Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
Donkey Kong Island is being threatened by a group of vikings called the Snowmads who kicked the Kongs off their island and covered it in snow and ice. Play Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, and for the first time ever, Cranky Kong and travel across multiple islands to reclaim your home in this 2D platformer by Retro Studios.
First released
Feb 13, 2014
Aliases
DKC Tropical Freeze, DKCTF, DKC TF
Franchises
Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Country
Developed by
Retro Studios, Nintendo SPD Group No.3, Monster Games, Inc.
Published by
Nintendo
Platforms
Wii U, Nintendo Switch
Genres
Platformer
Themes
Fantasy
Rating
ESRB: E, PEGI: 3+, OFLC: G, CERO: A
Releases
- NSW - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze United States
- NSW - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze United Kingdom
- WiiU - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze United States
- WiiU - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze United Kingdom
- WiiU - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Australia
- WiiU - Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze Japan
- WiiU - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo Selects) United States
Community reviews
Doesn't hold a candle to the first game.
Something and everything about this feels off. Why does DK feel slow and floaty? What happened to the run button? Do I really need to be constantly given a choice of three sidekicks, slowing down gameplay? Since buying this I started playing DKC Returns 3D again and it's definitely the much better game.
DKC Tropical Freeze improves from DKC Returns but has some flaws attached to it which originated from its predecessor
Game: Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
Genre: Adventure Platformer
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
System: WiiU (WiiU)
Year of Release: 2014
Length of Playthrough: 11 Hours
Total Score: 91/100
Value Score: 9.1/10
• Story: 8/10
• Characters: 10/10
• GamePlay: 9/10
• Graphics: 10/10
• Sound: 10/10
• Music: 10/10
• Length: 6/10
• Replay Value: 9/10
• Player Value: 9/10
Pros
+Most of the mechanics from DKC Returns comes back
+Game runs at 60 FPS like the original version of DKC Returns
+Enemies and boss designs and styles have heavily improved from DKC Returns
+Alongside Diddy Kong you now have Dixie and Cranky Kong which offer different gameplay mechanics
+Item shop (Funky's Flights) has more items than Cranky's shop in DKC Returns which make up for the lack of a Super Guide
+Fantastic Soundtrack with a lot of classic themes remixed like Stickerbush Symphony
+Visuals are amazingly well done and animations are perfectly made
Cons
-Super Guide from DKC Returns is not available
-Some levels and level designs can be frustrating specifically enemy placements and obstacles
-Game is shorter and has less levels
-Blowing mechanic from DKC Returns removed and you have to use roll, there was no reason for this since the button combination is not used for anything else
Genre: Adventure Platformer
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
System: WiiU (WiiU)
Year of Release: 2014
Length of Playthrough: 11 Hours
Total Score: 91/100
Value Score: 9.1/10
• Story: 8/10
• Characters: 10/10
• GamePlay: 9/10
• Graphics: 10/10
• Sound: 10/10
• Music: 10/10
• Length: 6/10
• Replay Value: 9/10
• Player Value: 9/10
Pros
+Most of the mechanics from DKC Returns comes back
+Game runs at 60 FPS like the original version of DKC Returns
+Enemies and boss designs and styles have heavily improved from DKC Returns
+Alongside Diddy Kong you now have Dixie and Cranky Kong which offer different gameplay mechanics
+Item shop (Funky's Flights) has more items than Cranky's shop in DKC Returns which make up for the lack of a Super Guide
+Fantastic Soundtrack with a lot of classic themes remixed like Stickerbush Symphony
+Visuals are amazingly well done and animations are perfectly made
Cons
-Super Guide from DKC Returns is not available
-Some levels and level designs can be frustrating specifically enemy placements and obstacles
-Game is shorter and has less levels
-Blowing mechanic from DKC Returns removed and you have to use roll, there was no reason for this since the button combination is not used for anything else
A return to form for the big ape
Tropical Freeze does what it's Wii predecessor did, only better. It looks gorgeous, and the soundtrack is one of my very favourites on the Wii U, if not ever. The gameplay is very tight and the characters are enjoyable to control, the lack of waggle controls is very welcome too and my only complaint in this department is the grabbing controls are a bit fiddly, particularly towards the end of the game when things get more difficult and intense.
There's more than enough content here, just playing through the game took me over 10 hours and that was without collecting all the jigsaws and KONG letters, something which I probably won't be doing due to the sheer difficulty of the game as it is. If you were to collect all that stuff you're bound to be getting upwards of 20 hours of play from this thing.
The levels are very varied and well designed, and I'm a fan of how they're quite long too. Concepts and ideas are rarely repeated too much and things are broken up nicely with mine-kart, swimming, and rhino levels which are all great fun.
In terms of negatives I'd say the partner characters could have been a little different, and I found Dixie was your best bet most of the time meaning I generally just went with her. I'd also say that the bosses can be a little frustrating with them often being 10 or more minutes long and having no checkpoints. This did however give immense satisfaction when you did finally beat them! The game is perhaps a little too difficult in general (it's the hardest game I've played for a long time) although I enjoyed that it was challenging enough just to get to the end of the levels and you didn't have to collect everything to make the game challenging.
Overall this is a superb 2D platformer, and certainly one of the must-play titles for anyone with a Wii U, just prepare yourself for plenty of deaths, this one is NOT easy.
There's more than enough content here, just playing through the game took me over 10 hours and that was without collecting all the jigsaws and KONG letters, something which I probably won't be doing due to the sheer difficulty of the game as it is. If you were to collect all that stuff you're bound to be getting upwards of 20 hours of play from this thing.
The levels are very varied and well designed, and I'm a fan of how they're quite long too. Concepts and ideas are rarely repeated too much and things are broken up nicely with mine-kart, swimming, and rhino levels which are all great fun.
In terms of negatives I'd say the partner characters could have been a little different, and I found Dixie was your best bet most of the time meaning I generally just went with her. I'd also say that the bosses can be a little frustrating with them often being 10 or more minutes long and having no checkpoints. This did however give immense satisfaction when you did finally beat them! The game is perhaps a little too difficult in general (it's the hardest game I've played for a long time) although I enjoyed that it was challenging enough just to get to the end of the levels and you didn't have to collect everything to make the game challenging.
Overall this is a superb 2D platformer, and certainly one of the must-play titles for anyone with a Wii U, just prepare yourself for plenty of deaths, this one is NOT easy.