Guessed by @UnderwaterFunktown
Not gonna lie, when I started making these lists all those years ago, I thought that maybe Tropical Freeze would be one of those recency bias titles that drops down significantly over time. I mean, it's just a traditional 2D platformer, with the most generic excuse for a "story" you could get in a game like this, it's exactly the kind of game that'd fade from my memory over time - case in point, the near total absence of Mario games for the past few years of me making these. And yet... Tropical Freeze holds on. More accurately, it holds up.
The reason it sticks around like this is pretty simple: it's just good. Like really, really good. This is "just" a level-based platformer, sure, but when every single level - and I mean every single level - is so unique, interesting, memorable and fun, there's no way you can just forget about it. I can't believe it's been over a decade since I first played this, and honestly have lost track of how many times I replayed it as it's become a bit of a comfort game for me. And yeah, I can probably remember every single level off the top of my head. Almost all of them have completely unique music, too, and wow did David Wise give it his best on this one. One of the best soundtracks ever. The best 2D platformer ever. Tropical Freeze is forever in my heart.
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