it’s not a huge issue – Modern Mode adds an item in Cranky’s shop that can make these sections less of a pain, and I still really enjoy them for how they break up the pace of the standard stages – but I can’t help but feel they could have used a bit of freshening up. Similarly, the boss fights are largely fantastic, but they still suffer from a complete lack of checkpoints, and being forced back to the beginning after dying in the final phase feels more like a waste of time than a meaningful challenge.

The absence of any updates to these stumbling points highlights just how barebones Returns HD is as a remaster. This really is just a combination of the Wii and 3DS versions of Returns with a new coat of paint, and nothing more. It’s a competent update, but it’s nowhere near the level of something like Metroid Prime Remastered – the other Retro Studios game that got a shiny updated release on Switch. It certainly doesn’t look bad, and it almost always runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, but even Tropical Freeze’s 2018 Switch port looks noticeably nicer. That’s most apparent when comparing Donkey Kong’s character model across the two games: DK’s fur looks amazing in Tropical Freeze, but just a little bit off in Returns. This is very clearly still a Wii game in HD everywhere from the levels to the cutscenes, which is completely fine, but I would’ve liked to see the graphics get a bit more love when the movement otherwise aged so well. Still, this is undoubtedly the best way to play Returns, as the Wii version had mandatory waggling motion controls that have been mercifully made entirely optional, and the extra 3DS levels have been rescued from that version’s downgraded graphics and co-op that required two systems and copies. That makes Returns HD the first time you can play this adventure on your TV with traditional button controls and all of its content intact, and that’s great to see.

Speaking of multiplayer, Returns HD is fully playable in two-player co-op where a second player takes control of Diddy Kong, but it’s not necessarily how I would want to play through the entire campaign. It’s different from its contemporary New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which was made with multiplayer in mind from the beginning, in that it feels more like a neat bonus feature tacked onto a single-player game. The camera is so zoomed in that it’s easy for someone to fall behind, and these levels are clearly designed around just one player given their abundance of falling platforms and fast-moving obstacles. There’s still fun to be found in multiplayer, and it’s by no means a bad experience – but unless you have a great co-op partner willing to deal with some slight annoyances (or a young child/sibling that’s just content to be along for the ride), your best bet is either flying solo or passing the controller back and forth, as was also the case back on Wii.

That said, it’s a testament to the original that almost nothing was changed for this remaster and the final product is still so great. The attention to detail in its level design is remarkable. Unlike Mario, there are no unexplained floating platforms or blocks – every single platform DK runs across is seamlessly built into the landscape, often through its masterful interplay between the foreground and background, and it all culminates in one of the most impressive, cohesive worlds in any platformer. The biggest highlight of this is the factory world, which wonderfully implements conveyor belts, gears, and other machinery as the main methods of getting around. The soundtrack and settings play it a little safe (especially when compared to its sequel), but it’s important to remember that the original Donkey Kong Country Returns was tasked with bringing the franchise back after years away, so Retro Studios naturally chose to revisit some of the staples.

Each level is stuffed with secrets to find, too, with the classic KONG letters and plenty of puzzle pieces tucked away in seemingly every corner. Sometimes exploration slows down the otherwise furious pace more than I’d like – blowing air onto all the dandelions, flowers, and candles you pass feels clunky and is an outdated mechanic that Tropical Freeze rightfully removed – but I still had a blast spending roughly 15 hours tracking down every letter and bringing my save file to 100% completion while also tackling tons of worthwhile content that appears after the credits roll.

With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 very clearly on the horizon, we’re starting to wonder what we’ll be playing on it come launch day. So, in the absence of an official day one lineup, why don’t we have a good ol’ guess?

Nintendo has a well-stocked stable of reliables, and so some of our predictions – such as the arrival of a certain mustachioed plumber in one form or another – are more likely than not. But we’re also hopeful for the re-emergence of some previously announced new projects from beloved indie studios.

Now, we know it’s too much of a dream to think that all of these games will hit the Switch 2 on day one, but even if we get half of them we think we’re in for a great time when we pick up those new joy-con. Here’s what we think (or more accurately, hope) Nintendo has in store for us when the Switch 2 launches.

Mario Kart 9

Over a whole decade has passed since Mario Kart 8 was released for Wii U, and in that time it has morphed into the most complete and essential karting game ever created, thanks to the Switch’s deluxe edition and several DLC additions boosting the track count up to a whopping 96 circuits. Mario Kart 8 has proved so successful, in fact, that it’s both the Wii U and the Switch’s best-selling game. So, it’s fair to say that a new one would be pretty popular.

While it was reported to be in development back in 2022 and designed “with a new twist”, Nintendo is yet to officially confirm the existence of Mario Kart 9. As such, at this stage, we can only guess at what this “new twist” is, but we’re hoping to find out very soon. If Mario Kart 8’s decade-long service was a celebration of the entire history of the series, then its successor will hopefully look to the future and introduce fresh, innovative ideas that will fuel Mario Kart for another decade. Of course, alongside those new ideas, we’d love a release date that coincides with the launch of Switch 2. If there’s such a thing as a “system seller”, then Mario Kart has proven over the years to be exactly that.

New 3D Super Mario

Considering the importance of games like Super Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy, you’d have thought the Switch would have had more than a single, solitary 3D Mario game. But, besides a re-release of Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World, the only 3D Mario platformer on Switch has been Super Mario Odyssey, which was released way back in 2017, the same year as the Nintendo Switch. We didn’t even get any substantial DLC for Odyssey, despite the idea of adding a world or two seeming an uncontestable slam dunk at the time.

After such a long wait, then, surely the launch of the Switch 2 is the time for a new plumbing platformer full of wacky abilities, inventive level design, and endless collectibles? While it may be greedy of us to hope for both this and a new Mario Kart on the same day, it would be a fantastic statement of intent from Nintendo to show us the future direction of arguably its two most significant Mario series. Failing that, we’d of course take one of them coming a few months after the other. Just please, please don’t keep us waiting. It’s been over seven years since we saw that cap and mustache in three beautiful dimensions…

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Metroid fans have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for Metroid Prime 4. First announced as part of the E3 2017 Nintendo Direct, fans suffered many years of radio silence until its surprise reemergence in 2024. During that time, development of the project had reportedly passed from Bandai Namco Studios to Retro Studios, the original creators of the Metroid Prime series.

Now titled Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, its gameplay reveal trailer excited many fans, and even had some questioning if what they were seeing was running on the Switch’s successor, so smooth was the action. Well, it looks like the Switch 2 will likely be what we’ll be playing it on, after all, and we’re hoping the long wait for it will end on the console’s launch date.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Enhanced

Two of the original Switch’s biggest hitters (not to mention two of the greatest games ever made), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will likely find their way onto the new console. We’re hoping that backward compatibility will allow for this by default, and keeping our fingers crossed for some kind of automatic “boost” mode for older games, but we also wouldn’t say no to specially enhanced versions of Link’s open-world adventures that take full advantage of the rumoured extra power the Switch 2 possesses. Hyrule in crisp 4K with no framerate drops? Yes, please.

Ring Fit Adventure 2

Nintendo always likes to throw a quirkier game into the mix around its console launches. Just take one look at the Switch and its trio of 1-2 Switch, Snipperclips, and Arms to see what I mean. One such experiment that came a little later on in the hybrid console’s lifetime was Ring Fit Adventure, a spiritual successor to the colossally popular Wii Fit that took advantage of the Joy-Con’s motion controls to create a turn-based RPG that was also a fun workout, all in the comfort of your own home (or on the bus, if you’re really into bold acts of public display).

What could so easily have been palmed off as a gimmick went on to sell over 15 million copies and become one of the Switch’s most in-demand games. With no sequel anywhere to be seen, maybe the launch of the Switch 2 is the perfect place to showcase whatever new unconventional tricks the console and its controllers might have up their sleeve.

Resident Evil 4 Remake

The original Switch may not have possessed the graphical horsepower to power Capcom’s stunning Resident Evil 4 remake, but maybe the Switch 2 can provide a home for Leon Kennedy’s glossy Spanish nightmare. One of 2023’s best games perhaps wouldn’t set the world alight with a launch date arrival, but it would be an impressive flex that proved the console’s capabilities. More importantly, though, there would be something undeniably poetic about one of the greatest horror games of all time returning to Nintendo many years after its long legacy began back on the GameCube.

Doom: The Dark Ages

Okay, maybe this one is a little out there. But with both Doom (2016) and its sequel Doom Eternal having made their way to the original Switch, plus Microsoft’s ever-increasing willingness to launch their games on anything that isn’t an Xbox, Doom: The Dark Ages on Switch 2 might just happen. We’ve so far seen very little of id Software’s new shooter outside of a short gameplay trailer, but we’re set to learn plenty more at the upcoming Xbox Developer Direct. Will a release date be revealed, and could it align itself with the Switch 2’s? We’re ready to rip and tear on the go, again.

The Haunted Chocolatier

One of the greatest indie game success stories of all-time, not many games made outside of Nintendo’s walls left a bigger footprint on the Switch generation than Stardew Valley. So, what better place is there than the Switch 2 to launch Stardew developer ConcernedApe’s upcoming chocolate shop sim, The Haunted Chocolatier? In development since 2020, we’ve had just one gameplay trailer and little else. But the confectionary simulator with action-RPG elements and added ghosts seems like the perfect game to eat up hours and hours of handheld time, especially if it were to launch with the Switch 2.

Admittedly, a launch day release may be unlikely. Solo developer Eric Barone revealed a few months ago that he hadn’t been working on The Haunted Chocolatier “for a long time”, so perhaps a launch year window may be slightly more realistic. But it being there on Switch 2’s launch day would make the world taste good. Look, I just want to be able to play the creepy Willy Wonka game, okay?

Earthblade

My final pick is another follow-up to a beloved indie cult classic that found a home on Switch, Celeste. Studio Extremely OK Games is working away on its successor, Earthblade, a “2D explor-action” game with gorgeous pixel art. While updates have been few and far between, it’s not outside the realms of reality that we could see this arrive on the Switch 2 at launch. Last year, developer Maddy Thorson revealed that it would be released in 2025 “at the earliest”, so who knows, maybe it is just waiting to be unleashed alongside some new Nintendo hardware.

Those are my nine picks for what games we hope (and, admittedly, dream) might launch with the Switch 2 later this year. What do you think will make the launch lineup? Let us know in the comments below.

Following yesterday’s reports about Nintendo’s reveal plan for the Switch 2, a number of games were alleged to be set for the unannounced next-gen console.

Leaker Nate the Hate, who was first to publish Nintendo’s alleged Switch 2 reveal release date via their podcast, speculated that a new Mario Kart will launch alongside the console itself in May or June, with a 3D Mario set for holiday 2025. IGN has asked Nintendo for comment.

Third-party games allegedly set for Switch 2 from Square Enix include Final Fantasy 7 Remake in 2025, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in 2026.

According to Nate the Hate, a number of Switch 2 games are coming from Ubisoft, including a port of Assassin’s Creed Mirage in the console’s launch window. The upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, currently only down for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, is also reportedly coming to Switch 2, although at a later date outside the launch window.

Other Ubisoft ports allegedly include games from The Division series and Rainbow Six Siege. The Mario + Rabbids games are also reportedly coming to Switch 2, potentially in a single package, which wouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the Nintendo link and previous comments from Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot.

Nate the Hate also reported that Konami is preparing a Switch 2 port of Metal Gear Solid Delta, which is due out at some point this year. Nate the Hate suggested it may launch day and date on Switch 2.

In a previous podcast, Nate the Hate said a number of Xbox games are coming to Switch 2, including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Windows Central’s Jez Corden subsequently corroborated that report, saying it’s likely that most, if not all Xbox games, will launch on Switch 2 if the console is able to run them well enough.

We can make some informed speculation ourselves about what to expect on Switch 2. It seems likely that games Nintendo has announced as coming to the Switch this year and beyond will also make their way to the Switch 2. Metroid Prime 4, for example, is a safe bet. As is Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. The question is, will these games look and play significantly better on the Switch 2 compared to the Switch?

Switch 2 leaks have come thick and fast in recent weeks, with CES 2025 featuring a high-profile mockup from accessories maker Genki that reportedly sparked the interest of Nintendo’s lawyers.

While Genki’s mockup did appear to add significant weight to a growing pool of past leaks on what the Switch 2 will be, Nintendo has yet to officially reveal anything about the system, and all these claims are subject to change or total debunking. A formal announcement is expected in the first quarter of this year, Nintendo has said.

Other reports suggested the Joy-Con’s alleged sensor may be used to turn the controller into a mouse. Meanwhile, alleged retail listings for Switch 2 MicroSD Express cards have suggested that the console supports the newer standard of SD cards in 256GB and 512GB form.

Following the appearance of alleged images of the Nintendo Switch 2’s internals, fresh images allegedly showing the next-generation console’s Joy-Con appeared online earlier this month. The images, which show a left Joy-Con, were reportedly first posted to a Chinese social media website before they made their way to the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit and western social media.

They include larger SL and SR buttons than on the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con, which you’d expect given the Nintendo Switch 2 is reportedly a bigger console than the original. These new Joy-Con allegedly ditch the railed lock method used by the current Switch in favor of electromagnetic suction controllers.

In September, unverified images — a mix of Computer-aided design (CAD) images and printed circuit board (PCB) photos — that were said to have originated from a Chinese website before making their way onto Reddit, depicted a device similar to the existing Switch console but with a larger screen and magnetic Joy-Con. There is reportedly a USB-C port on the top and bottom of the console, too.

Accompanying the images was an alleged specifications list that mentioned 12GB of RAM (the original Switch has 4GB), and 256GB of internal storage (the original Switch has 32GB). There’s a new “C” button on the right Joy-Con, allegedly, but no-one seems to know what this is for.

We also have a patent, filed July 2023 but published for the first time last week, that describes AI image upscaling technology that would help keep video game download sizes small enough to fit on a physical game cartridge while offering up to 4K textures.

Here’s what we know for sure: Nintendo has confirmed that the yet-to-be-announced Switch 2 will be backward-compatible with original Switch games and will feature Nintendo Switch Online. As for a release date, the console is not expected to launch during Nintendo’s current financial year, so it will arrive April 2025 at the earliest.

We even have developers outright saying they plan to release their upcoming games on the console, with others teasing a Switch 2 release for their games. When Switch 2 does eventually come out, Nintendo expects to have plenty of stock available, which in turn will hopefully combat scalping.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.