You know, "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" was another game I didn't give enough love to when it was first released on the Wii U. I You know, "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" was another game I didn't give enough love to when it was first released on the Wii U. I definitely bought and enjoyed it, but I didn't get to far in it, and a bunch of other games ended up taking my time from me. With the recent Switch release, I definitely wanted to give it another chance and see if it was as good as the reviews made it out to be. And, sure enough, the game is excellent!

"Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" is an incredible 2.5D platformer. Great challenge, excellent platforming sections, plenty of gameplay variety, gorgeous visuals, the list goes on and on. The game really does have everything going for it, and while there's been much discussion on the game's difficulty, I can appreciate a game like this, where the difficulty doesn't feel like "fake difficulty." This isn't a case where the difficulty of the game is curved because of unfair/broken game design, it's a game that actually provides a very real, honest-to-God challenge, and it's all the better for it. The Switch version's added "Funky Mode" also helps ease that just a little bit, without taking too much away from it.

The big question turns to this, of course: seeing as this is a port for the Switch, is it worth grabbing if you already own it for the Wii U? Well, I have the Wii U and Switch versions and I don't regret grabbing this one, but it depends on whether "Funky Mode" actually sounds enticing to you. If you own the Wii U version and want to experience it again (without getting your ass whooped quite as hard), this comes highly recommended. If you own the Wii U version and don't care for a slightly easier experience, stick with that one. If you haven't played the game at all...well, do yourself a favor! "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" is an excellent platformer and you won't regret spending your time with it!

Final rating: 10 out of 10 "Fantastic" … Expand