Donkey Kong Returns to the Gaming Scene

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Josue Perez in Entertainment

Hovhannes Maghakyan

Josue Perez

Crimson Chronicle Reporters

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was released on Feb. 21, exclusively for the Wii U.

It has improvements from the previous game, Donkey Kong Country Returns, for the Wii. Some mechanics have been removed from this game such as blowing flowers in order for bananas or banana coins to appear. Other than that, everything else from the previous game is still there. Since this game uses the Wii U Gamepad, you don’t need to shake the controller in order to ground-pound like the one on Wii.

DKC:TF starts out with Donkey Kong surrounded by Diddy, Dixie and Cranky having a party with banana cake. It then pans out to show Snowmads coming to the island to freeze it whole, exiling DK to a far away island where the new adventure begins.

The adventure begins with you inside of an airplane with you button-mashing in order to break free from the inside. After he breaks free, he needs to start making his way back home going through six islands each with its own boss. Throughout each level, there are collectibles that need to be found in order to unlock cool pictures, figures, and dioramas. The collectibles include puzzle pieces (ranging from 5 to 9 pieces per level), four KONG letters, bananas, banana coins, and balloons.

For those unfamiliar with the series, here is a quick guide as to what each collectible does. Balloons give extra lives, banana coins are in-game currency to buy necessary items from the shop. Bananas are collected for extra lives as well (100 bananas = 1 extra life), KONG letters are for a completion bonus, and puzzle pieces are for pictures.

Something has to be stated before anything: the game is extremely hard. Rage-inducingly hard. You will want to take breaks frequently. Time Attack will probably unleash the inner demon in you, and getting gold is extremely difficult. Trying to get a high position on the online leaderboards will require much patience and many tries.

We strongly advise against co-op! Although co-op sounds fun and seems like it may help on a difficult level, it will only make things harder. You’ll probably ruin your friendship and waste all your lives in the process. If you are up to the challenge, go ahead, get a friend, grab an extra controller, and game on.

As you progress, there will be different kinds of levels. Some will be just walking and running while other levels let you take control of a mine cart, a barrel rocket, or even Rambi the rhino.

Although the game may be hard, it is a lot fun to play, and if you’re up for a challenge, this is the game is perfect for you. We recommend this game to everyone who loves Donkey Kong and likes challenging games.