Donkey Kong Country Returns HD street date broken

If you want to play Donkey Kong Country Returns, you can enjoy it right now on the Wii or 3DS. The game is also making its way to Switch on Jan. 16th, 2025 with an HD revamp. Well, at least that’s when most of us will go hands-on with the Switch port, but a lucky few have already snagged the title.

Reports have come in concerning Donkey Kong Country Returns HD copies already be out there in the wild. It’s not all that unusual for retailers to break street dates for games, and it seems to be happening more frequently in recent years. Now the same has happened with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, but with this being a rework of a game we’ve already seen twice over, the accidental early release isn’t all the big of a deal.

While Nintendo likely isn’t happy about the situation, their real worries could be any minute now. When early copies of games make their way out into the wild, it’s almost always followed by a leak of the game online. Nintendo obviously wants to avoid that, but all they can do is sit back and keep fingers/toes crossed that those who snagged the game early decide to keep it to themselves.

Stomp enemies, blast out of barrels, ride mine carts and do so much more when Donkey Kong Country Returns HD launches later this week. This visually-enhanced version of the duo’s platforming adventure combines selected features from both Wii and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game – including the extra Nintendo 3DS levels! With 80 levels across 9 different worlds – each featuring a dastardly boss battle at the end – the Kongs will have to be at their best to earn back their precious bananas.