The Donkey Kong Country series got its start in 1994 with the game Donkey Kong Country. Donkey Kong Country had an amazing soundtrack, great controls, a partner system that I wish more games had, and fantastic level design. This game was a huge hit when it first came out, and it’s easy to see why.
It spawned a sequel just a year later, titled Donkey Kong Country 2 Diddy’s Kong Quest. The platforming is pretty much the same as in Donkey Kong Country 1, but the levels were even bigger, the soundtrack was greater, and DK was replaced as a playable character. Now you get to play as Dixie Kong, who can use her hair to float gently to the ground.
This game also got a sequel titled Donkey Kong Country 3 Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble. This game removed Diddy, and replaced him with the king of nightmare’s himself, Kiddy Kong. People don’t like him… like, at all. He’s not that bad in game, but his promotional art is horrifying. Aside from Kiddy Kong, we were also given another great soundtrack and more fantastic levels.
But at this point the formula was getting stale. No new games happened to the series for several years.
And then we have over a decade of silence from the Donkey Kong Country series. Until we finally got… No that’s just silly, get out of here. There it is! Donkey Kong Country Returns!
This game kept it relatively safe, mostly sticking to the formula of the first game, but this time you have simultaneous multiplayer! It added lots of controller lag, but it mostly worked fine.
And now we get to the star of the show, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. The first Donkey Kong Country game to be made in high definition. This game marks the return of Dixie Kong, and the debut of Cranky Kong as a playable character.
Pros:
While this feature was also in Donkey Kong Country Returns, Tropical Freeze continues to feature simultaneous multiplayer. Player one will take the role of Donkey Kong, while the other player can choose between Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Cranky Kong.
As this is the return of David Wise, the composer for the original games, this game returns to the tradition of having an amazing soundtrack. There are plenty of new songs, but several songs from the earlier games were re-done in this game as well, and they sound fantastic.
Donkey Kong Country Returns added an additional move to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong’s arsenal of attacks, blowing. This move was never really utilized well, and it was completely removed in Tropical Freeze. This is, of course, a minor thing, but it’s nice to see pointless features removed.
Using a Wii U Pro Controller or the Wii U Gamepad, you won’t need to shake the controller at all. The controls are much snappier than in Donkey Kong Country Returns as a result.
Cons:
In the first two Donkey Kong Country games, Cranky existed to crack jokes at the players. Sadly, these jokes don’t exist anymore, which takes a lot of the charm away.
The level design feels less inspired than previous Donkey Kong Country games. Levels hardly ever relied on bottomless pits in the original games, but that’s the main way you’ll die in this game. It’s also incredibly hard to skip level segments in this game, which was a blast to do in the original games.
I’ve never had an issue with how the characters felt control wise in Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, or 3, but they feel extremely stiff in Tropical Freeze. Platforming becomes a lot more difficult when you can’t make any wrong moves.
The Wii U Gamepad’s screen has no function while playing on the TV. Most players will choose to play the game on their TV, and this works fine, but you cannot change your mind while playing the game, and the Wii U Gamepad’s Screen is turned off unless you choose to display on the Wii U Gamepad’s screen, where it won’t display on your TV.
Animal Buddies are still mostly gone. Animal Buddies were in Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, and 3, but were mostly ignored in Returns, and stay mostly ignored in Tropical Freeze, only giving you access to Rambi, and Squaks as a powerup.
Additional Notes:
There are now several puzzle pieces in each level that are available to collect. You can also choose the collect a K, O, N, and G in each level, similarly to the first three games.
Overall Opinion:
This game is much better than Donkey Kong Country Returns, though I wouldn't put it past the original games in the series. The platforming is far too stiff for me to call it a superb platformer, but it is a fantastic game if you want a challenge.
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