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Plus with the high number of collectibles - puzzle pieces to find, “K.O.N.G.” letters to discover - and secret levels to discover, I don’t think it’s overstating it that players should definitely go bananas over the Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.As you may have already spotted if you've been paying close attention to the screens Ninty have released, the Kong crew's been bolstered by another playable character for Tropical Freeze, giving the second player a bit of extra choice. While I find that the game’s difficulty can be a bit punishing at some points - as certain levels led me nearly to controller-throwing-levels of frustration from trial-by-death - Tropical Freeze gives a high level of challenge in balance with incredibly charming level design, an excellent level of detail, and a colorful emphasis on building on players’ skills and rewarding them for it. I’m thrilled to see that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has transitioned almost flawlessly over to the Switch.Īs the system in a lot of ways feels like a more refined version of what the Wii U was trying to accomplish, the fact that the Nintendo Switch is giving many of its predecessor’s games a new chance to impress new audiences is something I’ve been warming up to over the past year, and I’m very glad to see that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has transitioned almost flawlessly over to the Switch. The one downside to the new feature is that you can’t switch a game save from being either in Original or Funky Mode after starting a game, so if you want to experience the game at its intended difficulty, you’ll have to switch over to a new save file to do that. Tropical Freeze still provides a fair enough challenge to any players regardless, but Funky Mode at least provides a little bit of relief from some of the game’s more taxing challenges, especially if playing in co-op with friends or family. It would be simple to boil down Funky Mode into being the game’s “easy mode,” and while Funky Mode will undoubtedly give players (especially newer players) an edge, I wouldn’t say that the mode necessarily makes Tropical Freeze a cakewalk either and (thankfully) doesn’t take away from the original game’s intentions. Taking on the role of Funky Kong, players are able to ease into the game with five hearts instead of the standard game’s two, and gain other benefits like being able to breathe underwater indefinitely, double jump, and stand on spikes without taking damage.
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Outside of its smaller tweaks and the benefits of being on a new console, the biggest new feature in the Switch version of Tropical Freeze is Funky Mode, which ( aside from being quite meme-worthy) acts as a more accessible way for newcomers to play the game. The biggest new feature in the Switch version of Tropical Freeze is Funky Mode, which acts as a more accessible way for newcomers to play the game.
#Donkey kong country returns wii u hard pro#
Control-wise I had a slight preference for using the Pro Controller in TV mode, mainly because of its more responsive analog sticks and larger-sized buttons, but handheld mode will still get the job done to get through some of the game’s more demanding challenges. While sometimes I got more from the game by playing on a TV for the benefit of the larger display to appreciate its many visual details (and since the camera can pan out pretty extremely at points), Tropical Freeze was no slouch in handheld mode either and pops on the system with its lush jungle colors and vibrant level design.
![donkey kong country returns wii u hard donkey kong country returns wii u hard](https://img.letgo.com/images/88/8b/46/ea/888b46ea8e8af0314fa0a4a86df50993.jpeg)
The Switch release of Tropical Freeze maintains an incredibly smooth 60fps across the handheld and TV configurations, and plays almost just as well in both formats. Thankfully, on a technical and control level, the Switch version plays marvelously however you decide to take on DK’s latest journey.