Summary
Even with a release date as late as January 16, it appears that few things could stop the release ofDonkey Kong Country Returns HD. TheNintendo-published remakeof the formerly exclusiveNintendo Wiiand laterNintendo 3DStitle for theNintendo Switchmanaged to make some serious noise in the monthly sales charts with just 15 days of availability.
It’s On Like Donkey Kong
As covered by Mat Piscatella of Circana, DK Country Returns HD was the Switch’s single best-selling title in January, topping the likes ofSuper Mario Party Jamboreeand the ever-reliableMario Kart 8.
On its own, that shouldn’t be all too surprising, especially considering it was the most noteworthy Switch release of January. But the game also managed to crack the Top 20 of all games sold in the United States for the month, coming in at No. 8.
Of that Top 20 list, it was the only new game to be featured. That’s pretty noteworthy as January also hadDynasty Warriors: Origins, boththe highest-rated game in series historyandits single-biggest peak player count.
What This Means Moving Forward
A Nintendo game doing well isn’t all that unprecedented.As TheGamer’s Sam Woods pointed out, more first-party Nintendo titles have crossed one million units sold on the Switch than any other console. A total of 72 titles have crossed that plateau, 17 more than the next closest console.
That said, what it does show is that there is a constant appetite from Nintendo gamers for remakes and remasters for games that are “stuck” on older hardware. For instance,New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, a port of the Wii U title, is one of the Switch’s best-selling titles, with over 18 million copies sold.
To Nintendo’s credit, it has brought forward numerous titles, includingthe first Metroid Prime, as well asLuigi’s Mansion 2,Pikmin 1+2and soonXenoblade Chronicles X, among other games. Of course,fans would love to see Wind Waker and Twilight Princess remasters arguably more than anything. Still, a success for Donkey Kong does potentially pave the way for further work on the catalog, which should bode well longterm.
