In spite of its immense popularity in the 1990s, the Donkey Kong Country series has inexplicably been left to languish for the last couple of decades, and, at the time of writing, there hasn’t been anything else quite like it on the market since. The Retro Studios titles that carry the branding don’t play anything like Donkey Kong Country, so long-time fans of the format of Rare’s SNES games have been left without a new DKC to play for many years - until now.

DKC Mania offers an experience that’s inspired by what went before it, but so much about it is fresh and new that the hack could just as easily have been passed off as a “Donkey Kong Country 4″ and nobody would bat an eyelid. It certainly feels worthy of the name!

The hack’s authors clearly have an acute grasp on what makes Donkey Kong Country tick, and the stage designs are creative and a joy to play throughout, leading up to a brilliantly-paced final stage that has a fun concept and a delightful flow to it, before things wind down with the final two bosses. The difficulty-level and pacing are broadly similar to the original game throughout, even down to having difficulty-spikes in the places where the original taught you to expect them (such as the first minecart level, the first blizzard level, and so on), and it never becomes unreasonable - there is no “kaizo” stuff here, and everything is doable by a regular person without using save-states, just like the official titles.

Most of the bosses are much the same as they were in the original game, but given the intent of the hack, that’s understandable and isn’t a problem. Beyond that, new palettes for many stage and enemy types give the hack a fresh coat of paint that helps the visuals to feel just as fresh as the levels do (the looks of the cool-hued night-time ruins levels are a particular standout, I feel). Another plus was that it seemed like there was more reason to switch between the Kongs in DKC Mania than there was in the original game, which adds another layer of variety to the proceedings, and the quality-of-life features such as infinite lives and instant respawning without being kicked back to the map keep the game flowing nicely by not breaking your focus on it. There’s obviously been a lot of love and care poured into this hack, and it shows in every way.

The only downside is that the title screen and Cranky Kong’s text both remain unchanged from the original (it would have been nice if they both reflected the content of the hack), but when that’s the “worst” that can be said about a hack, that’s high praise for everything else in it!

Those looking for a new adventure with Donkey Kong and Diddy need look no further than DKC Mania. If you’re an old fan from back in the SNES days, or even a newer one who was introduced to the series by its GBA conversions, who felt that the Retro Studios DKC-branded titles weren’t for you, then this is your game - it feels official, and is a must for any fan’s library. Those who know the original Donkey Kong Country well will find plenty to smile about throughout, and I can only hope that we’ll see similarly fantastic hacks of Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3 in the future.

Top marks - highly recommended.