Donkey Kong Country was one of my favorite series on the Super Nintendo. It’s mix of action and platforming was different enough that it didn’t feel like a simple Mario clone, and it forever cemented Rareware as a premier developer. After that the series went on hiatus. This is why it was a big deal when Donkey Kong Country Returns was announced for the Wii. The problem? I didn’t like the game. It felt too different, too gimmicky, and while well designed it was clunky. A sequel entitled Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was released for the Wii U. Because no one owned that console Nintendo re-released it for the Nintendo Switch. Let’s take a look.
The Kong family is called into action to save the day as their homeland is frozen over. The cause? A viking ship full of penguins. At least they didn’t recycle the plot from the last game and the new ice theme is kind of interesting in places. Either way Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze continues right where Returns left off as far as gameplay is concerned. It’s a side scrolling platforming game with 2.5D elements. There are areas wherein you can go into the background or foreground, but this is relegated to barrel segments. It doesn’t really affect gameplay but it’s still flashy and fun.
You control Donkey Kong who can run, jump, somersault, and pound the ground. The big guy can take two hits before he’s dead. It’s pretty standard fare but things are more interesting with the partner system. Trapped inside various colored Kong barrels are DK’s friends. When released they ride on his back and give you additional abilities. In Returns you had just Diddy Kong and his rocket packs at your disposal. This game adds Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong to the mix. Dixie retains her ability from the original trilogy and can slow your fall by twirling your hair. Cranky can bounce off of his cane ala Scrooge Mcduck in Ducktales. It’s functionally the same.
If there’s one area of the game where Retro Studios dropped the ball it’s in the animal helpers. I loved the variety of animals you could ride in the original games. Here we have only Rambi, and let’s be honest, he was always the worst one. He’s no more interesting here than he ever was. Squawks makes an appearance but he is relegated to just running the in-game shop. Engarde could really have enhanced the underwater stages but the developers just didn’t bother. It’s a real shame if you ask me because they could have added even more variety to the package.
The addition of the two other characters adds so many new layers to the formula. Much of the time you’ll be given the kong partner best suited for the obstacles ahead of you but sometimes you’ll need to work hard to hold on to one if you don’t want to struggle. The partner character has a life bar of their own and when they’re defeated you lose them. You’ll never not be playing as Donkey Kong however. Actually, that’s not entirely true. The Nintendo Switch version adds Funky Kong to the mix and at the start of the game you have to choose between the two are your primary character.
It’s best to consider playing as Funky Kong as an easy mode of sorts. By default he has a five hearts for his life bar. Thanks to his surfboard he’s also immune to falling on spikes, and can ride it in the air and spin it to slow his fall. The trade off? He can’t have any of the partner characters. This means Diddy, Dixie and Cranky are no-shows. It takes some of the luster out of the gameplay to be honest, but the tradeoff is that the game is a little easier. It’s no cakewalk even playing as Funky Kong and you’ll still be challenged in almost all of the stages. It’s far from painless, but easier nonetheless.
Trust me when I say that this is one challenging game. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze throws a lot of 1-up balloons your way, but only because you’ll be needing all of them. In many stages just hitting a checkpoint feels like a milestone achievement. You’ll need to make a lot of precision jumps and manage a lot of environmental obstacles at the same time. There’s also a lot of different moves such as climbing vines and hanging from grassy areas on the ceiling and sides. The mine cart stages return and are just as hair pulling as ever. You really need split second accuracy in many sections or you’ll fall to your doom. The game offers a great challenge but never feels cheap.
Well actually, I take that last statement back. Returns introduced the rocket barrels to the franchise and they’re back. Honestly it’s one of the things I hated in the last game. It’s not much better here. At certain points in the game you’ll ride on one of these and navigate through various obstacles and terrain. By default it falls to the ground and you have to keep upward momentum by repeatedly pressing the jump button. It’s purposely clunky and difficult. Unfortunately these sections just aren’t very fun. Normally I’m the first to hate on a game that lets you skip a level if you’re struggling, but in this case it was welcome because I had so little fun with the rocket barrel.
Level design is absolutely fantastic in this game. You’d think the folks at Retro Studios had been making platformers for decades now, but that’s not the case. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze does an excellent job of introducing different mechanics as you play. You never feel like it throws something new at you without having shown you how to first get past it. As I said earlier the game doesn’t feel unfair for the most part; it’s just very well designed. This goes for the boss battles as well. They’re all different, and offer great challenges. You can even play through the main game with another player which is cool and surprisingly it doesn’t really make the quest easier.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a very pretty game. I really like the style but the new designs for the main characters still doesn’t sit right with me. Donkey Kong loses a lot of his signature style and instead looks like a throwaway design from some show on Nickelodeon. With that complaint aside game animates fluidly with a ton of moving parts. There’s a lot to pay attention to on every screen and nothing ever feels hidden away in the details. The backgrounds are lush and incredibly well designed. The different styles work well in the Donkey Kong Country world. David Wise returns to do the soundtrack and it’s enjoyable but relies too much on nostalgia. A lot of the tracks feel like enhanced music from the old games. More originality would have gone a long ways. The completely new stuff is legit.
It’s a little daunting to pay full price for a side scrolling platform game in this day and age. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is pretty light on content for what is an almost full priced game. I was able to complete it in a number of hours and was left wanting more. You can replay levels to find the missing puzzle pieces but I never felt compelled to. Having multiple characters gives you reason to play more than once. It doesn’t change the game quite enough to keep things interesting. Thankfully the multiplayer mode is on point and a lot of fun. Either way this is an excellent game and I was sad when it was over.
