Summary
- Donkey Kong Country Returns HD was not only the Nintendo Switch’s best-selling title of January, but it managed to crack the Top 20 of all games sold that month.
- The game, which was released on Jan. 16, only needed 15 days to crack the charts.
- Its success continues to show that Nintendo fans have an appetite for remakes and remasters of games stuck on older hardware.
Even with a release date as late as January 16, it appears that few things could stop the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. The Nintendo-published remake of the formerly exclusive Nintendo Wii and later Nintendo 3DS title for the Nintendo Switch managed to make some serious noise in the monthly sales charts with just 15 days of availability.
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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 of Super Mario Party Jamboree and the ever-reliable Mario 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 had Dynasty Warriors: Origins, both the highest-rated game in series history and its 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, including the first Metroid Prime, as well as Luigi’s Mansion 2, Pikmin 1+2 and soon Xenoblade 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.
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