Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has been confirmed as the latest Nintendo title to have skipped crediting the original version’s developer, per Nintendo Life. Retro Studios of Metroid Prime fame worked on the 2010 Wii platformer, which became one of the console’s best-selling titles.
In the credits for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, the work of Forever Entertainment, which handled the remaster, has been credited. Rather than mentioning Retro Studios, however, the game says that it was “based on the work of the original development staff”.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has been the second game to have omitted mentioning all the work done by Retro Studios. This follows 2023’s Metroid Prime Remastered, where no one from the original team was mentioned in the game’s credits. The original developers had taken issue with this, with the lead engineer Jack Matthews referring to the move as a “travesty”, and “shameful”. Matthews went on to mention others who worked on the original Metroid Prime, such as Mark HH and Steve McCrea.
Nintendo didn’t provide any comment on Retro Studios’ lack of credit. In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
