Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Review - Analog Stick Gaming

"During its extremely short lifespan, the WiiU had a solid collection of games that never reached the audience they deserved. With the re-release of Bayonetta, Mario Kart 8, Pokken Tournament, and several titles to come, the most recent port to the Nintendo Switch is that of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, a title that I found to be one of the more disappointing Nintendo games I've played in years. " Jeff Young - Analog Stick Gaming

[RainbowBrite]

Oooh the game is too hard for the poor reviewer...

[360ICE]

Isn't it very easy?
I rated it 6/10 as well in part because there was little challenge. Probably easiest 2D platformer I've played in a long time.

[AnalogStickGaming]

There are certainly parts that are a cake walk, it was the slow reaction movements to the swimming and barrel sections that really didn't sit right with me. The trial and error aspects of the game also felt cheap and didn't offer up a good experience for me. I'm glad you are enjoying the game tho, I just couldn't get into it as much as I wanted since the game is visually amazing and has some stellar design qualties. Difficulty is also something that is hard to review since everyone is different. I know people who can beat Dark Souls pratically blindfolded, so people are always going to have an issue when a reviewer talks difficulty.

[360ICE]

I do play a decent amount of 2D platformers, but it just seemed really forgiving to me. You can just stock up on balloons in the store. If there was any difficulty, it was because the controllers felt floaty, so I'm not sure it would even handle being harder.

Seems to me there are just tons of more creative platformers out there with more personality. Recently, Celeste, which is clearly more challenging, has better controllers, music, story, has a personality unlike DKC:TP, even better exploration (though TP does this well), and in spite of all this feels less frustrating.

Even from Nintendo, Mario Maker just has so much more to offer than this remaster of a game that was just a dumbed-down, pretty-looking version of its predecessors.

[HeisenbergX]

@360ICE oh really little challenge .. but this site has Mario Odyssey rated 9.5 one of the easiest games with no challenge at all.

[DanteVFenris666]

Did you play the game? This is one of the hardest 2d platformers ive ever played

[Loadedklip]

You are either a liar or one of greatest platforming players of all time. IF the latter ... send us your twitch channel so we can all admire your greatness.

[3-4-5]

Funky Kong was literally invented to be an easy mode for kids and people who aren't good at games.

This game is a 8/10 at worst and more closer to a 8.8/10 type of game.

There always has to be one site that "goes there" and "does that"......

It's like ok fine, you got our clicks this one time, but now we know not to trust analogstick gaming.com

[Mr Marvel]

I agree with everything you said.

[AnalogStickGaming]

My site doesn't feature ads or generate revenue, click's don't get me anything. Glad you are enjoying the game tho.

[360ICE]

"goes there" means "has a different opinion than me"
Grow up

[Xavi4K]

Bffft...that game deserve 8 at least..

[DigitalRaptor]

The game is great and luckily most other reviewers agree.

[HeisenbergX]

Agreed .. game is a blast it's so much fun and the soundtrack is phenomenal. I'm so glad that this port got much better reviews than WiiU version because it really deserves it.

[AnubisG]

6/10?🤔 That seams too low for DK.

[360ICE]

Well, when you don't reinvent yourself for 20 years and lose all the personality that made Donkey Kong Country great, it seems kinda right. It's also a lazy remaster tha tadds an easy mode to a game that isn't really all that challenging.

[Vegamyster]

How did it lose its personality? Visually it's one of the most diverse 2D platformers available and David Wise who's the original composer for the Snes games is at his best on this game.

[360ICE]

The Kongs used to have personalities, whereas now they're just happy apes celebrating DK's birthday.
You used to have this:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

And yeah it was corny and cheesy back then, but at least it attempted to separate itself from the others. CK was actually a grump who tried to talk down the success of the Donkey Kong games. Clever stuff.

It once had tracks like this:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Listen to that! It's amazing. While in Tropical Freeze, I'm hard-pressed to find a single memorable tune.

It's not all bad. It looks nice, has some fun moments and some really great variation in levels, but the series needs to evolve just a little bit I think. The competition has become much better, while DK has really only lost its edge.

[DanteVFenris666]

20 years lol? This is donkey Kong 5th game in 20 years. Plus the return series is different then the original trilogy

[Vegamyster]

I think you're letting nostalgia blind you a bit, a lack of a short rap song that was cheesy back then doesn't really matter in the grand sceme of the games, never mind DK64 was a 3D platformer in the vein of Banjo Kazooie while the DCKR games are an extension of the SNES ones. Tropical Freezes charm is in the levels themselves which are all visually distinct/unique, not one level uses the same assets.

What exactly is wrong with these songs? These aren't my favorites but they have all the hooks to make them memorable.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

As far as competition is concerned I'm kind of confused, there is hardly any good 2D platformers these days let alone ones that push the genre forward with new mechanics, something like Celeste is one of the rare great ones. The last big ones were Rayman Legends & Shovel Knight which are 4-5 years old, there is also the two Ori games but they're more of a Metroidvania game.

[AnalogStickGaming]

Just being a franchise with a popular character doesn't automatically mean a set score of 8 or 9 or 10 should be the default, it needs to earn it. The game is good, don't get me wrong, it just isn't great. There are certainly aspects of the game that are very well designed, but I just couldn't get into the controls and feel of the game. To me, it lacked the standard Nintendo polish. I state full well going into the game that I'm not a terribly big fan of DK, so my review is from someone coming in that isn't a big fan of the franchise, but would like to be. You don't have to agree with my review, that's fine. If you feel the game is an 8 or more, then all power to you.

[Old McGroin]

You "couldn't get in to the controls" of a 2D platformer? It's not Fifa man, the controls aren't that complicated!

[360ICE]

If you're not deeply plugged into Nintendo, this is how you're likely to perceive Nintendo. TP's Meta-score is inflated by Nintendo sites that apparently never play games on other consoles.

Like "Switch Player"
"Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze is as impressive now as it was back in 2014."
Eh no. It feels like a remaster of PS2-era game.

And "Nintenderos"
"Neither is a regular platform game, nor is it a just one more game with the Nintendo’s gorilla"
Yup that is exactly what it is. Idk why'd they even bring that up if they didn't deep down feel like people would.

And 6/10 isn't a bad score. It's just, as you say, not great. And DK isn't great. It's being blown away by 2D indies and even other Nintendo 2D platformers.

[Outlawzz]

He complains about the different spikes in difficulty which to me is a positive. If I just passed a really hard level I would like to take a breather with an easy level afterward, I mean they can't all be too challenging or else it wouldn't be accessible and if it's too easy than you drive away the fans that remember that challenging dk gameplay, I feel it provides the perfect balance. Controls are perfectly fine too, if your timing is wrong then that's just a personal problem. The game is a 7 at it's worst

[AnalogStickGaming]

I definitely disagree about balance, but that's just me. It's perfectly fine you enjoy the game, even love it. That's cool. A lot of people forget we can have discussions about games and have very different opinions about them. If we all felt the same way about games then the industry would be far worse off than it is.

[HeisenbergX]

6/10 awww looks like someone sucks at the game

[paintedgamer1984]

The price alone makes it a 6/10

[AnalogStickGaming]

There really isn't any reason this needed to be more than 39.99, tops. At least Mario Kart 8 Deluxe added stuff.

[getbacktogaming]

Totally!! All the more insulting to Wii U owners who may have considered repurchasing on Switch...

Actually what Nintendo Console did not have it's own Mariokart release? I really hope the Switch gets a newer Mario Kart than this port.

[MadMax]

Reviewer isn't a gamer and should find another job. Solid 9 all the way!

[AnalogStickGaming]

Reviewing games isn't my job. :) But glad you are enjoying the game.

[Prince_TFK]

It should have gotten higher score than this, but at the end of the day it is the reviewer’s reviews, and that doesn’t make me enjoy the game any less.

[AnalogStickGaming]

Feel free to enjoy the game more than I did, that is perfectly fine.

[SCW1982]

Giving the best 2d platformer ever made a 6/10 (eye roll)

[getbacktogaming]

Was that sarcastic? I mean even if it is a good game, the best one? What?

[DanteVFenris666]

I’d agree as well. This was the best 2d platformer I’ve ever played

[Mr Marvel]

6/10..?? Really?
I’m 4 worlds/islands in and I can tell you that anything less than 8/10 just seems way off.
Personally from what I’ve played it’s between an 8.5 and 9.0.

[AnalogStickGaming]

Glad you are enjoying the game. I really wanted to like it more than I did. I do agree with my sites and people that want an 8 from this game, but the controls just were not as precise as I think they could have been. I couldn't get into the trial and error aspects of the game, no matter that I consistenly had 99 lives at the ready. Still, I am glad to see when people enjoy a game, that's awesome. I just couldn't enjoy it as much.

[DanteVFenris666]

The controls were perfectly concise. Just look at how good people play this game. If your really good the level are made perfectly to flow well with speed running it

[jonivtec]

I play it on my wii U...and must admit the control was sluggish at best....feel slow and not really responsive.After a while i got use to it but still....otherwise....visual and challenge was there.Maybe with a more reasonable price i would have got it on my switch to.

[PhantomTommy]

The game is a ten for me, played on the Wii U. The level of creativity in these levels is absolutely insane. Before Celeste came out, this was my favourite ever 2D platformer.

[OnDec76]

Just give the OG Donkey Kong Country Snes

[Einhander1971]

6/10 insult to this great

[Germaximus]

I absolutely loved the game on my Wii U but I still haven't beaten it. I really enjoyed the first 5 islands but the 6th island amped the difficulty by a billion. LOL That's the main reason I haven't beat it.

It went from being fun to being wtf? I don't have an issue with a challenge at all but the difficulty curve is pretty stupid and just made me go "whatever."

I'll return when I'm in the mood go complete it.

I'm sorry you kinda hated it. =P

[AnalogStickGaming]

Oh, make no mistake about it, I didn't hate it at all. It is a very good game, I just didn't enjoy it as much as many other people did. The 6th island definitely has some trouble spots, but it is also one of the better islands. Glad you are enjoying the game. I'm always glad to see people liking games, even if I do not.