Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Review
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is the latest in a line of Wii U games being ported to the Nintendo Switch. It follows in the wake of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokken Tournament DX, and a few other games. Just like those games, it has gotten a graphical update, as well as a few new updates, including the new Funky mode. So, does Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze play better than it previously did on the Wii U?
Story
Tropical Freeze starts out with Donkey Kong’s birthday, which Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Cranky Kong are all attending. But before Donkey Kong can blow out the candle on his birthday banana, it gets put out by a snowflake. This snowflake came from the rapidly approaching Snowmads, who blast Donkey Kong and crew far away, and then cover the island in snow and ice. So, it’s up to you as Donkey Kong to take back your island.
Gameplay
Tropical Freeze stays in line with former Donkey Kong Country games, with platforming levels that gradually get harder as you go along. And just like in previous games, you can recruit Donkey Kong’s family to help you out along the way. Diddy Kong returns from the previous game, keeping his jetpack to help hover for a few seconds. But in this game you can also recruit Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong, who can lift you up in the air and bounce off of spikes, respectively. But unique to the Nintendo Switch version, you can also play as Funky Kong in the aptly named Funky Mode. Funky Kong is essentially the easy mode, as he has five hearts, can double jump, is able to slow his descent, and can land on spikes without getting hurt.
But the addition of certain abilities with characters isn’t the only change of gameplay. Obviously the main form is on the ground traditional platforming, sometimes deviating to go for a swim, or adding additional challenges such as ice on the ground. But there are also stages where the control scheme is entirely different. The most common of those are mine cart stages, which has you inside a mine cart, only being able to jump and duck to avoid the rapidly oncoming obstacles. Another stage type is the barrel rocket, which has you constantly trying to avoid roadblocks and enemies as you consistently try to keep the rocket aloft. And finally, you have boss stages. These give you a barrel to get any Kong to help in the fight. From there you go into a small arena and face off against the boss, all of who have different attacks and ways to be attacked themselves.
Presentation
Topical Freeze looked amazing on Wii U, and the graphics boost it got on the Nintendo Switch made it look that much better, The environments look semi realistic, but have a cartoonish tone on them to make it so Donkey Kong and crew don’t look out of place. Each world also has it’s own theme, which helps separate the levels from each other. There are obvious worlds like jungle and beach, but there are also some unexpected ones, such as fruit factory or caverns. Not to mention how the music changes to fit all the different worlds and levels, while still retaining both a tropical and a jungle feel.
Final Thoughts
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is another great port from the Wii U to the Switch, but it isn’t the most original game, especially when compared to other Donkey Kong Country games. Tropical Freeze does have many of the beloved elements from previous games, but it doesn’t expand much on those, or introduce too many elements of its own. However, those problems aren’t major, and they definitely aren’t big enough to hurt the overall gameplay experience.
