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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Discussion (Nintendo Wii U) [game]
 
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on the Wii U
9.29/10 from 26 user ratings

Welcome to the official discussion thread for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on the Wii U!

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Just picked this up at the store, going to probably get started tonight. Anyone else getting this today?

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02/21/14, 19:42    Edited: 02/21/14, 19:46
 
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@kriswright

I have to agree 100% w/ Kris's post, esp. about how TF is an evolution of DKCR. Even though TF has less worlds, it actually feels grander in scope. Like many mentioned, the levels really do, 'tell a story'. I never got that feeling with DKCR. As great of a game that DKCR is, TF is a notch or two above Returns.

As far as multi-player is concerned, only choose it, if the other player is on the same skill level. The levels themselves are harder when choosing multi-player, though MP makes the bosses a tad easier, cause as long as there are lives left, if a player gets killed, a barrel will appear over and over, until there are no more lives left. In a single player game, once you lose a character, you have to finish off the boss with DK...that is until you lose DK and start the boss all over again.

Just be prepared for a very tough game. As hard as DKCR is, TF ups the difficulty over it's predecessor.
04/02/14, 06:47   
Edited: 04/02/14, 06:50
Yeah, I definitely think this game is "different enough" from its predecessor, in the same way that Galaxy 2, Mega Man 2, DKC2, Pikmin 2, and ExciteBots are "different enough." Anyone that liked DKCR a lot should really enjoy TF. I think the game is awesome, and I honestly would be quite happy for another one sometime down the line (even if I'd probably prefer a new Metroid first for the sake of variety).

@carlosrox

4-1's secret exit is probably the hardest to find in the game. Here are three hints to find it, each more revealing than the last.

Hint 1: You've probably already noticed where the alternate route is, but it's something that's kind of a subconscious thing. Stick with it!
Hint 2: This is one of the only instances in the entire series where you're required to actually backtrack a bit.
Hint 3: Those lights that open up your path might just mess with some mechanical stuff you just passed.
The answer: Around halfway through, you can see a moving mechanical "wall" of sorts, with a just-barely-visible opening behind it. Continue until you get to the lights you swim through, activate them, then backtrack to the pulsating wall. Make sure you bring Dixie.

@Mop it up

Multi is more or less on the same level as DKCR's. There are a few additions though--two new helpers, and more hits in the mine cart and rocket barrels to make things more serviceable. If you're playing with someone who's good at the game, it's solid fun, even if many levels involve crumbling rocks or whatever that'll make you lose a ton of lives.
04/02/14, 07:42   
@carlosrox
Tropical Freeze doesn't seem any harder than DKCR so far. I mean, I haven't cleared all the K stages and I'm missing some secret exits, but the core game isn't that difficult. I almost want to say it's easier than DKCR.
04/02/14, 08:07   
@Mop it up
I've mentioned multiplayer several times. It's much harder than single player (except Bosses which become easier). The two player requires lots of skill from both players and things get really hectic with 2 moving characters.

The music is an absolute triumph. Catchy as hell. You're in for a treat. The kind of music that gets better each time you hear it. Every level has multiple tracks or multiple variations of a track. Many do both. Some levels have like 5 tracks in 1. It's insane. You will hear things that remind you of old Rare music from different eras and games. You'll hear things straight out of DKC1, 2, Killer Instinct, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, etc.
It's quite brilliant.

I think the game has 2 control schemes. I don't think any use the shoulder buttons as you want.


Edit: I found the first hidden exit earlier today. I finally decided to really really pay attention to every level more in the search for every jigsaw piece and hidden nook and cranny. Incredible detail. But that hidden exit was BRUTAL. The funny thing is I was eyeing that piece for so long and kept swimming through that shaft and trying to find how to open it. It looked so suspicious. I didn't put two and two together once I proceeded and turned off the mechanism though.
04/02/14, 09:58   
Edited: 04/02/14, 10:01
@carlosrox

Yeah, that one was probably the most obtuse solution to anything in the whole game.
04/02/14, 14:45   
@carlosrox@TheBigG753

Disagree. It wasn't obtuse in the sense of, say, the tornado in Simon's Quest. Everything you need to solve the "puzzle" was provided. The solution was there. It just challenged the conventions of the platform genre (mostly because of the requirement to backtrack). But once I worked out where the exit likely was, it didn't take much to "read" the level and work out the solution.

To be honest, that little puzzle was one of my favorite parts of the game. I like that Retro had the guts to include something like that and just expect us to work it out.
04/02/14, 17:24   
Edited: 04/02/14, 17:28
@kriswright
I also think it was quite clever. You can clearly see the area you just passed get switched off if you pay even a little attention. I take full responsibility for not noticing it earlier. I even knew where I should have been looking!
04/02/14, 18:58   
Yeah, there're definitely clues to it. I feel like if the same secret was in a Metroid game, there'd be little trouble finding it. It's just that you're used to a developer's "mindset" for finding secrets in games like this (i.e. going to the left at the start of a level, looking for banana clues, searching behind things hidden by foreground objects) to the point where if a secret goes in a direction outside of that mindset, it becomes comparatively tricky.
04/02/14, 19:08   
@TriforceBun

Agreed about the mindset thing, but that's exactly why I liked it - because it's all on us if we ignore the clues. We're the ones taking the "rules" of the genre for granted. Retro is saying, "to hell with your rules". Good on 'em.
04/02/14, 19:29   
Heh, I didn't think that puzzle was so controversial! The discussion reminds me of what I did in Earthbound last night, though: using the pak of gum in order to move forward. The game hasn't exactly been puzzle-heavy up to that point, and whenever you can't progress, usually it's a matter of talking to everyone until the next event is triggered. So it was unexpected, but welcome, to have to actually think about your items and solve a puzzle that really doesn't appear to be one at first.
04/02/14, 19:41   
I finally beat TF earlier today!!! Now, I still have many puzzle pieces, kong letters and secret levels to find. Now, I know this sounds pathetic, but I actually have a little over 42 hours logged playing this game!! Seriously! I think as I've gotten older my gaming skills have deteriorated big time, but I think it also has to do that this is the first console game I've really taken the time to play and beat in the last several years. Yes, I have played a few other console games, but only maybe for a couple hours and thats it. I still need to start DKCR over, cause I quit on the fourth world back when it came out. Actually, I put it in the other day and beat the first two level bosses. I have noticed that both games are becomming easier to play everyday. I've mentionef TF being the harder game, but maybe thats cause its really the first one I kept playing on a regular basis. When I put in DKCR, the game seemed really easier. I then read on a different site, whichever game you play first, tends to be the hardest.

I do plan on 100%ing both games and I def. want to try TF on the hard difficulty. Not sure about DKCR, just due to the levels playing right to left. But, who knows! Regardless, I plan on putting in more time playing games. I've really missed playing the big console games. Heck, even though I have spent more time on my 3ds, I've been sicking to the smaller games. I still need to play Zelda ALBW, Luigi's Mansion2, Castlevania Mirror of Fate. Super Mario 3d Land, I completed the first playthrough and about half of the second part.

Man, I don't even want to think about Wii games I need to play, like Zelda SS, Xenoblade, Last Story, ect, ec, ect. I'm making it my mission to complete at least 75% of this huge backlog from the past 5 years. All in all, about 15 major games I need to play.
04/05/14, 04:07   
Edited: 04/05/14, 04:08
@gamewizard65

I hear you on the backlog thing. I'm pretty sure after we drop our baby, it's gonna be no new games until the kid hits college.
04/05/14, 05:31   
Speaking of backlog, Xenoblade is the ultimate backlog game. I've had this game for two years and today, I put three hours into it. I'm now at 63 hours and I don't think I'm even close to completing it! This game is insanely large. Every time I play it, I have a blast. But the darn thing just won't end. It's crazy. I've never played a game this large. I definitely got my money's worth. And then I have The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and a few other Wii games to play....all still sealed!

Anyway, sorry for the derail. Tropical Freeze is the best 2D platformer I've ever played.
04/05/14, 09:55   
Edited: 04/05/14, 09:55
@kriswright

I know the feeling, esp. after my first son was born. Don't worry, there will still be time for playing videogames. Once my two sons got old enough to know what was going on, they actually loved just sitting there watching me play games. It was really awesome when they started learning to play themselves.

Now they are basically adults, 21 & 19 years old. Where the hell did all the time go?! Enjoy every minute with your kid(s), take nothing for granted. Time flies.
04/05/14, 14:31   
I just noticed there was a software update for DKC TF. Anyone know what it do?
04/05/14, 21:34   
@anon_mastermind

Stanley the Bugman shoots bugspray up DK's bunghole.

I have no idea. Speed up transitions, hopefully?
04/05/14, 21:37   
@anon_mastermind I wondered the same thing when I first booted up the game and the update time seemed a little lengthy. I looked it up and the update fixed a glitch. There was apparently a problem in World 3 where, sometimes, if you beat level 3-3, then 3-4 would not open up and you couldn't progress at all. The update fixed this problem.
04/05/14, 21:56   
@kriswright
I did notice less stuttering during loading times. There is still a little bit, but it's less obvious.

@Mop it up
Oh, I see. Must have been a rare glitch.
04/05/14, 21:57   
Edited: 04/05/14, 21:59
Been playing this, it's fun. I've completed the first two worlds, which took a few hours, and I didn't 100% them, so I'm no longer worried about the game being shorter than DKCR. I don't think the levels are longer, they are pretty lengthy in DKCR. They are probably larger, in terms of scope and verticality and such, and so they can feel longer when going for all the collectibles. Speaking of, I feel like the puzzle pieces are more well-hidden in this, I haven't come across them as easily as before. I think there are also more levels in the worlds, with the secret ones and such, which would make up for having less worlds.

I was expecting there to be some remixes from DKC2, but I think everything I've heard so far has been new material. But that's fine, because this new stuff is pretty good. DKCR was kind of disappointing in the music department, so it's nice to have a DKC game with a good soundtrack again.

So far the game feels pretty similar to DKCR which is both a good and bad thing. It's good because it continues with and builds on the elaborate, well-planned level design, but bad because I completed every little thing in DKCR and know the mechanics inside and out. So there hasn't been much that feels new aside from the swimming. It isn't a big deal though because the levels are still fun.

As for multiplayer, the game doesn't seem any more difficult in these first two worlds, so I think my sister could handle it. When we played through the first game, she didn't start to have too much trouble until the sixth world, and by the final world it was getting to the point of frustration. I had to give her an invincibility code in order to get her to complete the game with me. That's something I couldn't do here, so we might not beat this one if we start it. I'll see what the later worlds hold.

@anon_mastermind Yeah, from what I seen there were only a few reported cases. But, since it's a glitch that basically requires starting over the game, then it needed to be fixed.
04/06/14, 21:09   
Edited: 04/06/14, 21:11
I'm outraged. They wasted the Bramble Blast music on a mere starting and ending point for a rocket level. Not only that, but the very next level is named Bramble Scramble, which is the exact same name as a level in DKC2 that used this music, and it doesn't even use it here.

Seriously, WTF?

Worst game ever, 0/10.
04/13/14, 23:35   
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