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Games of the Decade #23/Blog a Day #08

Hello gamers™, how are you?

For this one we are going back to the year 2014. The Wii U was entering its 2nd year on the market and I feel this was probably the most important year for the Wii U, as in they released a number of great games. Thing is the Wii U wasn't selling well and it wasn't until 2014 that games from their best selling franchises would be on the system like Mario Kart and Smash Bros. Among those games was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

                                          The music in this game is incredible ♥

Sit down and let me tell you the backstory of this: When the Wii U launched many were excited about how Nintendo's games would look like in HD. People wanted to know what Retro Studios has been working on and they wanted to see what they could do with more powerful hardware. They were indeed working on a Wii U game but once 2013 arrived, they showed off their Wii U game and many were disappointed. People were expecting something Metroid related like a new Metroid Prime game, anything else. So people were baffled that they chose to make another Donkey Kong game. Was it any good or was the criticism warranted?

Anyway, Retro Studios is no stranger to retro revivals (see Metroid Prime Trilogy and Donkey Kong Country Returns) but once you see the Retro Studios logo pop up in the game you know it's gonna be good and you're in for a fun time.

Game starts off as Donkey Kong is celerating his birthday with Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky Kong. But his special day is ruined when the Snowmads (the villains of this game) crash the party and blows them all away from DK Island. The Kongs must travel back all the way to DK Island to take back their home by traveling through various islands along the way. The trip back to DK Island is the best part of the game.

                                                 Levels like this look incredible

If you've played a Donkey Kong Country game in the past then you know what to expect here. You take control of Doney Kong himself but you can also have one of the other Kongs as a partner character with you as well. Diddy Kong brings his trademark barrel jetpack to help you get across gaps. Dixie Kong makes an appearance after being absent for so long and her ability is that she can use her ponytail like a propeller to help you reach platforms that might be out of reach. Cranky Kong's ability might be familiar to those who might have played the Ducktales game back on the NES or the remaster from a few years back. If you haven't, Cranky can use his cane to cross dangerous hazards like spikes and you can even use it to bounce higher and defeat certain enemies.

Each character has useful abilities to aid you in your quest to return back home, but it's possible to go through the levels with just DK alone. It wil be tougher though. Also yes you can play with a second player so player 1 assumes the role of DK and the player 2 assumes the role of another Kong so you 2 can go throught the levels together.

The other islands/worlds you travel through each have their own theme to them. The levels are all really well-made and are always such a joy to play. A good example of one of the best levels that is a blast to play is Grassland Groove. You need to experience that for yourself, it's such an amazing level that reminds me of the Lion King. One neat thing they did in this game is that the perspective changes into 3D in some levels. It's always a blast to see when that perspective changes because it gives you a whole new look from the traditional 2D sidescrolling levels. Think of it like Super Paper Mario.

                                                These levels are such a blast to play

The music is in this game is so good as well. It is by legendary composer David Wise which you might recognize the same composer of the original Donkey Kong Country games. The music in this game is really incredible and truly captures the themes of each level splendidly. You really need to hear the music in this game.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" Well if you have a Wii U then you can play it there. You can still most likely find it there for a decent price. One thing though, while yes the Wii U was known for using the second screen on the gamepad, this game doesn't have any gamepad exclusive features. Retro Studios never found any use for a second screen, so nothing really displays on the second screen, it's all blank. But should you choose to play on the gamepad, then nothing will display on your tv screen.

Nintendo also released an "enhanced port" of the game for the Nintendo Switch. The game looks a bit better than it did on the Wii U as well as some other changes. One big feature they added is Funky Kong via the new "Funky Mode" which makes the game more easier. A major complaint people had with the original game is that the levels are too hard, with this mode it makes it less difficult if you're not very experienced in these types of games. I haven't gotten around to this version but that's probaby the best version to get if you've never played the game before.

Donkey and Diddy Kong apparently never played their own game but are fixing that mistake

Final Thoughts: Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii was a good start to see what Retro Studios was capable of with the Donkey Kong Country series and with another one of Nintendo's IPs in general. With Tropical Freeze, they showed that they are really well capable and can carry the torch carried by Rareware back in the day.

All the animations look really fluid and nothing is wasted, the character are really expressive. The level design is amazing and the music is incredible. The levels aren't a walk in the park, more like a jungle, but you feel a sense of satisfaction when you complete a level. When I first played this game, I played it all the way through with my younger brother and we had a blast playing it together. We had a lot of barrel of laughs at the dumb mistakes we made but it as a really fun experience.

I wouldn't mind another new Donkey Kong game from Retro Studios if it's like Tropical Freeze, heck maybe better than Tropical Freeze. They are currently busy with the development of Metroid Prime 4, so any new DK game is probably not on the cards right now. But I hope there is in the future and maybe they can bring back more characters too, like let's say the Kongs from Donkey Kong 64.

                                    They are wondering where all the other Kongs are

So that's it for this one. I'll see you next time once this rocket barrel level is over!