LogFAQs > #932400984

#66





Years of release: 2014 (Wii U), 2018 (Switch)
Beaten?: Yes, but not 100%

Like most children in the 90's with an SNES, I have a history with Donkey Kong Country. I received my SNES as well as the game in 1994, when the DKC craze was in full swing, and it was the most technologically advanced game of its time, so that was pretty exciting. In Christmas of 1995, I absolutely had to have DKC2, and my mom had to look all over the place, in every store, to eventually find it, because it was pretty much the one thing I wanted. She delivered. DKC2 was great. In 1996, in Nintendo Power, at the tender age of 8, I would record my first-ever speedrunning feat: a 100% file time of 5 hours that just barely managed to sneak onto the list. I was very proud of that! A new speedrunner was born that day. Also DKC3 existed.

I didn't really like DKC Returns for the Wii that much. I mean, the game was fine, but the controls were so awkward and frustrating that I could just never really enjoy it to the fullest. I played the 3D version and it was a lot better, and I considered including it on this decade list just because, but I left it out, because Tropical Freeze is the superior game anyway.

Tropical Freeze does a great job of creating something that feels new and fresh, while also knowing itself well and knowing what the franchise does well. Challenging, but not unfair platforming challenges that play smooth whether you play them fast or slow, and plenty of cleverly-hidden secrets to find in every nook and cranny of every level. The level design is great, the world themes are all really cool (I like the entire world that takes place in a fruit-processing factory), the boss fights are fun. Having your pick of Kong partners is a nice little hook to the series that we've never seen before, and it's really nice to see Dixie again after a long absence.

DKC's no longer the incredible technical marvel it once was; now it's just a well-designed platformer that was quite the welcome addition to the Wii U's underrated library that the Switch has now mostly poached. But it's really nice to see the franchise get not just one, but two really solid revivals, and I hope we'll see more of them in the future.