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LTTP: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
tremendous game, with the best soundtrack in YEARS.

You can see the handcrafting effort that went in there: there's no artificial bollocks feeling here, everything feels so organic and alive, it truly reminds you what a videogame should be

as soon as I finished it, I wanted another one. But not before Prime 4
 
T

TheSpaceBetween

Member
SpinDasher said:
Sometimes I play some levels at night before I go to bed.

Grassland Grove's level design wise is not even close to the games best offerings. But everything else about it soothes the soul.
Click to expand...

I think the design was great. But no, not close to the best in the game.

When I think of the tippy top specifically pertaining to the game's great level design, these are SOME of the levels I think of:

Rockin' Relics
High Tide Ride
Sawmill Thrill
Wing Ding
Scorch'n'Torch
Precarious Pendulums
Platform Problems
Dynamite Dash
Reckless Ride
Fruity Factory
Panicky Paddles
Frosty Fruits
Forest Folly
Cliffside Slide
Frozen Frenzy
Crumble Cavern
 
G

GeeDuhb

Member
So I just re-picked up the WiiU after selling mine over a year ago. This was the first game that really put a knife in my heart last year when it was revealed and I realized I wouldn't get to play it...I, like the OP, am a DKC mega fan. It is without a doubt my favorite game series ever. So of course this was the first game I got (along with MK8.)

Anyway, I just turned it on for the first time and had to come here and say HOLY FUCK this game is beautiful!!! <3 DKC in HD is like a Donkey Kong fan's wet dream! This game looks BETTER than MK8!

Ok, now I am going to stop drooling over the visuals and actually play the game...
 
E

Effect

Member
Still need to get around to buying this. Just haven't been in the mood for platformers lately and even though Tropical Freeze looks amazing, always felt it would, can't seem to get interested in it enough to buy.
 
mpgeist

mpgeist

Member
I bought a Wii U to play Mario Kart 8, but I picked this up at the same time. I've only played MK8 for a few hours because this game has demanded all my attention. It's so damn good.
 
D

DeuceGamer

Member
Amazing game and truly refreshing to play a platformer with such challenge. Feels so rewarding when you beat a tough level or boss. Soundtrack was glorious and just made the overall experience so much better.

Hopefully new Wii U owners will seriously consider picking this game up and it proves to sell throughout whatever's left the the Wii U's life.
 
T

tiggerkiddo

Member
It has a great soundtrack and the level design has been good so far, Grassland Grove has been the highlight. Not a fan of those bosses though, they last far too long.

Whether it is better than DKC2? Naaaaaaah, I still find that game far superior to this. This is definetly a step up from DKCR, which really disappointed me.
 
M

Mik3F

Member
I shall be playing this from this Sunday as it is my Father's Day Present from my kids. It is sitting next to the Wii U taunting me, but I have promised to not play it until Sunday

Looking forward to getting stuck in
 
M

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
I could only play 15mn yesterday with my girls. First impressions: this is no Rayman nor NSMBU, I don't think my 6 years old daughter will go far in this game without my help.

The CGI intro had a Frozen context which obviously hooked my girls.

The music is incredible in the first stage, the best I've heard in a while.

And that's it for now, I wish I had more time to play more...
 
T

TheSpaceBetween

Member
GeeDuhb said:
Anyway, I just turned it on for the first time and had to come here and say HOLY FUCK this game is beautiful!!! <3 DKC in HD is like a Donkey Kong fan's wet dream! This game looks BETTER than MK8!
Click to expand...

I agree. Mario Kart 8 looks great but Retro's art direction and animation are on a level all their own.
 
A

Andrew.

Banned
Just rebought. I never beat that final boss and as the best punishment ever I erased my game so I gotta start from scratch. No regrets. This game is really something else in the realm of 2D platformers. I WILL beat it this time!

And yeah, the life limit sucks but man you can't beat having a nonexistent time limit.
 
C

chadboban

Member
Andrew. said:
Just rebought. I never beat that final boss and as the best punishment ever I erased my game so I gotta start from scratch. No regrets. This game is really something else in the realm of 2D platformers. I WILL beat it this time!

And yeah, the life limit sucks but man you can't beat having a nonexistent time limit.
Click to expand...

You can do it man!

632014032559.jpg
 
M

maxcriden

Member
Andrew. said:
Just rebought. I never beat that final boss and as the best punishment ever I erased my game so I gotta start from scratch. No regrets. This game is really something else in the realm of 2D platformers. I WILL beat it this time!

And yeah, the life limit sucks but man you can't beat having a nonexistent time limit.
Click to expand...

You can do it, man! Don't forget you can get extra hearts from the small baddies in the final level.
 
G

Gartooth

Member
My current GotY as well as my favorite 2D platformer of all time. More people need to play this, easily the best game on the Wii U for me.

Also this better win best soundtrack of the year because even knowing David Wise was coming back, I didn't expect to like the compositions in this game more than the originals which is saying something.
 
L

lucablight

Member
As a fan of the donkey kong country games from the Super Nintendo days I found DKCR and tropical freeze to be very disappointing. The main problem is that the games are just not fun because of the difficulty. I didn't feel like exploring and getting all the puzzle pieces and Kong letters because I just wanted to get through the game because I kept dying. Not fun. Also whoever did the physics for Tropical freeze didn't do a very good job. So many times in the game when you do a roll Donkey kong actually rolls too far and there is a "kick" at the end of it that often makes him roll too far and often off the edge of the platform . It wasn't natural like in the snes versions where you could do a roll while jumping over a hole from one platform to another. Repeatedly dying because of poor controls in a platformer is unforgivable. Finally the presence of Dixie kong made diddy and cranky rather superfluous. There is absolutely no reason to use them if you have Dixie. One positive was bringing David wise back. The music was great. However overall the main issue is these games just aren't as fun and charismatic as the original trilogy.
 
B

braves01

Banned
lucablight said:
As a fan of the donkey kong country games from the Super Nintendo days I found DKCR and tropical freeze to be very disappointing. The main problem is that the games are just not fun because of the difficulty. I didn't feel like exploring and getting all the puzzle pieces and Kong letters because I just wanted to get through the game because I kept dying. Not fun. Also whoever did the physics for Tropical freeze didn't do a very good job. So many times in the game when you do a roll Donkey kong actually rolls too far and there is a "kick" at the end of it that often makes him roll too far and often off the edge of the platform . It wasn't natural like in the snes versions where you could do a roll while jumping over a hole from one platform to another. Repeatedly dying because of poor controls in a platformer is unforgivable. Finally the presence of Dixie kong made diddy and cranky rather superfluous. There is absolutely no reason to use them if you have Dixie. One positive was bringing David wise back. The music was great. However overall the main issue is these games just aren't as fun and charismatic as the original trilogy.
Click to expand...

Yes, poor controls and physics were the reason you kept dying. Diddy did become kinda worthless with Dixie and Cranky coming along though.
 
L

lucablight

Member
braves01 said:
Yes, poor controls and physics were the reason you kept dying. Diddy did become kinda worthless with Dixie and Cranky coming along though.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but when you restart a level from a checkpoint and try and roll into a barrel right next to you and donkey kong rolls too far and dies that in my eyes constitutes poor controls. In saying that I did finish the game. It was a frustrating experience at times.
 
J

J3ffro

Member
This is my first ever DKC game. Not sure why I never gave the original a shot, I remember the spread about it in Nintendo Power and just...didn't care. Anyway, this game is phenomenal. Absolutely beautiful visuals and I'm not even out of the first world, after reading this thread I'm excited to see where it goes - I figured it'd just be all jungle.

Thanks to all the people that insisted it was a must play, I'm sure I would have skipped this one as well.

Edit: Whoa - no longer a junior. That's been a long time coming.
 
CharminUltra

CharminUltra

Member
Played through the first three levels (stopped to play Mario Kart 8) and the game is definitely fun and sounds AMAZING, but I gotta say I did have some trouble with the controls (kept rolling into pits by accident, etc.) That SAID I didn't know the game had alternate control setups, so I will be trying those for sure as soon as I get back to it (I gotta get bored of MK8 eventually, right? Right?!?)

I really do love this 2D platformer renaissance, though. So good.
 
R

rjc571

Banned
I finished the game this weekend. I was surprised how anticlimactic World 6 and the final boss were. I was actually completely surprised when I defeated him and it started playing the ending cutscene. I had read their were 7 worlds, and you could tell that the orb thing had 7 pieces, so I expected that World 7 would be the final regular world rather than a bonus world. It wasn't like DKC Returns, where the last few levels and the final boss fight felt like a definitive excalmation point to the game. Still enjoyed the crap out of it, though. The World 7 bonus levels were hardcore platforming at its finest.
 
I

IronicSonic

Member
lucablight said:
As a fan of the donkey kong country games from the Super Nintendo days I found DKCR and tropical freeze to be very disappointing. The main problem is that the games are just not fun because of the difficulty. I didn't feel like exploring and getting all the puzzle pieces and Kong letters because I just wanted to get through the game because I kept dying. Not fun. Also whoever did the physics for Tropical freeze didn't do a very good job. So many times in the game when you do a roll Donkey kong actually rolls too far and there is a "kick" at the end of it that often makes him roll too far and often off the edge of the platform . It wasn't natural like in the snes versions where you could do a roll while jumping over a hole from one platform to another. Repeatedly dying because of poor controls in a platformer is unforgivable. Finally the presence of Dixie kong made diddy and cranky rather superfluous. There is absolutely no reason to use them if you have Dixie. One positive was bringing David wise back. The music was great. However overall the main issue is these games just aren't as fun and charismatic as the original trilogy.
Click to expand...

Diddy are worthless for sure, but Cranky is a key character at the speedruns.

In my experience, the control is perfect but I understand those who find it strange coming from Snes games. It's takes some getting used to it.

DKC 2 is a great game, the best of the original trilogy and has a place in the hearts of many, but objectively now it's outdated (I played it a couple of weeks ago) and Tropical Freeze is better in almost everything.
 
G

grandwizard

Member
lucablight said:
I'm sorry but when you restart a level from a checkpoint and try and roll into a barrel right next to you and donkey kong rolls too far and dies that in my eyes constitutes poor controls. In saying that I did finish the game. It was a frustrating experience at times.
Click to expand...

I'm a huge fan of the original trilogy and I kind of get what you mean when talking about the physics/rolling. However I still really like the new games and think they have some great level design in them.

One thing that I have been contemplating lately is whether Retro intentionally made the roll a little finicky, with it going longer than expected plus needing a bit of a wind up to execute. I am starting to think that the way regular people (not just vets/speedrunners etc) play DKC 1/2/3 with the constant roll jumping or rolling to get running is the way they did not want to go. And so I've been lately trying to play DKCTF without rolling at all unless it is absolutely necessary for a roll jump, and I think that this might have been the way they intended all along.

I know the videos of the pros use it all the time and I'm sure that is factored in as well for the level's 'rhythm', but some stuff about the level layouts just started to make more sense when normally moving through them without rolling or running everywhere.
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
lucablight said:
I'm sorry but when you restart a level from a checkpoint and try and roll into a barrel right next to you and donkey kong rolls too far and dies that in my eyes constitutes poor controls. In saying that I did finish the game. It was a frustrating experience at times.
Click to expand...

The roll and grab buttons are separate...
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
Took me a while but I finally 100% this game, I was really impressed by some later levels and this is definitely my favorite Wii U Platformer.

I died so much in the very last part of 7-3, haha.
 
G

gotoadgo

Member
lucablight said:
I'm sorry but when you restart a level from a checkpoint and try and roll into a barrel right next to you and donkey kong rolls too far and dies that in my eyes constitutes poor controls. In saying that I did finish the game. It was a frustrating experience at times.
Click to expand...

I don't understand this complaint at all. He rolls too far? He rolls the same distance every time you hit the roll button and if you mis judge it then it's on you not the controls.
 
F

FloweryMarston

Member
I finished this game at my friend's house today. Why is retro studios so godlike? Why is david wise so godlike? i must say that the second world has some of the best atmospheric stages that i have ever seen in a platformer. dat second boss twilight sky.
 
L

lucablight

Member
The Xtortionist said:
The roll and grab buttons are separate...
Click to expand...

I mean barrels you jump into to shoot you through the air not ones you grab.

gotoadgo said:
I don't understand this complaint at all. He rolls too far? He rolls the same distance every time you hit the roll button and if you mis judge it then it's on you not the controls.
Click to expand...

I think grand wizard understands where I'm coming from. In the old games you could constantly roll and jump over holes without going flying off the edge. In this one attempting to roll and jump from one platform to another usually results in donkey kong missing the barrel/platform and falling into a hole. Very strange design choice. Similarly who was the genius who decided you needed to hold onto the shoulder button to grab a vine? It just made it feel awkward.
 
L

Loco4Coco

Member
Just 100%d this game today and I love it aswell. But I have one problem with this game. Don't know if it's designed to be this way but, when you take damage you kinda freeze for a split second and that can cause frustrating situations on certain levels where there are moving/collapsing platforms like Platform Problems (5-K). The problem is you may be jumping towards a moving platform but then you touch a spike/enemy causing you to freeze that split second, but the platform will continue to move/collapse causing you to miss that landing spot. I'm sorry if I'm not making it entirely clear.
KuGsj.gif
 
V

valouris

Member
SNES and DKC was the first console experience that I owned, and to say that the original trilogy shaped my gaming (and music) tastes and was a fond memory of my childhood would be an understatement.

Got the game yesterday, haven't read/seen anything to avoid spoilers.

And..

DAT FIRST BOSS SONG

What. The. Hell. David Wise.

Had to stop playing and am now listening to it non-stop. Just wow.

Oh, and the game is mighty fine as well.
 
E

eddfromtheriver

Banned
clutch.as.it.gets. said:
Completely disagree with you.

I bought a Wii U just for this game and MK8, and so far i`m in world 4 with all the waterlevels and while this game (and Returns) are good and fun game, they completely lack the great atmosphere of the Rare trilogy (especially DKC2).

TF at times feel more like madagascar the game than a DKC game.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Rare DKC games are the GOAT's (DKC1 & 2 at least), the atmosphere was so palpable in both of them that it's a shame that Retro were unable to recreate it.
 
P

Phased

Member
Started playing this game as a coop experience last week or so. I have to say I am definitely impressed by the variety. Every time you think you've seen it all, the game throws something new at you, and it never feels tedious. It brings back a lot of memories of sitting up late night as a kid, playing through DKC/DKC2 and having a chapped/sore bottom lip because I was biting it so hard when I concentrated.

As a coop game it's a blast. We are collecting every puzzle piece/KONG letter before we progress and it really adds a ton of longevity to them, with my only minor complaint being that a couple of the Puzzle pieces are in extremely cheesy areas, although the Parrot generally makes it so finding them isn't that big of a deal, but one or two of them that require collecting all of the (sometimes challenging) bananas for it to appear can be frustrating sometimes.

My coop partner isn't very good at games like this, so I very much appreciate being able to carry them (literally) on my back during the more challenging platforming places, yet they retain their special ability and can shoot, so they don't feel entirely like dead weight.

I'm genuinely sad it took me this long to get a Wii U.
 
H

H2intensity

Member
Borrow it from my friends two days ago...right now I'm on world 4. This game so beautiful: level design is top notch and the music, WOW!!!! And I also love the boss fight, challenging and smart. I pick donkey kong country returns (wii) as best 2d platformer for last gen, and this is so far better than DKCR.
 
M

moltonasty

Member
This game....THIS GAME.

This is GOAT material in terms of 2D platformers, and that's really saying something.

Shame about the poor sales though, I heard it didn't even break 500k, is that true?
 
G

GWX

Member
One of the best platformers ever. The level design is out of this world, so good. The soundtrack is on a separate level also, simply sublime. I just wish the menus and loading screens had better polish (the stutter in the loading screens are the worst).
 
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