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Platform: WiiU Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Retro
Reviewer: JayWood2010 Genre: Platformer Rating: Everyone


After 20 years Donkey Kong Country finally makes a HD debut.  The classic Donkey Kong Country made by Rare was always known as one of the best 2D platformers but as time has went on Donkey Kong and his monkey buddies quickly disappeared into the memories we hold dear.  It wasn’t until Retro recreated our nostalgic childhood with Donkey Kong Country Returns in 2010.  Thankfully Retro’s vision didn’t squander what Rare once created, but we still wanted more and now in 2014 we finally get Tropical Freeze.

First thing, Tropical Freeze is beautiful, and the HD vision really shows with the gorgeous backgrounds that Retro has made and the fur on Donkey Kong.  HD fur at its best! Its too bad that Retro didn’t use a variety in selection which is an odd choice since Rare always gave Donkey Kong Country a wide variety in scenery.  Not only that but Retro only includes Rambi the Rhino in Tropical Freeze.  What about Expresso the Ostritch, Rattly the Snake, Parry the bird, and the countless other animal buddies that originated in DKC?  This is where Tropical Freeze’s biggest flaw is.  It lacks the variety that was so popular in Rare’s DKC. Whether it be the scenery and being in bee hives or animal buddies helping you out.

On the other hand Tropical Freeze does accel when it comes to gameplay.  It keeps the core mechanics alive and adding to them.  IN DKC Returns it was just DK and Diddy.  With DK you could jump as usual but Diddy would let you hover for a second with his jetpack.  Now you have the return of Dixie from the original trilogy with her popular hair hover.  IN tropical Freeze this allows you to get to slightly higher locations.  And for the first time Cranky appears as a playable character.  He allows you to pogo over spikes and enemies with his cane.  Each monkey and their unique abilities will slightly change the way you play which comes of great importance in the new time attack mode which is incredibly addicting.  For the first time you can play on each stage competing for the best time on the leaderboards.  As each character plays different it is important you pick the right monkey for the job.

While praising the gameplay for a moment I also want to mention the bosses that are very possibly the best bosses I’ve ever seen in any 2D platformer. They’re challenging, great designs, and most importantly fun.  And speaking of challenging, Tropical Freeze is a challenging game in the later worlds which is all the more reason for me to praise the gameplay.  Unlike Mario Donkey Kong will challenge you to play at your best consistently.  Unfortunately the game is far too short with just 6 worlds with roughly 6 levels in each world.  It was a huge letdown finding out that just when the game was becoming more of a challenge it ends.  At least the levels are slightly extended compared to older games.

In the end Tropical Freeze is pretty with a great soundtrack and fun, but lacks a real variety compared to the original trilogy.  It is far too short but with the time attack you can extend your game time through competition.  One side of me will tell you that this is an excellent game because it is, but I also feel it isn’t near the standards that it could have been with a wider variety and more levels.

Gamplay 8.5
Artstyle 9
Content 7
Overall 8.2