Date played: February 21st
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10
DK is back baby!
Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of my favorite games of all time. When I played it in 2011, I was left hoping for more, and finally, it's here as Tropical Freeze. The move to HD is very fucking welcome as the game looks simply incredible.
I played through the first world and the first two levels of the second. The first world is a tropical paradise filled with coconuts, palm trees, and of course, bananas. The level design is just as wonderful as it was in DKCR, but look a lot better on the more powerful Wii U. Many of the levels have secret exits that lead to additional levels, and while I found them all in the first world, they were definitely not obvious. There was a return to the silhouette levels of the first game, and of course, a mine cart level. Both of these were very fun to play and interesting to look at.
The game hasn't lost it's high level of difficulty either, even on the first world, I died quite a bit to dangerous jumps, enemies and other deadly contraptions laid across the levels. Of course, one of the biggest changes to the game is the addition of Dixie and Cranky as partners. Dixie can give Donkey Kong a lift during difficult jumps, and Cranky can use his cane to jump on spikes and other dangerous terrain. Dixie can also speed up Donkey's swimming by swinging her hair as a propeller.
I managed to find all the KONG letters across the world, which opened up the first of many secret levels. As in the first game, these are fucking crazy and extremely difficult. They require pinpoint accuracy and don't have any checkpoints. This one revolved around swinging on vines and travelling on giant balls on rails... I made it through, but it took a good dozen attempts. I then beat the first boss, a large seal that uses a halfpipe to attack. It wasn't very hard, but was tons of fun.
The second world is set in a temperate forest where windmills were built. On the second level, I was pleased and surprised to ride Rambi, the rhinoceros mount from the SNES DKC games. All of it was completely awesome.
So far though, my favorite thing in the game has to be the David Wise's enchanting music. There's really nothing like it in other video games, and it truly makes the game a better experience. I cannot wait to play more of Tropical Freeze!
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10
DK is back baby!
Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of my favorite games of all time. When I played it in 2011, I was left hoping for more, and finally, it's here as Tropical Freeze. The move to HD is very fucking welcome as the game looks simply incredible.
I played through the first world and the first two levels of the second. The first world is a tropical paradise filled with coconuts, palm trees, and of course, bananas. The level design is just as wonderful as it was in DKCR, but look a lot better on the more powerful Wii U. Many of the levels have secret exits that lead to additional levels, and while I found them all in the first world, they were definitely not obvious. There was a return to the silhouette levels of the first game, and of course, a mine cart level. Both of these were very fun to play and interesting to look at.
The game hasn't lost it's high level of difficulty either, even on the first world, I died quite a bit to dangerous jumps, enemies and other deadly contraptions laid across the levels. Of course, one of the biggest changes to the game is the addition of Dixie and Cranky as partners. Dixie can give Donkey Kong a lift during difficult jumps, and Cranky can use his cane to jump on spikes and other dangerous terrain. Dixie can also speed up Donkey's swimming by swinging her hair as a propeller.
I managed to find all the KONG letters across the world, which opened up the first of many secret levels. As in the first game, these are fucking crazy and extremely difficult. They require pinpoint accuracy and don't have any checkpoints. This one revolved around swinging on vines and travelling on giant balls on rails... I made it through, but it took a good dozen attempts. I then beat the first boss, a large seal that uses a halfpipe to attack. It wasn't very hard, but was tons of fun.
The second world is set in a temperate forest where windmills were built. On the second level, I was pleased and surprised to ride Rambi, the rhinoceros mount from the SNES DKC games. All of it was completely awesome.
So far though, my favorite thing in the game has to be the David Wise's enchanting music. There's really nothing like it in other video games, and it truly makes the game a better experience. I cannot wait to play more of Tropical Freeze!
