Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (for Nintendo Switch) Review

The Wii U had some excellent games, but the console just didn't click with users like the Wii did, or like the Switch is doing.

That's why we're so glad to see so many Wii U games get Switch ports.

Bayonetta 2 is one of the best games of its genre, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is simply a great racing game with all of the DLC content of its Wii U version.

Now Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has gotten the Switch port treatment.

It's a fantastic platformer starring gaming's most famous ape, but it doesn't add many new features from its Wii U release, which makes its $59.99 price tag a little harder to accept than the DLC-filled ports of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition.

Still, if you're a 2D platforming fan, the satisfying gameplay and dense, varied level design of this port are very much worth your time and attention.

Back to Donkey Kong Country

Fans of King K.

Rool and the crocodile enemies of the SNES-era Donkey Kong Country games will continue to be disappointed.

The strange tiki creatures of Donkey Kong Country Returns don't return, either, and are instead replaced by a much more Scandinavian-Arctic menace.

In this entry, a force of Viking-like penguins and walruses called the Snowmads take over Donkey Kong's home, turning it into a frozen wasteland and blasting the Kong family to the far ends of their archipelago.

As Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, and now Funky Kong, you need to take your island back.

The Same Game

The normal game mode is identical to the Wii U version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

You control Donkey Kong through six worlds filled with varied platforming stages.

You run, jump, pound the ground with savage ape strength, and grab onto things to beat enemies and overcome obstacles.

You're joined by Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky, each of which can follow you and provide additional health and powers.

Diddy has a jetpack that lets him hover, Dixie can spin her hair to get a bit of lift to reach tricky platforms, and Cranky can use his cane like a pogo stick to bounce off of spiked enemies and jump higher.

These companions appear when you break barrels with their respective letters on them (DD for Diddy, DX for Dixie, and CK for Cranky), but you can only have one at a time; throwing a CK barrel when you already have Diddy with you swaps Diddy out for Cranky.

Donkey Kong has two hit points by default, which means he can take damage only once and keep going; after two hits, he dies and goes back to the last checkpoint.

Picking up a companion adds an additional two hearts, and you lose the companion when they take damage twice, leaving Donkey Kong all alone again.

It's less forgiving than Super Mario Odyssey's three hit points (upgradable to six), but it offers a bit more wiggle room than the original SNES Donkey Kong Country games where if a Kong gets hit once, they're out.

You can collect DK coins throughout the game, which you can then use to buy items from Funky Kong or Tawks the Parrot at their stand.

These items can make the game much easier, adding an extra point of health to Donkey Kong or providing an escape balloon to safely avoid pits.

They aren't necessary to beat the game or see every level and path, but they can help if things get too difficult.

Funky's Kong Quest

If you really aren't sure about your platforming skills, you can play in Funky Kong Mode.

This is an easier game mode that gives each ape three hit points, and lets you use items in the middle of a stage instead of only setting them at the start of each one.

More importantly, it lets you play as Funky Kong, the cool bro of the Kong family.

Funky can't play with the other Kongs, but his surfboard combines the jumping, hovering, and spike-standing abilities of the three companions, and he gets a whopping five hit points on top of that.

He can also use a total of five items per level instead of three.

You can switch between Donkey Kong and Funky Kong in Funky Kong Mode between levels, letting you choose whether you want a slightly easier or much easier game.

Islands of Adventure

Whoever you decide to play as, you have at least six worlds full of secrets and collectibles to run through before you can consider the game beaten.

Each world has around eight to ten stages, each of which usually introduces a unique gameplay mechanic.

One stage might involve fighting through a fruit factory over a sea of lethal juice, jumping on sliced fruits as machines take them apart.

Another might be built around jumping on platforms suspended by balloons over bottomless pits.

There are also the usual vehicle sections, where you need to ride in a mine cart and time your jumps correctly, or ride in a barrel-shaped rocket and maneuver between obstacles.

Each world has its own general theme, like a fruit-filled jungle or an autumnal forest, and visual elements are often shared between stages.

Certain platforms and trees can look very similar from stage to stage, and the enemies aren't particularly varied.

However, every stage still feels unique thanks to complex and immaculate level design that combines all of these shared elements together in ways that can play and look very different.

It helps that the levels of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze feel much more organic and less tile-based than a New Super Mario Bros.

2D platformer or Super Mario Maker, and the arrangement of enemies and obstacles is much more flexible.

The boss fights aren't nearly as good as the paths you can take to reach them, though.

They're overly long, multi-phase battles that all share the same formula: Avoid a pattern of attacks until the boss exposes a weak spot, then hit that weak spot.

Every boss takes around nine hits to beat, and every hit sends the boss back into an attacking phase where you simply need to avoid whatever they throw at you.

They aren't awful fights, but they would be more enjoyable if they lasted half as long.

Kong Collectibles

Besides simply getting to the end of each stage, you can find plenty of secrets to unlock even more difficult challenges.

Every stage has four hidden letters (K, O, N, and G), and five, seven, or nine hidden puzzle pieces.

Collecting these objects often requires taking more difficult paths around obstacles, attempting more dangerous jumps, prodding at every level element that might be hiding a reward, and simply exploring with all of your platforming skills.

This is the real challenge and staying power of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, because these collectibles are much harder to reach than the end of each stage.

Exploring can also take you through portals that unlock alternate stages, distinguished by letters instead of numbers like 2-A.

These additional stages are just as varied and interesting, and have their own letters and puzzle pieces to find.

Collecting all the letters and puzzle pieces in each stage unlocks in-game art.

More importantly, collecting all of them in each world unlocks a far more difficult challenge stage.

These stages are the hardest parts of the game by far, with shades of Super Luigi U and Challenger's Road from Super Mario 3D World.

You can run through the entire game in four to six hours, but collecting everything and beating the optional challenge levels will take a fair bit longer, depending on your skill.

Co-Op Play

Like in previous Donkey Kong Country games (including the Wii U Tropical Freeze), you can play cooperatively with a friend, on the same screen.

And, since the Switch already comes with two Joy-Cons, you can play together without buying another set of controllers (if you don't mind the small, cramped single sideways Joy-Con control configuration).

Player 1 plays Donkey Kong or Funky Kong, while Player 2 plays one of the three companion Kongs separately.

This is the only way Funky will work directly with Diddy, Dixie, or Cranky, and since Funky keeps his five hit points and the companion gets three more, it can make the game even easier.

Besides leaderboards for best times in each stage, there is no competitive online multiplayer to speak of.

A Good But Pricey Port

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was excellent when it came out on the Wii U and it's still excellent on the Nintendo Switch, where you have the option to play it on the go or on your TV.

This version doesn't add much in the way of content, besides the easier Funky Mode, which makes its $60 price tag a little harder to swallow considering that the game is four years old.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition both justify their full retail prices with post-release, add-on content, while Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is basically the same game it was on the Wii U.