Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a 2014 platform game created by Retro Studios and released by Nintendo for the Wii U. It is the fifth game in the Donkey Kong Country series and follows the 2010 game Donkey Kong Country Returns. The game was released in February 2014. A version for the Nintendo Switch was later released in May 2018.
In Tropical Freeze, Donkey Kong and his family travel to five islands to rescue their home, Donkey Kong Island, after it is frozen by the Snowmads—a group of invaders from the northern seas who attacked the island on Donkey Kong’s birthday. The game received mostly positive reviews, with praise for its level design, gameplay, and music. However, some players found the game challenging, leading to mixed opinions about its difficulty.
Gameplay
The game continues the side-scrolling platform gameplay style of the Donkey Kong Country series. Players guide Donkey Kong and his friends as they travel through seven islands to defeat the Snowmads. Controls are similar to earlier games, with the addition of the ability to pick up items from the ground and throw stunned enemies. Players can use various controllers with customizable settings. Donkey Kong is the main character, assisted by a companion who either provides special abilities or can be controlled by a second player. Diddy Kong returns with his barrel jet pack for crossing large gaps. Two new characters are added: Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong. Dixie Kong can spin her ponytail into a propeller to slowly descend from the air, giving her and Donkey Kong a boost to reach high platforms or items. Cranky Kong uses his walking stick to bounce on dangerous surfaces like spiky thorns, helping him reach higher areas and defeat enemies others cannot. Filling a "Kong-POW" meter allows Donkey Kong and his partner to perform a special move that defeats all enemies on screen and turns them into items based on the partner.
The Super Guide from the previous game is no longer included. Instead, an expanded shop run by Funky Kong offers support items, such as temporary invincibility. Each level includes Kong letters and puzzle pieces, some of which require specific partners to access. These items unlock bonuses and hidden levels. The Time Attack mode returns with online leaderboards, letting players view video replays of top-ranked players.
The Nintendo Switch version adds Funky Kong as a playable character. In the optional Funky Mode, players can control Funky Kong alone without a companion, with the option to switch between him and Donkey Kong. Funky Kong has five hit points instead of two, can double-jump, hover in mid-air, stand on spikes, and breathe underwater indefinitely. In normal mode, Donkey Kong has three hit points and can gain a companion. Each Kong also has three hit points when playing as Donkey Kong.
Plot
As the Kongs celebrate Donkey Kong's birthday, their island is attacked by the Snowmads, cold weather enemies. Their leader, Lord Fredrik, blows a horn that creates frozen winds and an ice dragon. The Kongs are pushed away, and the Snowmads take over the frozen Donkey Kong Island.
The Kongs travel across several islands and return to Donkey Kong Island. They move through the frozen fortress until they meet Lord Fredrik, who challenges them to a battle deep inside a volcano. Donkey Kong lands the final punch on Lord Fredrik, who crashes into Snowmad ships, defeating the Snowmads. Donkey Kong blows into Fredrik's horn, creating a breeze that changes Donkey Kong Island back into a tropical paradise.
The game's story centers on the Snowmads, a group of Arctic animals that look like Vikings, such as walruses, owls, rabbits, and penguins. These enemies attack Donkey Kong Island, forcing Donkey Kong (voiced by Takashi Nagasako) to fight them with the help of his friends: Diddy Kong (voiced by Katsumi Suzuki), Dixie Kong (voiced by Kahoru Sasajima), and Cranky Kong (voiced by Nagasako). This is Dixie's third appearance in the main series and the first since Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, released in 1996. This is also Cranky's first time as a main playable character in the Donkey Kong Country series, although he was playable in minigames in the Game Boy Advance versions of Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3 and in Donkey Kong Hockey (1984), where he was called Donkey Kong.
Development and release
The game was announced during Nintendo's E3 2013 Nintendo Direct presentation on June 11. It was produced by Kensuke Tanabe, who previously worked on Super Mario Bros. 2 and included some elements from that game.
Originally planned for release in November 2013, Nintendo delayed the release to December 6 to avoid competing with Super Mario 3D World. In October 2013, the release date was set for February 21, 2014, because more time was needed to improve the game.
The soundtrack was mainly composed by David Wise, with help from Aiden Griffin. Wise had previously created music for the original Donkey Kong Country games on the SNES. Additional music was contributed by Daisuke Matsuoka, Minako Hamano, Shinji Ushiroda, and Riyu Tamura, under the guidance of Kenji Yamamoto.
The development team designed gameplay similar to earlier games in the series, with a few new features. Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh told Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé that production began on Tropical Freeze because the team wanted to use leftover energy after finishing Returns. They aimed to include underwater levels, 3D camera work, and use the Wii U hardware to create new effects. The most significant change was the camera system, which moves from a side view to a full 3D perspective, adding depth to obstacles. The game also introduced Dixie Kong as a partner character, who can hover mid-air, helping players reach platforms. A mechanic called "plucking" objects from the ground, similar to Super Mario Bros. 2, was also added. Because Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Donkey Kong series, was cautious about the license, Retro Studios had to prove their ability to handle it. Miyamoto influenced the design of the "ground pound" move and gave minor suggestions but was not involved in other aspects of development. Michael Kelbaugh had worked on Donkey Kong Country games in various roles since their first release.
An enhanced version for the Nintendo Switch was released on May 4, 2018. Retro Studios developed this version, which supports new control methods and includes an easier difficulty option called "Funky Mode." This mode adds Funky Kong as a playable character.
Reception
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze received mostly good reviews from critics, similar to its earlier version. Destructoid gave the game a perfect score of 10 out of 10. GamesRadar rated it 4 out of 5 stars, praising how the game looks and how challenging it is, but pointing out problems with the co-operative multiplayer. Game Informer gave it a 9.25 out of 10, highlighting the levels, gameplay, and graphics, but noted that it has fewer levels than the previous version. GameTrailers gave it a 9.1 out of 10, praising improvements in gameplay and calling the soundtrack "stellar." IGN scored it 9 out of 10, recognizing the game's challenge, level design, and boss battles.
GameSpot, however, gave it a lower score of 6 out of 10, stating that interesting boss battles and vehicle segments were not enough to fix issues with the level design and new mechanics. GamesTM gave it a 7 out of 10, saying the game was as difficult as earlier versions, with challenging enemy and obstacle placements and tough boss battles.
In their review of the Nintendo Switch version, GameSpot gave Tropical Freeze a better score of 9 out of 10. IGN kept their 9 out of 10 score, noting that the addition of Funky Mode made the game easier to play without lowering the difficulty of the platforming.
The game was nominated for Best Visual Design and Best Audio at the 2014 Golden Joystick Awards, and for Best Nintendo Game at the 2018 event.
In Japan, the Wii U version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze sold more than 70,000 copies in its first month. In the United States, the game sold about 130,000 copies in its first eight days. Both this game and its predecessor were added to the Nintendo Selects label in March 2016 in North America. According to the 2021 CESA Games White Papers, the Wii U version sold 2.02 million copies by December 2020.
The Nintendo Switch version sold more copies. In Japan alone, it sold about 88,421 copies in its first five days, more than doubling its first-month sales on the Wii U. By December 2018, the Switch version had sold 2.08 million copies worldwide, totaling over 4 million copies across both platforms. By March 2019, the Switch version had sold more than 2.25 million copies worldwide, including 290,000 in Japan. The 2023 CESA Games White Papers reported that the Switch version sold 4.62 million copies by December 2022.