Hey Dtoid! Back again in a timely manner for the next entry in my "sometimes I write about things I like" music in games column.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is one of the best examples of a game that smartly utilizes nostalgia in it's soundtrack. It's a game that could have easily been a quick rehash of old ideas, using the same basic template established by the original DKC trilogy 20 years ago to elicit a cheap thrill for those looking to recapture the jumping monkey goodness of the games of their past. Instead, we got something unique that's filled to the brim with special care and detail. So, how does the last Donkey Kong game use music to pay tribute to the original series, without feeling like an easy cash-in?

The original DKC games have been cemented as bonafide classics over the years, and that kind of pedigree doesn’t spring up out of nowhere. This stuff was revolutionary back in the day., though honestly the platforming mechanics haven’t aged the greatest. Age doesn’t treat the absolute perfection too kindly, and the SNES DKC games can’t stand tall in the same mechanical league as icons like Sonic and Mario. The actual platforming is just a bit too sloppy to stand the test of time. But the presentation and atmosphere still retain an unflappable timeless sheen that makes for quality revisiting to even those uninitiated today.

By atmosphere I’m mostly talking about specific key features. What the hell did Donkey Kong Country do to establish itself as something worth praise 20+ years later?

The first thing worth note was the graphics. While most games in the same 16-bit era were perfecting their flat, pixel - based art style, gaming’s most well-known gorilla was instead presented in a world that felt like it had actual depth. The curves, shadow, and animation of the models and environments of the DKC games imitated 3D immersion, without the messy business of actually having to be in 3D. It may not look like much today, but the style was something that set the game apart from it’s contemporaries. A legitimate bullet point to be added to the back of the box.

Another revolutionary thing was the music. Wow, big shocker, huge surprise, right? Maybe 'revolutionary' isn't the correct word. It didn't change shake up the industry or anything (unfortunately). Revelatory, definitely. You may be asking yourself, or rather I hope you’re asking yourself for the sake of me answering in a stupid and kind of condescending way, what could a game about fuckin’ monkeys stomping on crocodiles bring to music that would be note (hah!) worthy, right?

DAVID FUCKING WISE THAT’S WHAT. Or who, rather. Whatever.

Listen, I’m gonna be real here. I love David Wise. I am a David Wise fanboy. This is not the only time you’ll see his name tossed around in my articles. He’s a composer who has a long history with Rare, the developers of the SNES DKC games. His name being attached to something is a selling point. Forget cool graphics, put David Wise on the back of the box. His involvement is key, and I’ll explain why. It’s kind of the crux of this whole retrospective.

His sounds brought a huge amount of serious atmospheric value to a game that, by all accounts, is pretty fucking silly. Most games are content to stick with a universal sound palette that doesn’t change much throughout a game. The same kind of stuff for the same kind of feels, you know?

David Wise didn't settle for that, though.

Donkey Kong Country - and the latter 2 games in the original trilogy especially - had different worlds that FELT like different worlds. They had legitimate themes, with atmosphere to match. One area can be a swashbuckling pirate escapade, the next could be a terrifying lava hell, and further still will be the inside of an actual beehive, and IMMEDIATELY AFTER be a spooky carnival. Most levels in video games, and retro games especially, tend to feel more like an obstacle course rather than a place that actually, you know, exists. In this game, though, the Kongs brought us into a world that feels alive - like it could tangibly exist.

And all the music matches up perfectly with these environments. What really makes the soundtrack - and David Wise - special is his ability to produce a killer melody that perfectly slides into the theming meant for the level.

The Country trilogy isn't even an isolated incident from Mr. Wise. His work on games like Battletoads and Tengami [probably another example] prove he’s not just a one-and-done kind of dude. Just take a look at his Wikipedia page and see how his track record has proven his skill.

I hope this isn’t getting super redundant. The people who have played the games can attest to the quality of the sounds. These soundtracks still get regularly play from me, 20-ish years later. It’s praises have been sung, I’m not exactly breaking new ground here, and I’ve probably wasted a lot of time just trying to convince you of what you already know.

Well than what, you may be justifiably asking yourself, is my point?

Well Mr. Setup Question Guy, I'm glad you asked.

After Donkey Kong Country 3, the series went dark. It wasn’t for lack of sales, as the series sold incredibly well, but a new 2D Donkey Kong platformer was just never a priority. The next time Mr. Kong donned his red tie and actually no other clothes was for the 3D platformer Donkey Kong 64 for the [you can actually probably guess.]

It wasn’t until the Wii did we get a new proper side scrolling Donkey Kong Country entry, years later, and, well...

It was okay.

It was alright!

Donkey Kong Country Returns was a pretty cool platformer. It hit all the notes you'd expect from a game made in the modern age, trying to replicate the feel of a retro title. The platforming was sharp, the graphics were acceptable, and it brought an old-school challenge with some modern conveniences. Basically, it went through the required motions. It checked the boxes that needed to be checked.

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Sure, it was a new Donkey Kong Country game. It had a big monkey stomping on enemies. It had rainforests and tropical locations. It had bananas.

What it didn't have was good atmosphere. The whole time I was playing it I felt an overwhelming sense that everything I was seeing and stomping through was kind of, I dunno... bland? Kinda same-y. While the game was great mechanically, the environments were uninspired, and the music was downright boring. It lacked the atmosphere that made the SNES trilogy so special to me.

I thought to myself - maybe it was just me? Maybe I'm being unfair, looking to recapture a feeling that just isn't obtainable anymore. Come on, man: those rose-colored glasses make those old games out to be way more special than they actually were.

And then Nintendo brought out a sequel. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

Where Returns was a solid platformer that lacked heart, Tropical Freeze took that foundation and brought the atmosphere and immersion that was missing from the original. You can see a similar jump between the original Countries 1 and 2. Where 1 established the template, 2 really absorbed the player and kicked up the production value.

Tropical Freeze marked the return of old DKC composer David Wise, to triumphant fanfare. By the time the sequel came out, the soundtrack to the originals had been widely regarded as classics, and much of the music of the originals had been reused and remixed for games that featured Donkey Kong, like the Smash Bros series. The main themes from Donkey Kong Country are almost as recognizable as the Mario and Zelda themes, by this point.

So it wouldn’t be too unexpected for the Tropical Freeze team to take those recognizable themes, rehash them to death, and fill the soundtrack with stuff the average Nintendo fan has basically heard a hundred times over. It would be the easiest way to wring out a nostalgic reaction, right?

DKC: TF avoids this by only referencing the classic songs on the fringe. Hints of old melodies make their presence known on brief occasions, but only when they’re good and ready. A familiar refrain here, a classic melody for a chorus there. Looking through the complete soundtrack for Tropical Freeze, you see song titles that reference classic songs (example: Stickerbrush Symphony Returns). For a 50-some song setlist, you expect to see a whole lot of these classics make a callback, but it’s pretty barren on the return anthem front. There’s roughly 15 tracks that get grabbed from the originals, and their implementation is subtle.

Take Aquatic Ambience for example. Aside from the main theme, this song was one of the most memorable pieces of music from the original Donkey Kong Country. It was a disarmingly smooth track that blew me away when I first heard it. Take a listen, and remember this comes from a game about a monkey who wears a red tie with his initials on it and whose main goal is to get all of his bananas back. I'll wait.

"Surprisingly good" is the best understatement phrase I can use to describe that. It's zen as all hell, and one of the clear stand-outs of the original. Now, listen to how it's integrated into Tropical Freeze:

It's definitely clear what they're going for, a distinct reprisal of a tune any fan of the original would recognize. But it only shows up for a level or two, just long enough to make you remember. It also comes packed with a lot more energy, turning the soothing nature of the original on its head. A lesser game would be you over the head with the, "hey remember this!?" followed up by the song on repeat for half a dozen levels, but Tropical Freeze practices serious restraint.

Another example is the extremely well-regarded Stickerbrush Symphony. While not the most iconic, it's a definite fan favorite from Donkey Kong Country 2. Play the song for anyone who has heard it before, and I guarantee a positive reaction. It’s one of the songs that made me realize video game music was something worth paying attention to. It’s pretty good.

So good, you’d expect Nintendo to rehash the shit out of it. The fan reaction had been widely established, the next step was obviously to exploit it for nostalgia value, right?

Besides Donkey Kong Country 2, the only time Stickerbrush Symphony was rehashed was a remix found in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (and later Smash 4). Even then, the (all-new, all-different) remix was tucked away in an unlockable soundtrack disc, obtained only by chance. It’s not exactly something that was featured prominently.

So when it was time again to dredge up the past for a platformer revival, a revisit out our favorite Symphony was desired, if not inevitable. Its implementation in Tropical Freeze made no mystery about the tune it was referencing, but the instrumentation was super different. It established enough of its own identity. But this is the internet, so you don't have to just take my word for it:

The Tropical Freeze score is largely performed with the sound of a big tribal band. The drums pound on every track, and a chorus of people hum and oooh their way through the background. Acoustic guitars, pan flutes, and xylophones flesh out the natural sound David Wise is going for, and it all sounds surprisingly authentic. Don’t get me wrong, the soundtrack is made to be catchy as shit, but owns up to that while sounding as authentic as possible.

Overall, the retro melodies reused for Tropical Freeze get implemented in a respectful way. It's hard to take the word "exploitative" seriously when used in the context of video game music, but songs can feel that way when used exclusively to illicit a nostalgic response. David Wise puts effort into his reworkings though, as Tropical Freeze has an established aesthetic. Just because a song is old or a classic doesn't give it a pass to break the immersion.

Naturally, some of the main themes get a little more explicit with their reuses. The map select music in particular is an almost straight rip from the classic games, and the first few levels will be pretty familiar to anyone who's stepped foot into a Donkey Kong Country game. Even when they don't grab melodies directly from any source material, the vibe matches the beginning of the classic game. I hope you like the bouncy, fast-paced jungle jive style. A few of these songs were used in Donkey Kong Country Returns, too (evidenced by the fact that many of these songs have [Original Song Title] Returns Again tacked on at the end).

However, the game quickly establishes an identity of its own. Yeah, it mostly follows a pattern of exotic and tribal influence, but most levels have some sort of theme or gimmick to it that help find a home for its specific music.

My favorite example of this is Grassland Groove. It's one of the levels shown off to press prior to the game’s release, and is relied upon to show off how much importance the game puts on the music. It’s easier to explain if you watch the level for reference:

The world moves to the music. I love stuff like that in video games. The weird giraffe-head-on-a-stick things nod to the beat, as the camera pans back, showing off the living world you’re platforming through. Nothing does a better job of calling focus to the music than stuff in the background actually visually pointing our attention to the audio.

I’ve sprinkled a few highlights throughout this piece, so if there’s something I didn’t call an immediate attention to, it’s because I’m just really into the song. After a few tracks you can get a pretty good idea of what the sound vibe is going for, the island, tropical (naturally) theme is highlighted by the frequent use of steel drums and breezy wind instruments. It makes the Island DK and his crew are trying to save feel like a place worth saving.

This is turning out way longer than I had planned. To summarize, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze does an excellent job employing retro melodies and throwback tracks to dig up nostalgic feelings in a player, without feeling exploitative. It doesn't rely on feelings of the past, it instead uses those to accent the already stellar score created by David Wise. The original music has a ridiculous amount of atmospheric value, and the big band sound really makes the experience for me.

I'll leave you with my favorite song:

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