Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, like its predecessor Donkey Kong Country Returns, is a traditional old-school platformer just like the old Donkey Kong Country games they’re named after. However, just as with DKCR, these games take the same basic formula and add in some wildly inventive level design that’s a master-class in game design, turning a tried-and-true formula into something truly awe-inspiring.

The gameplay is nearly as simple as the old games – This time out, you have one button devoted to slamming DK’s hands on the ground and rolling, and one button devoted to grabbing things, like barrels, vines, or grass hanging from overhead platforms. This sort of intuitive control makes it easy to understand how to react to new things – if you see a handle on the ground, you know you can use the grab button to grab it and see what it does, for example.

You also can have one of three of DK’s sidekicks along for the ride, with each adding their own assistance with an added “jump” when DK is in midair – Diddy’s jetpack allows DK to hover, Dixie’s spinning ponytail allows DK to get a little more height on his jumps, and Cranky’s cane allows DK to spring on dangerous ground like Scrooge from the Duck Tales games. Of course, if a second player wants to join in, the two characters can be separated to work together in a different way.

However, while the various options with the characters are great, the real star of this game is the levels, which are amazingly-crafted to always be giving you new challenges and new stuff to look at, and gorgeously rendered. Yeah, this game was available a whole console generation ago on the Wii U, but it’s no less pretty to look at now.

Those who had a Wii U may have already played this game on that console, and not a lot has changed – the game still looks absolutely gorgeous and plays smooth as silk, but not too much has been added to the Switch version. That said, there is at least one major addition this time around in the form of Funky Mode, where you play the surfboardin’ Funky Kong, which is effectively an easy mode for the game. More skilled players will probably want to skip this character, but youngsters and those less-skilled with platformers will undoubtedly see this addition as a blessing.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is as good as it gets when it comes to traditional 2D platforming games. It looks great, plays great, and has wildly inventive levels that make you want to keep playing to see more. If you didn’t already get this game on the Wii U, you’ve been given a second chance here – do not pass this game up again.

tl;dr – Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is about as good as 2D platformers can get – it plays well, it looks great, and the level design is some of the best that’s ever been seen in a videogame. This is a game that should be in every Switch owner’s collection.

Grade: A+

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze already looked pretty sharp and smooth on Nintendo Switch, so what is there to even improve on Nintendo Switch 2? There’s one easy answer to this: loading times.

On Nintendo Switch, it took 15 seconds to load to the title screen, 11 to load up a game save, and 9 to get from the map screen into a level. On Nintendo Switch 2, these times were all reduced, with the corresponding loading times now being 8, 6, and 7 seconds.

It’s not an Earth-shattering improvement, but it is an improvement, making Nintendo Switch 2 the new definitive way to play this game. I would still argue that this game is overpriced, but it is nevertheless one of the greatest Platformers ever made, and it is now even better (even if only slightly) on Nintendo Switch 2.

tl;dr – Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is about as good as 2D platformers can get – it plays well, it looks great, and the level design is some of the best that’s ever been seen in a videogame. This is a game that should be in every Nintendo Switch owner’s collection, and every Nintendo Switch 2 owner’s collection too, for that matter.

Grade: A+

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