Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a platformer that manages to bring a classic series into the hands of a new generation. For gamers, this means more banana throwing, adrenaline inducing fun for the 13 hours a playthrough will provide.

A Great Platformer

If you’ve ever played a Donkey Kong Country game before, you’ll already know what you’re in for. If not, buckle up and follow along. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a game that has awesome platforming elements that require precise control over your gamepad to avoid obstacles, make jumps in time and create the right opportunities to advance in a stage.

Over your adventure, you’ll probably find Donkey Kong encountering more than a thousand ways to die. But eventually, you’ll get the hang of it and realize that each death actually serves as a lesson at the back of your mind. If you focus on improving, the game can actually prove to be the most rewarding gaming experience you’ve had.

Colorful Cast of Characters

It has some great tools to help in the levels, so you’ll never truly feel out of options in any given scenario. A character like Dixie Kong offers a super helpful helicopter spin that will make it easier to navigate high platforms and provide ample time to correct any mistimed jumps.

Additionally, Cranky is another character with a special and helpful ability at his disposal. The cane bounce provides a way for players to avoid any spiky thorn pits and enemies below by simply (and admittedly fun) bouncing off of the danger. There’s also Diddy Kong who has a jetpack that might not be your go-to, but it does provide a fun and safe way to hover over small pits and make your journey towards the end of a level much faster and easier.

Exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version, Funky Kong is a character that was added to the game with his own special abilities. He’s a pretty funky guy indeed, and this is reflected with his surfboard that softens your falls by making you approach an obstacle at a smoother pace and allowing you to even surf over obstacles for a brief instance. Diddy and Dixie just can’t compare to how cool this guy is!

Snappy Controls

The controls on Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze are a blessing. They are easy to understand and feel in sync with the animations. Although Donkey Kong games play differently compared to snappy platformers like Hollow Knight, it still feels fair when everything is taken into account.

The characters here feel like they have more weight to them and boss fights feel like they hit the right spot in terms of fairness. Characters like Mario seem to have gravity on their side for every jump, and this is evident in Super Mario Odyssey. However, things are a bit different here. Additionally, these boss encounters have a specific set of moves you’ll quickly need to master in order to get past a stage. The patterns don’t feel like they have any cheap shots, so your skills will be the true test… and your patience.

Pros:

• Awesome boss fights
• Intelligent level design
• Cool secrets

Cons:

• Lack of a decent co-op integration