Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Donkey Kong Country 4 - Here's the Cover


Alright, I was hoping for a color-themed cover just like Super Mario 5, but this is an excellent design for Donkey Kong Country 4.  Everything looks exciting and fun...and did you see our rhino friend on the left?  Retro Studios never said whether or not the animal sidekicks would make a return, so this will be a very welcome surprise for the fans.

Kudos to Nintendo for moving Donkey Kong into the flagship position for the holiday season.  It's fascinating to see this cascading effect of 2D Nintendo platformers.  The runaway success of New Super Mario Bros DS led to Super Mario 5 on the Wii (the first 2D Mario on console since Super Mario World in 1991), and that in turn led to Kirby's Epic Yawn and Donkey Kong Country 4.

Remember that the 2010 flagship title on Wii was going to be Legend of Zelda.  This speaks volumes to Nintendo's growing confidence in classic 2D video games.  I have great confidence in Retro Studios to deliver an outstanding game, and I'm very impressed that they're adding new themes and ideas to the formula.  This won't be a lazy rerun by any stretch, and for that, I am very thankful.  All I ask now is that the game is challenging.  Video games used to be hard, and we were all the better for it.

C'mon, Nintendo, let Retro make a 2D Metroid.  I want a kick-ass, tough-as-nails classic Metroid, with old school arcade values and no stupid movie scenes.

No comments: