January2014
News Nintendo Confirms Rambi's Return in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Power play
With its release now a little over a month away, Nintendo is starting to gradually reveal more minor pieces of information for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. At the end of last year we were shown the return of Funky Kong, and now there's confirmation that a favourite from Donkey Kong Country Returns — and from the original Super...
News Retro Could Work On Miyamoto-Led Project In The Future, Says Nintendo Producer Kensuke Tanabe
"We consider Retro as part of the Nintendo family"
Retro Studios has become one of Nintendo's most important associated teams, having produced the likes of Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country Returns — both of which gained critical and commercial acclaim. Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh and Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe have been...
News Kensuke Tanabe Highlights Potential Return of 3D Donkey Kong Games
Retro Studios used the Metroid Prime engine for Returns on Wii
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze arrives on 21st February, and combines the established skills of Retro Studios with many of the outstanding foundations laid down in Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii. It may not be the game or franchise that some of the most vocal of Nintendo fans...
December2013
Video Here's Another Chance to Check Out Nintendo's VGX Appearance
And spare yourself the other three hours of the event
This weekend brought us the VGX awards, which we live-blogged for you. It's safe to say that we're contemplating our options in terms of an editorial over the event as a whole, as it perhaps wasn't a show that represented video games in its best light. Opinions on that will naturally vary. It...
Rumour Cranky Kong to be Fourth Playable Character in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Joining the young whippersnappers
With much noise around the Wii U currently focused on Super Mario 3D World, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is coming in early 2014, given a release period of February for North America. Considering it's the follow up to the outstanding Donkey Kong Country Returns and...
October2013
News Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Delayed Until Early 2014
No chance for monkey business before Christmas
During today's Nintendo Direct broadcast — which focused on upcoming Wii U and 3DS software — it was announced that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has been delayed until early next year. Nintendo has revealed that more time is needed to finish the title, which is now expected to hit store...
September2013
News Miyamoto: Retro Studios is High on The List of Candidates For A New Metroid Game
Discusses Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and the future of Samus
The UK Official Nintendo Magazine published its 100th issue this month, which is a pretty impressive milestone, and to celebrate it sat down with Shigeru Miyamoto and spoke about several things, including Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Metroid. During the interview,...
June2013
News Nintendo - Donkey Kong Series is Adaptable to Fresh Ideas
Also, getting the ba-BOOM ba-BOOM ba-BOOM rhythm was important
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze may not have been the Retro Studios project that some fans desired or expected, but nevertheless it is a sequel to one of the finest platformers to grace the Wii. Ultimately, the odds are good at this stage that it'll be a hugely enjoyable experience...
News Retro Studios Working on "One Major Project at a Time"
Oh...
When Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was announced at E3 as the next game from Retro Studios, some Nintendo fans — including members of the team on this site — rationalised disappointment at the reveal by adding a caveat that it may have been produced alongside a bigger, larger scope project. The thought was that with the groundwork...
News Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Slips Onto Wii U This November
One for the Winter months
Among previously announced titles such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and The Wonderful 101 being shown during the Nintendo Direct broadcast this week, the company revealed Retro Studios' new title in development, Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze. It was
News Retro Studios: "After Donkey Kong Country Returns We Had A Lot Of Gas Left In The Tank"
Developer reveals why it chose to make another Donkey Kong Country title
Nintendo finally announced Retro Studios' latest game during its E3 Nintendo Direct with the reveal of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. As previously reported, the developer chose a Donkey Kong title over a Metroid one and many people have been wondering why this is...
News David Wise Returns To Compose The Soundtrack To Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
The legendary Rare composer is back
Nintendo announced Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze during today's E3 Nintendo Direct presentation. It's the direct sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns but also sits in with the entire series which dates back to the Super Nintendo era when Donkey Kong Country emerged. David Wise composed all three of the...
News Retro Chose Donkey Kong Over Metroid as Its First Wii U Title
Metroid wasn't the prime choice
Are you happy about Retro's return to the Donkey Kong franchise with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, or would you have preferred something different — a fresh IP or a new entry into the world of Metroid, perhaps? According to Retro Studios president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh, the developer chose to work on a...
News Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Hopping To Wii U This Year
Kong's first HD adventure
Nintendo has announced Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze during today's Nintendo Direct broadcast. Kong's first HD outing, Tropical Freeze introduces a new enemy - bloodthirsty Vikings. Kong's island paradise is invaded by these sea-going foes, forcing him to journey to five other islands to defeat them. The game will...
News Armature Studios Gains Another Ex-Retro Staff Member
Donkey Kong Country Returns designer Tom Ivey moves on
As we all know, Armature is a company founded by former Retro Studios staff members — and it would appear that they've added another to their ranks. According to his CV on LinkedIn, Tom Ivey — who was one of the designers on Donkey Kong Country Returns, which was recently ported to the 3DS...
May2013
Rumour Retro's Wii U Title Is An Entirely New IP
IGN starts the hype
Retro Studios is one of Nintendo's most valuable assets right now, having delivered smash hits in the form of the Metroid Prime Trilogy and Donkey Kong Country Returns. We all know that the company is working on something for the Wii U, and we'll no doubt see what that is at this year's E3. However, no one seems to know exactly...
April2013
News Nintendo To Reveal Retro's New Wii U Game "In The Not So Distant Future"
Counting down the days
Are you dying to know what Retro Studios is working on right now? Well you won't have to wait much longer, because Nintendo's Hiro Yamada has told Official Nintendo Magazine that the company will be lifting the lid on the new Wii U title soon. Retro moved to larger offices last year, presumably to enlarge its workforce for...
News Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Has Local Co-op Play And An Easy Mode
There's also a "brand new surprise" in store
Back in February, Nintendo announced the popular Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns is being remade for the 3DS. The upcoming title - appropriately named Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - is being developed by Monster Games and will largely be the same game but with the inclusion of 3D visuals. However,...
September2012
News Reggie: Big Guns Focusing on Future Wii U Projects
To appear at E3 2013, or earlier if we're lucky
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime recently conducted an interview with gametrailers.com, talking about all things Wii U and no doubt mentioned that "it's all about the experience" on at least one occasion. When asked about future Wii U projects, Fils-Aime stated that arguably Nintendo's...
May2012
Rumour Retro Studios Preparing Star Fox Wii U Reveal
It's an E3 rumour, prepare the salt
With E3 now only one month away we should prepare ourselves for plenty of rumours, some genuine and well-sourced and others that are more questionable. Today we give you — Retro Studios preparing a Wii U reveal of Star Fox at next month's video game industry spectacular. We'd class this rumour as one that's...
July2011
News Check Out Retro's Unreleased American Football Game
Life before Metroid
Before there was Metroid Prime, Retro Studios hadn't had a bona fide hit, and several of the studio's games were cancelled before seeing the light of day. One such title was this unnamed American football game, recently featured by prominent site Unseen64. The animation shown below is undoubtedly impressive, particularly...
May2011
News How Retro Studios Achieved Backing from Nintendo
Simple in theory, anything but in practice
Nintendo has a brand image that's as solid as a rock, so what does it take for an independant studio to get backing from the company and the opportunity to develop games based on its IPs for its consoles? Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh highlights a few qualities needed to do just that. During a...
January2011
News Donkey Kong Country Returns Sells Over 4 Million in a Month
Worldwide sales as strong as DK's ground pounding
It hasn't been out for long when compared to the other big sellers of last year, but that hasn't stopped Donkey Kong Country Returns from flying off the shelves. The return of the Donkey Kong franchise by way of Retro Studios has been selling like hot cakes ripe bananas since its North American...
News Drool Over This Donkey Kong Country Returns Concept Art
Then throw a barrel maybe
The art style in Donkey Kong Country Returns is pitch-perfect, showing respect to the gorilla's history and containing countless tiny references to his previous outings as well as other Retro Studios titles. The concept art that went into producing this unique art style is every bit as impressive as you'd expect,...
December2010
News Latest Iwata Asks Opens Eyes to Nintendo's Tough Standards
Retro Studios in the hot seat
Donkey Kong Country Returns developer Retro Studios recently sat down with Nintendo top man Satoru Iwata to discuss the game's development and the difficulties of long-distance relationships. The Texas-based studio spoke of the inherent troubles of 5am teleconferences with Japanese producer Risa Tabata, who often would...
