Former Retro Studios developer provides insights on the origins of Donkey Kong Country Returns

Donkey Kong Country Returns was released for the Wii in 2010, marking the return of the Donkey Kong Country series more than 10 years after its last landing on the SNES.Developed by Retro Studios, the former developer of Bryan Walker Company recently worked with Kiwi conversation In an interview, he discussed many related topics, including the origins of the successor to the beloved 2D side-scrolling platform game.

Brian Walker is the senior producer of Metroid Prime 2 and 3, and joined the company after the success of Metroid Prime 1. At some point after the launch of Metroid Prime 2 in 2004, Retro Studios contacted Nintendo to develop games using Donkey Kong Country IP. Satoshi Iwata, then president of Nintendo, put this idea aside, and instead asked for the third entry in the Metroid Prime series as a hardware display for the upcoming Wii and Wiimote motion controllers. About 3 years later, after the trilogy went on sale, Retro’s DK project was approved, and the development of the “Donkey Kong Kingdom Return” that we know and love eventually became known and loved.

From developing three gritty first-person shooters to the more colorful and family-friendly Donkey Kong world, it’s a bit harsh. Walker (Senior Director of Development) recalled how some of the palm trees in DKCR’s original art model were more similar to the “gloomy, dark, avant-garde and threatening” things you found in Metroid Prime. But after “increasing the saturation, adding some distortions, some red walls, some whimsical ideas”, Retro was able to quickly and smoothly transition to the necessary new style.

According to Walker, Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Donkey Kong and Super Mario series, is a “valuable resource” for the development team, providing “feedback, guidance and guidance” for the project. According to reports, after meeting with him in Kyoto, Japan, Miyamoto said in English: “Please take care of DK. He is my friend.”

View the full interview here Learn more interesting stories from Bryan Walker (who is currently the lead producer of Deck Nine Games), including how he played against the late Satoru Iwata in the online test of Mario Kart 7 (time stamp can be found in the video description ) ).

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is the sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns and is now available for Nintendo Switch, while Metroid Prime 4 is currently being developed by Retro Studios.

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