Nintendo's beloved simian is back in Donkey Kong Country Returns. (Nintendo)

If you were to enter video game limbo, one of the first characters you’d probably run into is Donkey Kong. The iconic ape, which launched Nintendo’s video-game fortunes way back in 1981, hasn’t been seen much in recent years.

Nintendo has dusted off its old simian and brought him back in an old-school side-scrolling adventure that is flawed but ultimately fun.

He’s had guest spots in a few racing and party games, and he had one forgettable outing on the Wii in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, but otherwise, he’s been sucking back bananas alone in a sort of forced exile — until now.

Nintendo has dusted off the old simian and brought him back in Donkey Kong Country Returns, a suitably old-school side-scrolling adventure that is flawed but ultimately fun. The plot of the game is simple. A group of evil animated Tikis have hypnotized the animals of Kong’s island to steal his bananas. Donkey Kong, with the help of his diminutive sidekick, Diddy Kong, must romp through various locales of the island to get them back.

The game’s main appeal is its colourful and cheerful locales. Donkey and Diddy travel through brightly lit jungles, beaches, forests, mines and other areas in search of their lost cache of bananas. One particularly stunning level sees all the action in the foreground silhouetted against an orange and red sunset.

Donkey Kong is controlled by holding the Wiimote in one hand and the nunchuk in the other. The nunchuk’s thumbstick moves him around while the A button on the Wiimote makes him jump. The two-handed control takes some getting used to, but it soon feels very natural. When used in tandem, the two controllers enable Kong’s abilities. Shaking them up and down, for example, makes him pound the ground, which can stun enemies, break stone blocks and open up secret areas. Ducking down and then shaking allows him to blow out lanterns and various plants to find goodies.

But Donkey Kong can’t do everything alone. With Diddy riding on his back, he can jump farther and even hover for short periods, thanks to his sidekick’s jetpack. (How does a chimp come to possess a jetpack? One of many questions better left unexplored.) This teamwork is necessary to get through some hairy spots, such as jumping from one platform to the next, and for finding many of the hidden items.

Much of the fun in Donkey Kong Country Returns lies in finding these secret puzzle pieces, which unlock bonuses when joined together. The pieces are hidden behind boulders and trees, underground and inside rocks, among other places.

Gathering up bananas is the key to finding them, since the fruit acts as a form of currency that can be spent at Cranky Kong’s hut. The curmudgeonly old ape sells balloons, which act as extra “lives,” keys that unlock new levels, a banana potion that makes Donkey and Diddy invincible, and a parrot that squawks whenever puzzle pieces are near.

At the end of each level, Donkey and Diddy must battle a boss, which can range from giant crabs to moles, all of which have been hypnotized by the Tikis. The boss battles are quite varied and often take a good amount of ingenuity and timing to complete.

The game can be played by two people, with one controlling Donkey and the other Diddy. It’s considerably more chaotic this way and a lot of fun, but just as in single-player mode, the value of teamwork becomes quickly apparent. Diddy can also hop on Donkey’s back in this mode to give the duo more jumping power.

Where the game falls down is in the frequent sequences where Donkey Kong must ride along in a mine cart or on top of a rocket barrel. In both cases, the player controls only the jumps or altitude of the barrel, not the forward momentum, so split-second timing is required to dodge the many hazards that come along. Both situations are often impossibly hard, which leads to much frustration and balloon usage.

When things get too tough, you can call in Super Kong, who basically plays through the level as you watch. It’s a nice crutch, but gaming isn’t a spectator sport.

The problem with many platform games is this do-or-die nature — if you don’t hit the jumps exactly right, you’ll end up repeating the section over and over until you do nail it. Donkey Kong Country Returns would have been better if it had a few more mechanisms — at least more save points – to counter this issue.

Nevertheless, if you skip through the impossible parts, the game is still a good deal of fun and a solid comeback for Nintendo’s favourite ape.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is in stores Nov. 21.

Peter Nowak is a writer based in Toronto.