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Tsanche says:

One of the Best Side-Scrolling Platformers Ever Returns Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is a marevelous game. Originally released on the Wii U in 2014, the game was doomed to a small audience from the start. Which was a shame because players who passed it up (or simply didn’t want to invest in a Wii U to play it) missed out on one of the greatest sidescrolling platformers in recent memory. With great challenges, great platforming and some of the best level design ever witnessed in a side scrolling platformer, I’m glad to see the game was given a second chance to appeal to a broader audience. This is Donkey Kong Country at its best. It’s far better than Donkey Kong Country Returns (which was already an excellent game) and at times even exceeds the best of the original trilogy on the Super Nintendo. And part of that is because it’s such a well designed game, even if it’s greatness was recognized perhaps a little too late.Tropical Freeze, like most platformers, doesn’t really have a story so much as it has a setup. That being that a bunch of animals and other critters come by and cover DK Island in ice and the land becomes frozen. It’s now up to Donkey, Diddy, Dixie and Cranky to save the island. And this is going to be an arduous task. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is known primarily for its difficulty. The first couple of levels will be fairly simple and straight forward but once you’ve got your bearings and the training wheels come off, Tropical Freeze is an unrelenting challenge where your abilities will be tested. Stages will begin one hazard, throw new hazards at you, combine them and end with a third completely different hazard if you let it. The levels are also lengthy and varied. One amusing aspect about Tropical Freeze is that no level you play ever really feels like any other level you play. They all feel unique in their own way. And just when you’re positive a concept in a level is being repeated… they toss in a twist. Oh sure, you’ve been on a mine cart before and the first one is simple… but then you get to ones where water spouts raise platforms and you have to jump between two tracks. while avoiding sharks. That’s not an exaggeration either, that level exists. It takes the familiar concept of the mine cart ride and adds so much spice to it that even the concept of a mine cart stage feels different. And if the game wasn’t so good at establishing such a crazy, goofy tone you might think some of the concepts you experience are absurd but they’re not.Most levels are extremely difficult, though that you’ll find yourself retrying levels over and over again. And sometimes the only way to really master the level is to fail at it several times. This kind of trial and error gameplay can be a little off putting for some gamers, but the game compensates for this by being fairly liberal with extra lives. And once you get the patterns of a level down it can be liberating to finally best that difficult stage. The player can feel a sense of accomplishment. Of course, this challenge may still be a little too steep for some players. The Donkey Kong Country games are known for their difficulty in general, but Tropical Freeze takes it to a whole new level. Even the bosses are more difficult than previous games. Getting the best of Tropical Freeze’s levels, however does make for a good feeling because the challenge is so high in some of them that finally beating them feels like an earned victory.Donkey Kong is not alone on his adventure. He has a few buddies along for the ride who provide some abilities for him. Diddy Kong allows DK to hover for a bit, Dixie has a helicopter spin which allows her to propel DK upwards and Cranky has a cane bounce that allows him to damage certain enemies. Each one is useful in different situations and they’ll add two hearts to DK’s health. But if you lose two of those four hearts your buddy is gone and you no longer have access to their abilities. This makes the game easier, but only marginally so. You’re more likely to be grateful for two more health points as opposed to the abilties your buddy grants you some of the time. On the other hand, many of your deaths will come from stage hazards and pitfalls rather than through most of the normal enemies, many of whom are easily dispatched.Even if you find it just a little too challenging, however, you can play the new Funky Mode which allows you to play Funky Kong who can sustain more hits before he perishes and can go on some of the more harsh terrain (such as spikes) that the other kongs can’t. This makes for a much easier go at the game. It’s a great mode to try out, but I strongly suggest putting it aside and trying your hand at the standard mode first. It’s a much more rewarding and invigorating experience that way, but if you need a slightly easier go at the game, it’s nice to know the option is there.Visually Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is pretty beautiful on the eyes. One of the highlights of Returns…

Daze says:

Fun game! 🍌