Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a side-scrolling 2.5D platform game developed by Retro Studios and Monster Games for the Wii U and Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth game in the Donkey Kong Country series and a successor to Donkey Kong Country Returns. It follows the adventure of Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky Kong as they are flung from their homeland and attempt to come back and reclaim it from the Snowmads, an organization of Viking-like seafarers. Throughout their journey, the Kongs must overcome six islands that have been seized by the Snowmads, dealing with one of their commanders at the end of each island. Most levels feature classic platforming where the Kongs need to jump, roll, climb and swing to get to the end of an area, but some levels are traversed in a self-driven vehicle such as a Mine Cart or a Rocket Barrel. The name "Tropical Freeze" is a pun on the term "tropical breeze".

The Wii U version was originally slated for release during November 2013 before being pushed back to December 6. It was later pushed back again to February 2014. The Nintendo Switch version was released on May 2018, featuring Funky Kong as a playable character. In North America, the Wii U downloadable version, which requires approximatively 11.3 GB of free space on the console, was taken down from the Nintendo eShop without notice, shortly before the release of the Nintendo Switch version. However, the game is still available digitally in Japan and PAL regions.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was praised for its visuals and sprawling environments. The variety in gameplay, as well as the difficulty, were also noted in numerous critic reviews.

Story
The story begins at Donkey Kong's hut, where the Kongs are celebrating his birthday. One of the balloons flies out the Kong house and over the sea, where Snowmad ships are stationed. Far away from the island, a Pointy Tucks watches over them, locating the Kong house and relaying info to their leader, shrouded in a dark silhouette. Upon the leader nodding their approval, the Pointy Tucks bring him a horn which he blows, creating a large amount of wind, as well as an ice dragon.

Just as he is about to blow the candle out, Donkey Kong notices a mysterious snowflake appear and put out the candle on his birthday cake. He turns away with a frustrated look on his face as he hears an uproar, and he and the other Kongs exit the house. The ice dragon from earlier flies toward Donkey Kong Island, turning the sea under it to ice. The Kongs are then blown away from the island by the ice dragon's intense winds, landing on the Lost Mangroves island. Afterwards, a large ship stations itself where the Volcano from Donkey Kong Country Returns used to be, and the Snowmads seize Donkey Kong Island for their own, turning it into a frosty area with continuous snowfall.

After traversing across 5 islands with each posing its own threats, the Kongs finally arrive at Donkey Kong Island, which is under control of the Snowmads. The Kongs make their way through the frozen fortress until they encounter the leader of the Snowmads, Lord Fredrik, who challenges the Kongs to a final battle deep in the depths of the volcano. After a long battle, Donkey Kong delivers the final punch to Lord Fredrik, which sends him flying out through the roof of the Snowmad's ship, destroying it in the process. The Kongs wander out of the remains of the ship and look out from the mountainside to see the end of Lord Fredrik's fall. Lord Fredrik crashes into the remainder of the Snowmad ships out in the seas of the island, defeating the entire Snowmad clan and freeing the island from their control. Donkey Kong then notices the horn that was used to freeze their island slip out of Lord Fredrik's hands during his fall, which he catches and blows into, producing a breeze of flowers that carries the Kongs to the bottom of the island. The Kongs watch and rejoice as the breeze of the flowers flutter around the island, melting all of the ice and snow, returning Donkey Kong Island to its former glory.

Gameplay
The gameplay of the title is very similar to that of its predecessor, Donkey Kong Country Returns. The Kongs are able to walk, run, jump, roll, pound the ground, as well as climb vines and ropes. By jumping, the Kongs can stomp on various enemies and defeat them; however, some enemies cover their top sides with shields or sharp objects, making them troublesome or dangerous to stomp on. Stomping on at least three enemies in a row grants the player one Banana Coin for each enemy stomped thereafter. The players start earning Red Balloons if they achieve a combo of eight or more enemy stomps.

The Kongs can perform Ground Pounds in various places to break unsound structures (such as crates and cracked blocks), revealing items or secret paths underground. The move can also be executed near some enemies to stun and neutralize them temporarily. Likewise, ground pounding can be used to empty Item Containers, which are found in the immediate background.

The Kongs can also roll to knock out enemies. Donkey Kong can perform this move on a short distance. Rolling confers high momentum, and if Donkey Kong jumps while rolling, he will gain longer distance than usual. If he rolls off the edge of a platform, he can quickly hop in mid-air, providing extra distance.

Diddy Kong returns as a playable partner for Donkey Kong and is the first Kong partner to be encountered in the game. Using his Barrel Jet, he can help Donkey Kong hover across pits and other obstacles for a short time. Diddy wields two popguns which can fire peanuts. Upon getting shot out of the weapon, the peanuts bounce on the ground swiftly until smashing into a wall or an enemy, bearing a minimal effect on the latter. If hit by a peanut, some enemies become stunned for a brief moment, although tougher enemies, like bosses, are not affected at all. The popguns can only be used in multiplayer or on Hard Mode. If controlled independently, Diddy will cause small tremors on the ground by firing his popguns, forming an ability called the Popgun Pound that is equivalent to the other Kongs' ground pound.

The health meter of the Kongs is measured in hearts which can be lost upon getting touched by an enemy and the like. In order to restore them, the Kongs have to collect Heart items found along the way. Red Balloons add more tries to the game. If all lives are lost, the players receive a game over and are prompted to restart the game from where their progress was last saved.

Gallery
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze/Gallery

Effect Sounds
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze/Effect Sounds

Videos
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze/Videos

Voice Sounds
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze/Voice Sounds