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What is GAF's consensus on Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze?

the controls and level design. i think grabbing should be automatic. .
So glad it's not, would take away skill and be pointless to me. As far as the game is overall, I'd put it as one of the better platformers of all time but think it's a bit overrated here with the hyperbole. I think it's a fantastic game but thought Returns beats it in design. Tropical Freeze beats Returns in variety and presentational value though. Basically, if you combined both of Retro's Donkey Kongs, it would be in the talks of best platformer of all time.
 

Majestad

Banned
I think is the greatest 2D Platformer ever made. I just bought it again so I can have a second playthorugh and finally beat those secret levels.
 

Mohasus

Member
I didn't like it. Levels are too long, puzzles pieces felt useless to me and there are too many of them. Also the bonus levels are pretty much the same the whole game. :(
 

Yukinari

Member
So glad it's not, would take away skill and be pointless to me. As far as the game is overall, I'd put it as one of the better platformers of all time but think it's a bit overrated here with the hyperbole. I think it's a fantastic game but thought Returns beats it in design. Tropical Freeze beats Returns in variety and presentational value though. Basically, if you combined both of Retro's Donkey Kongs, it would be in the talks of best platformer of all time.

The bosses in Returns are way too easy and not memorable. Especially because Tiki Tong and his whole tribe is boring. And Caves being dedicated to rocket barrel and minecart levels is lazy.
 
The bosses in Returns are way too easy and not memorable. Especially because Tiki Tong and his whole tribe is boring. And Caves being dedicated to rocket barrel and minecart levels is lazy.

Yeah, the bosses are probably better in Tropical Freeze and the world enemies are better but I don't believe minecart levels are ever "lazy".

There might be too many of them but there are too few of them in Tropical Freeze for me.

Plus, Tropical Freeze had a whole world of underwater shit(mind you, I thought Retro handled water levels as good as anyone has done in the past).
 

Gartooth

Member
I consider it to be at least in the top 5 2D platformers of all time, and the best platformer on the Wii U. It was a game that consistently upped the ante in level design and challenge.

It got robbed of recognition in so many GOTY awards, and honestly deserved way better considering how lackluster 2014 was overall. It is unfortunate it got overlooked so much, since aside from a high difficulty level I'm guessing the reason it didn't get much attention was due to general apathy towards the game. 3D World releasing a few months apart probably had an effect too, though I thought that game was pretty lackluster in comparison to TF.
 
I think it's beloved by many.

Personally I find it considerably overrated.

It's a nice looking game. The soundtrack is incredible. The controls feel off.

I've played tons of platformers. I'm a Nintendo platformer junkie. I've played all the Donkey Kong games.

I just feel like they really have to tweak this series so that you feel responsible for your failures. That's the mark of great platformers. TF just feels lacking to me, in this regard.
 

AniHawk

Member
What's the big deal with having to hold a button to grab objects? It works perfectly fine once you get use to it.

mainly, my issue with it is that it's distracting and unnecessary. it's distracting because grabbing stuff is nowhere near as common as jumping on, off, or onto stuff, so you might forget there's another button press in there when you need to grab. there's also an animation that signifies that donkey kong is in fact grabbing whatever he's grabbing, so it's not always a guarantee that pressing the button will have him do the thing you want him to.

i thought this was a game about jumping over obstacles in a simple-to-understand layout with simple-to-understand controls. at least, ideally that's the case. this isn't mirror's edge here. i shouldn't have to know that there are little intricacies what should be a pretty universally understood genre by game fans.

...since when is running left to right and reacting to obstacles bland? Most platformers, you run left to right and react to obstacles. :p




Amusingly, while I agree that Tearaway has an unmatched ability to make you feel like you're holding a little world in your hands, I felt the platformer elements were so barebones and pathetically easy that they felt out of place. It felt like I was taking a break from the interesting, inventive stuff whenever I'd walk into an area that was nothing but drum bouncers and slowly unfolding ledges.

i have a hard time recommending tearaway for that reason. i still do it because the end of the game ramps up the cleverness in the puzzles and ties everything together really well. without that, i wouldn't support it like i do.

It's totally fine to dislike a game, but it seems odd to actively not recommend the game to anyone, even though the consensus is clearly that the game is fantastic , and thus would very likely appeal to most fans of platformers

There are a ton of games I personally dislike, but would still recommend to others. I'm well aware of when I'm in a minority and I don't let that affect someone else potentially missing out on an experience they might love

well i'm a platformer fan, so i can't make a detached recommendation like that. i could probably do it with a sim racer, since i'm not a fan of racing games. sure, play gran tursimo. people seem to like it and it's popular. can't really get my own experience out of the way if it's a game i don't enjoy in a genre i really do enjoy.
 

TheKevn

Member
I was psyched to play it beat the first world and some other levels and traded it in. Felt stuff but I also just finished playing rayman legends which I found vastly superior.
 

jb1234

Member
It's marvelous. Perfect challenge, wonderfully creative levels.

(The music is good but I don't feel it holds a candle to DKC2's more brooding and memorable soundtrack.)
 

Yukinari

Member
Yeah, the bosses are probably better in Tropical Freeze and the world enemies are better but I don't believe minecart levels are ever "lazy".

There might be too many of them but there are too few of them in Tropical Freeze for me.

Plus, Tropical Freeze had a whole world of underwater shit(mind you, I thought Retro handled water levels as good as anyone has done in the past).

Im saying the Cave world in Returns was nothing but gimmick levels. It feels poorly spread out. The only water level i hated in TF was the key hunting one.
 
So glad it's not, would take away skill and be pointless to me. As far as the game is overall, I'd put it as one of the better platformers of all time but think it's a bit overrated here with the hyperbole. I think it's a fantastic game but thought Returns beats it in design. Tropical Freeze beats Returns in variety and presentational value though. Basically, if you combined both of Retro's Donkey Kongs, it would be in the talks of best platformer of all time.

I wouldn't say it's overrated here, though I would agree Returns has stronger level design, and for that reason alone, I would agree it's the stronger game overall. They brought in a lot of people from Junction Point after it closed down and a few from Red Fly to replace the trio of lead designers that headed Returns and left Retro. Perhaps that was why the level design wasn't QUITE as strong (though thats just a guess of course). People mostly didn't like Returns because of the Wiimote, the music, the bosses, and the general lack of ambience that the series is known for. Tropical Freeze addressed many of those issues while mostly maintaining the God-tier level design of Returns, so it's not hard to see while many on GAF call it the, or at least one of the GOAT platformers. Both of them are up there with SMB3 and SMW as GOAT platformers for me.
 

zashga

Member
One of the best play formers ever made, with fantastic music. Most of the "hate" was centered on the announcement, not the actual game. A lot of people had other ideas they wanted Retro to work on.
 

daTRUballin

Member
I still remember how mad GAF was back when this game was revealed. I wasn't part of GAF back then, but I used to read it all the time. The bitterness was very real.

And then some time later, David Wise was revealed to be the composer for the game, and everything was good. :p
 

Calamari41

41 > 38
All historical significance (and nostalgia) of games like Mario 1 and 3 controlled out and held aside, it is in heavy contention for best platformer of all time in my mind.

The only thing missing is more mine cart levels!
 

ito007

Member
It's one of those games where I can't wrap my head around how good it is. It just seems like something too perfect for people to make.

But here it is. Everyone needs to give this game a shot
 

Lunar15

Member
One of my favorite platformers ever, and that's coming from someone with no reverence or nostalgia for the originals.
 

chrislowe

Member
Bought it on sale this morning, played it for an hour. Really like it,

Graphics looks great, I wish there were more games with graphics like this.

But the controlls are amazing I think, it feels so responsive and does what I think it should do..

Music is not that good in my opinion, but they are ok.
 
I think most of the people who actually played it consider it great.

And deservedly so. Easily my favourite 2D platformer. And there is a lot of competition for such a spot.
 

RankFTW

Unconfirmed Member
GAF loves Tropical Freeze almost as much as the word hyperbole and that's a lot!

Probably my favourite Wii U game and definitely worth playing.
 
Incredible game and probably the best platformer of the past decade. Amazing soundtrack by David Wise.

The only game that has ever lived up to DKC2.
 

Dark_castle

Junior Member
Best platforming game I've played.

One thing it had over other platforming games is its difficulty, which is challenging but fair. Felt very satisfying after beating certain stages or boss fights.
 

dity

Member
Better than DKR for me, but wasn't super memorable for me. I think it's because the game kind of just ended - last boss didn't leave much of an impression on me.
 

parkinho

Member
It's up there with Super Mario World and DKC2 in my top 10 list. The soundtrack is absolutely out of this world and I often have it playing via YouTube when working.

Genius game.
 

TheJoRu

Member
Probably the best game of this generation so far. There are a plenty of games that push the envelope more in terms of new ideas, but to me Tropical Freeze is simply too impeccably designed and presented to be considered anything less than the most accomplished game of the last couple of years.
 

Red Hood

Banned
Best 2D platformer of all time in my book, even better than the already sheer perfect SMB3, SMW and DKC2. Looks great, plays great, controls great and sounds great. What more could we want out of a platformer?
 

Thud

Member
It's a high quality platformer. Way better than Returns which I hated. I had some fun with it, but I don't love it like the old DKC games.

Wish the sales swapped with return.
 

DSix

Banned
I've come to term with the fact that no platformer will ever make me feel like DKC1 did.

I kind of want to give a try to DKCTF, but I fear it'll be as forgettable as DKCR was.
 

jariw

Member
Tropical Freeze is fantastic, and together with Yoshi's Woolly World they'll make an incredibly strong 2D platformer combo. Two platformers with very different design goals, but both extremely well crafted games.
 
It's a fantastic game which has clearly had a ton of time spent on it across most all aspects of the game. Soundtrack is also god tier. First time I played the Africa plains level I had the biggest shit eating grin on my face. Not many games can do that to me after 30 years playing games.
 

Lux R7

Member
I think 2d platformers will be "overlooked" forever. I mean, they can get 10/10 reviews, but we'll talk about them for a week or less. And i think you all know why.
I'm not saying this is right, i'm saying i'm not surprised.
 
Rocky announcment from fans looking for Metroid.

Once gamers got their hand on it they mostly loved it. I know I enjoyed every minute with it!
 
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