Welcome to our preview of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Nintendo Switch. A game originally released on Wii U and now ported to the new kid in town, the Switch!
Before I get to the actual preview, I would like to provide some backstory, the history of the character called Donkey Kong. The ape we have all come to love over the years actually started out as the bad guy in a game that also had another impressive debut in exactly the same game. The arcade game called Donkey Kong also featured Mario, arguably the best-known video game character in the world. All this back in 1981, I was only 4 years old at that time, I think my very first time playing that game was several years later.
I don’t remember much of that initial gameplay and while Mario broke off to become the icon we know today, Donkey Kong embarked on his own story often going outside the box, I own 3 games on GameCube where you play a conga shaped controller, tapping it to the rhythm of the beat! Or what about a racing game featuring Diddy Kong, a character from the Donkey Kong world.
As time progressed, the Donkey Kong world got bigger and bigger, more and more games appeared and eventually, in 2014, on the Wii U, there was a game called Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. What would essentially be the fifth installment of the Country series, the game on Wii U was overall well received and apparently sold enough to warrant a Selects edition.
I played it on Wii U, quite extensively even. I clearly remember a great platformer, which was not my favorite game on the console, that honor will forever be Captain Toad, but still very good. Donkey Kong Country games are fun to play and they are something to look forward to when announced.
When I got Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze on my Switch, I got all giddy inside. I had seen the Nintendo Direct information, we were getting an easier character called Funky Kong. If anything was to be said about the original, that the action was sometimes a little too hard to advance easily. DKC on Wii U was quite the challenge at times. Funky Kong has his own surfboard and is basically a lot more easy to play with, the hover function, the inability to get hit by vines, … He sure adds another dimension to the game.
Without going into too much detail, that is for my full-fledged review later on. I can share my first impressions with all of you. Funky Kong makes this game so much more appealing. The graphics on this game are just splendid. You would not believe this is originally a few years old. But as we have come to expect it, Nintendo always delivers the good stuff. When the game starts and the initial intro plays, the one that introduces you to the story, you just fall in love with the graphics.
As the intro gives away the main premise, Donkey Country is invaded by a freezing enemy and before you know it, you are humping around, tapping the floor and jumping into barrels! I will discuss the game in detail for my full review. Sorry for abruptly stopping my preview when I was about to go on a roll (pun intended), I just want to keep playing!
Look forward to my review later on and for the game when it releases on the fourth of May!
