Nintendo issued a brief statement in response to the backlash following the omission of Retro Studios staff from the credits for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
In conversation with EurogamerNintendo said it believes in “giving proper credit to everyone involved in the creation or contribution to the creation of a game.” However, he wouldn't elaborate on exactly why he decided to leave the original development team out of the credits for the new Switch release.
Here's Nintendo's statement in full:
“We believe in giving proper credit to everyone involved in making or contributing to the creation of a game, and we value the contributions that all staff make during the development process.”
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is now available on Nintendo Switch. Much like Metroid Prime Remastered, the credits for the new release mention the original developer Retro Studios in passing, simply stating “Based on the work of the original development staff”. Meanwhile, it was simultaneously confirmed that Forever Entertainment is the studio responsible for the new Switch port.
We gave the game a 7/10 in our review, noting that Forever could have done more to become the definitive version of DKCR, but instead delivered something that was just “good enough.”
