Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

This article is about the Wii U game. For the Nintendo Switch port, see Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo Switch).

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developers	Retro Studios Monster Games Nintendo SPD Group No. 3
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Wii U
Release dates	Wii U (original release): February 13, 2014 February 21, 2014 February 21, 2014 February 22, 2014 March 20, 2014 Wii U (Nintendo Selects): March 11, 2016 April 15, 2016 December 1, 2016
Languages	English (United States) English (United Kingdom) Japanese French (Canada) French (Europe) German Italian Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Europe)
Genre	Platformer
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[?] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] USK: - All ages[?] ClassInd: - General audience[?] ACB: - General[?] FPB: - Parental guidance[?]
Modes	Single player, multiplayer
Format	Wii U: Optical disc Digital download
Input	Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (horizontal) Wii Remote and Nunchuk Wii U Pro Controller
Serial codes	WUP-ARKJ-JPN WUP-P-ARKE-USA-0

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a side-scrolling 2.5D platform game developed by Retro Studios and Monster Games for the Wii U. It is the fifth game in the Donkey Kong Country series and a direct sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns. It follows the adventure of Donkey Kong and his partner Kongs as they travel back to Donkey Kong Island after the Snowmads, an organization of Vikings-like seafarers, invaded it and sent them away. Throughout their journey, the Kongs must overcome six islands seized by Snowmads. Most levels feature classic platforming where the Kongs need to jump, roll, climb and swing to get to the end of an area, but some levels are traversed in a vehicle such as a Mine Cart or a Rocket Barrel. For the first time in the series, the camera angle can change dynamically in some levels where Blast Barrels or mine carts are found, showing more areas and perspectives of the scenery. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is the first title in the series to feature more than two playable characters, with Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong acting as companions of Donkey Kong who provide him with additional abilities.

The game was originally slated for release during November 2013 before being pushed back to December 6; it was later pushed back again to February 2014. The downloadable version of the game requires approximately 11.3 GB of free space on the console. In North America, the digital version of the game was removed from the Nintendo eShop shortly before the release of the Nintendo Switch version, leaving the original game only available in retail in that region. However, the game remained available digitally in other regions until the closure of the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was praised for its colorful visuals, large environments, variety, and improvements made to the Donkey Kong Country formula, although it received some criticism for its high level of difficulty. A port was released for the Nintendo Switch in May 2018.

Story

The Kongs together celebrating Donkey Kong's birthday

The story begins at Donkey Kong's hut, where the Kongs are celebrating his birthday with a banana-themed cake. One of the balloons detaches from the exterior of the house and drifts out towards the ocean where a fleet of Snowmad ships are stationed. Far away from the island, a Pointy Tucks spots the balloon through a telescope, traces it back to Donkey Kong's hut, and relays its discovery to the Snowmads' leader, shrouded in a dark silhouette, who orders his subordinates to bring him an enchanted horn. He blows into the horn, creating an entity known as an ice dragon.

Lord Fredrik blowing the enchanted horn

Meanwhile, back at Donkey Kong's hut, Diddy Kong is briefly shown blowing a noisemaker. Right as Donkey Kong is about to blow out the candle on his cake, a gust of wind extinguishes the candle, to Donkey Kong's surprise, and a snowflake blows in and lands on the tip of the candle. Donkey Kong turns away angrily as he hears an uproar. The Kongs walk out on the front deck to investigate. The ice dragon swoops in on Donkey Kong Island, generating strong winds that blow the Kongs away to the Lost Mangroves. With the Kong family disposed of, the Snowmads invade the island as their command ship stations itself on top of its Volcano and the ice dragon causes it to enter a state of perpetual winter.

Donkey Kong Island, now frozen over

After traversing across five islands, the Kongs return to Donkey Kong Island. The Kongs make their way through the frozen fortress until they encounter the leader of the Snowmads, Lord Fredrik, who challenges the Kongs to a final battle deep within the volcano. After a long battle, Donkey Kong delivers the final punch to Lord Fredrik, who is sent flying out from the roof of the Snowmads' ship, destroying it. The Kongs go out of the ship remains and look to see Lord Fredrik crashing into the remainder of the Snowmad ships out at sea. With the Snowmads defeated, Donkey Kong catches Lord Fredrik's horn and blows into it. This causes a breeze of flowers to carry the Kongs to the bottom of the island. The Kongs celebrate as the breeze of flowers flutter around Donkey Kong Island, melting all of the ice and snow and restoring the island to its original state.

In an epilogue cutscene after the credits, the Kongs discover a wrapped present on their front lawn, which they open. Inside the box is a small relic that serves as the final key to unlocking Secret Seclusion.

Gameplay

Returning elements

Basic gameplay

Donkey Kong uses a ground pound action to break a Cracked Block.

The gameplay of the title is very similar to that of its predecessor, Donkey Kong Country Returns. The Kongs are able to walk, run, jump, roll, and pound the ground, as well as climb vines and ropes. By jumping, the Kongs can stomp on various enemies and defeat them; however, some enemies cover their top sides with shields or sharp objects, making them troublesome or dangerous to stomp on. Stomping on at least three enemies in a row grants the player one Banana Coin for each enemy stomped thereafter. The player starts earning Red Balloons if they achieve a combo of eight or more enemy stomps.

The Kongs can perform Ground Pounds in various places to break unsound structures (such as crates and cracked blocks), revealing items or secret paths underground. The move can also be executed near some enemies to stun and neutralize them temporarily. Likewise, ground-pounding can be used to empty Item Containers, which are found in the immediate background.

The Kongs can also roll to knock out enemies. Donkey Kong can perform this move on a short distance. Rolling gives high momentum, and if Donkey Kong jumps while rolling, he will gain more distance than usual. If he rolls off the edge of a platform, he can quickly hop in midair, providing extra distance.

Diddy Kong returns as a playable partner for Donkey Kong and is the first Kong partner to be encountered in the game. Using his Barrel Jet, he can help Donkey Kong hover across pits and other obstacles for a short time. Diddy wields two popguns which can fire peanuts. Upon getting shot out of the weapon, the peanuts bounce on the ground swiftly until smashing into a wall or an enemy, bearing a minimal effect on the latter. If hit by a peanut, some enemies become stunned for a brief moment, although tougher enemies, like bosses, are not affected at all. The popguns can only be used in multiplayer or on Hard Mode. If controlled independently, Diddy will cause small tremors on the ground by firing his popguns, forming an ability called the Popgun Pound that is equivalent to the other Kongs' ground pound.

The health meter of the Kongs is measured in hearts which can be lost upon getting touched by an enemy and the like. In order to restore them, the Kongs have to collect Heart items found along the way. Red Balloons add more tries to the game. If all lives are lost, the players receive a game over and are prompted to restart the game from where their progress was last saved.

Vehicles

In specific levels of the game, Donkey Kong and co. are able to ride different vehicles. One such vehicle is the Mine Cart, which carries the characters along rail tracks that cannot be trodden by foot. As the Mine Cart moves automatically, the Kongs can duck inside the vehicle or jump with it in order to dodge obstacles. Another is the Rocket Barrel, which is necessary to fly across wide chasms and normally has to be navigated through a series of hazards and enemies. It can be risen up or let to fall down. Lastly, there is Rambi (who is categorized as a "vehicle" in the game's instruction manual), a powerful Animal Friend who can charge into enemies and defeat them. Rambi is invincible to most enemies even when standing still, but he is vulnerable to lightning, fire enemies, or any other object protected by flames.

Level map and bonuses

The Kongs progress through an island map. They head towards an incomplete level, marked by a red pad. On the bottom left lies a blue pad, where the corresponding level has been completed.

The game features a total of 63 levels (including boss and hidden temple stages and excluding Funky's Fly 'n' Buy stations), grouped in seven islands. On the world map, islands are seen from an aerial viewpoint and feature a system of routes that connect levels. Once players complete a level, they open a new path or crossroad. Paths are normally navigated on foot, but Blast Barrels are sometimes used for taking shortcuts; Donkey Kong Island's map navigation, on the other hand, is entirely provided by Barrel Cannons. Warping from an island to another is always released via Blast Barrels.

On the map, non-boss levels are marked with circular pads, while boss stages are associated with star-shaped pads. Level pads light up in several colors on different conditions: red pads mean their levels have not been completed yet; blue pads mean their levels have been finished at least once; green pads indicate levels which have been completed on Hard Mode; and unlit/black pads are inaccessible, switching to red when the paths that lead to them are unlocked.

On each island, the Kongs encounter a shop run by Funky Kong, which is always marked with white pads. The shop, Funky's Fly 'n' Buy, offers items that can turn helpful for the Kongs, in exchange for Banana Coins. The price for each item stays the same over the course of the game. Alongside items, which include red, green, and blue balloons, Kong Barrels, and Heart Boosts, the shop also displays a Capsule Toy Machine, which contains collectible toy figures representing characters from the game. Each of them costs five Banana Coins and can be obtained by chance. As the players progress through the game, more toy figures become available in the shop.

An odd number of Puzzle Pieces (5, 7, or 9), as well as four KONG Letters, are spread in each level, excluding boss levels for both and Hidden Kong Temple levels for the latter. Puzzle Pieces unlock various concept artworks in an Image Gallery, while KONG Letters are compulsory for unlocking hidden temple stages; each world aside from the last one contains one of these stages. While some Puzzle Pieces are scattered throughout a level in different areas, some appear only after collecting a certain group of items. Bonus Stages dedicated to collecting these items are often featured within levels, and yield Puzzle Pieces after completion. These bonus stages can usually be accessed through hidden Blast Barrels or passages blocked by Snowflake Shields.

Finishing all the levels of the game (including the Hidden Kong Temple ones) and collecting all of the KONG letters in the non-boss/temple levels are among the requirements for full, 200% completion of the game.

Menu

The map menu

On the map, the player can access a menu where they can select several items from a list. These items and their corresponding actions are presented in the following table.

Option	Description
Summary	Allows the player to view a summary of their progress on the island where they are currently located. The summary lists all the unlocked levels on that island and shows whether the KONG letters and Puzzle Pieces have been collected, as well as the best medal obtained in Time Attack mode for each level.
Options	Allows the player to configure settings such as sound volume and button mapping. They can also use the "Add/Drop Players" function to establish the number of players and their controllers.
Extras	Main article: List of extras in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Allows the player to view a group of galleries where extra content can be unlocked. The Image Gallery is composed of artwork showing various concepts and ideas considered during the development of the game. Each piece of artwork is unlocked after all the Puzzle Pieces are collected in a certain stage. The Music Gallery contains music used in the game. Each set of music pertains to one of the six main islands of the game and can be unlocked by beating the boss of its corresponding island. Dioramas that represent the six main islands of the game are unlocked the same way.
Quit Game	Quits the game. A message window is displayed beforehand, asking the player to confirm they want to leave.

New features

Kong partners

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze features more playable characters than Donkey Kong Country Returns. The additional characters are Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong.

Dixie Kong can execute the Helicopter Spin with her ponytail and propel herself upward in midair. Using her ponytail, she is also able to swim against strong currents, accessing potentially secret areas. Cranky harnesses the Cane Bounce by using his iconic rigid cane to combat or overcome some obstacles that could be dangerous to stomp on, such as urchins and thorns. The Cane Bounce can be seen as a substitute to Dixie Kong's Helicopter Twirl, as Cranky can bounce off the ground with his cane and take off to increased heights. With the inclusion of more than two playable characters in the game, a premiere feature in the series, the variety of Kong Barrels has been invigorated. Players can stumble upon Diddy, Dixie, or Cranky barrels, each displaying their name abbreviations – DD, DX, and CK respectively. These barrels usually appear to contain only one character, whereas the other spins like a roulette and constantly switch the partner inside, each time indicated by the before-mentioned abbreviations. In the standard mode of play, Donkey Kong can only carry one partner at the time; a partner freed from a Kong Barrel will replace the one that is currently on Donkey Kong's back. If the character in the chosen barrel is already seated on Donkey Kong, the characters can regenerate their health bar upon destroying the barrel.

A new feature in this game that is adjacent to the partner system is the Kong POW attack, which turns all the enemies on-screen into items. In multiplayer, the move can be used if both players press a button at the same time. This move can only be performed when 100 bananas have been collected, as well as when there is a partner by Donkey Kong's side.

Underwater mechanics

Donkey Kong is low on air and rushes towards a column of rising air bubbles. Air bubbles gush out of various stage decorations and replenish the Kongs' air supply.

The game also presents underwater levels, which were absent in Donkey Kong Country Returns. Rather than using the Mario-styled controls present in the original trilogy, swimming is now handled similarly to the New Play Control! version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, where instead of pressing the jump button to gain momentum, the player has to move the stick / buttons. The Kongs are now given a gauge with limited air while underwater, requiring them to seek out air bubbles to fill it and survive. Their air gauge will also fill up if the Kongs enter an underwater Barrel Cannon, and will remain filled for as long as they stay inside the barrel. A Corkscrew attack has been added, which can be used to defeat certain enemies or collapse less durable structures while underwater.

Plucking ability

The Kongs try to pluck an Item Handle out of the ground. Item Handles hide not only items, as their name suggests, but also Barrel Cannons. In some cases, they even affect the environment upon getting pulled.

In a vast number of areas in the game, players will encounter orange handles fixed on the surface of platforms. While standing atop these handles, the Kongs can grip and pull them to uncover hidden objects, which can be either bonuses or Barrel Cannons that launch them to other spots. When pulled, some handles cause certain phenomenons that manipulate the environment.

The plucking function is used transport objects, such as barrels, DK Barrels, and Watermelon Fuse Bombs, the most common in the game. Some can be found directly on the ground and can be picked up, but others are located under handles. The player can also haul enemies, specifically those that are relatively small and wear orange helmets, like Tuff Fluffs and Tuff Tucks. Portable items and enemies are sometimes necessary to destroy hindrances, bags with precious content, and tough foes.

Producer Kensuke Tanabe stated that the ability to pick up enemies and throw them, and the plucking capability overall, was inspired by Super Mario Bros. 2, which he directed.

Single player modes

Time Attack

A mode originating in Returns, Time Attack of any level can be accessed only after the player has beaten the level in question at least once. It is available on single player and is a completely optional mode, meaning it does not unlock extra content in the game, nor contribute to its completion percentage.

The Kongs achieve a shiny gold medal and a new best time after playing in Time Attack mode.

Before entering Time Attack, players are given the option to select a type of Kong Barrel for the course of the chosen stage. During Time Attack, players have to guide the Kongs to the level's finish barrel in the fastest time possible. Three-time limits are set during the course, each corresponding to one of the gold, silver, and bronze medals. Should the Kongs reach their destination within one of these time limits, they are rewarded with the medal accordingly. A special shiny gold medal can be obtained if the Kongs finish the level at a particular time within the standard gold medal time limit. The milestone times for shiny gold medals are never displayed nor made clear.

Checkpoint booths are not present during Time Attack. As such, every time they lose their health in a level, players are prompted to restart the stage with the count reset to zero. Unlike in other modes of the game, the Kongs do not lose a life after their health bar has been drained completely.

Additionally, if the Kongs finish a level in Time Attack mode without taking damage, their achieved medal will be accompanied by a heart icon. This icon is permanent until they achieve a better time.

Despite Checkpoint Booths being unavailable during Time Attack, Professor Chops makes an appearance as a referee. During every race, he first shows up at the beginning, waving a small green flag in the rhythm of the countdown. After the Kongs break the finish barrel, he springs on the scene with a checkered flag, indicating the race has been finished.

Time Attack Leaderboards

If connected to the Internet and signed into Nintendo Network, players are granted the possibility to upload their Time Attack records on a worldwide leaderboard. These records are associated with their Nintendo Network IDs. The global Time Attack rank of any level in the game can be accessed by selecting the "LEADERBOARDS" section on the Time Attack menu. The rank displays other player's time records on said levels, as well as the Kong partner used and, occasionally, a replay of their progress to be observed.

Hard Mode

Cranky Kong travels alone on Hard Mode. Note the single heart in his health meter.

When players have collected all the KONG Letters in the game and have subsequently completed every level, an additional game mode, Hard Mode, is unlocked. Hard Mode can only be played with one Kong, marking the only occasion in the game aside from multiplayer sessions when one can take full control of Diddy, Dixie, or Cranky. The characters are given a single heart to go along the selected level, and have to reach the goal in it without checkpoints and without taking damage at all in order to complete the stage. In order to complete the game 200%, every level in the game has to be finished in Hard Mode. During Hard Mode, the KONG Letters of each level are recolored from red to blue; collecting them again in this mode replaces the red star icon next to a chosen level's name (marking that all letters have been previously obtained there) with a blue one, although it is not necessary for 200% completion. Upon completing Hard Mode, a message appears saying, "You've achieved 200%! Hard mode? That wasn't so hard!" and new images are unlocked in the Extras menu.

Multiplayer

The game features a cooperative two-player mode, where the first player is always Donkey Kong and the other can select either Diddy, Dixie, or Cranky to play as. The second player can independently control their Kong, but may choose to climb on Donkey Kong's back and perform joint actions, allowing player one to move both Kongs at once like in single player mode while the other player makes use of their character's abilities. This includes the ability to use the popgun as Dixie and Cranky and perform ranged attacks. During multiplayer, Kong Barrels are displayed as generic DK Barrels, akin to the previous iterations. Should one player lose a life, the other can take the lead; however, the former can be found and redeemed inside the nearest DK Barrel.

Controls

The game can be played with either the Wii U GamePad, the Wii Remote alone and held horizontally, or the Wii Remote held vertically and connected to a Nunchuk. Moves marked with an asterisk (*) are only utilised while the characters are underwater.

Solo and co-op modes
Action(s)	Wii U GamePad (primary controls)	Wii U GamePad (secondary controls)	Wii Remote (held horizontally)	Wii Remote (held vertically) and Nunchuk
Walk
Run
Crouch
Swim*
Jump	/
Barrel Jet hover (playing as/having Diddy)
Helicopter Spin (playing as/having Dixie)
Cane Bounce (playing as/having Cranky)
Swim Boost*
Jet Blast* (playing as/having Diddy)
Ponytail Propeller* (playing as/having Dixie)
Cane attack* (playing as/having Cranky)
Ground Pound (while standing)	/	/	Shaking	Shaking and
Roll Attack (while moving)
Kong Roll (while moving and having a partner)
Shoot popgun
Corkscrew*
Grab	/	/		/
Hold
Pluck
Kong POW	/
Enter pause menu	/	/	/	/
Enter HOME Menu
Co-op mode only
Pick up partner (for player 1)	/	/		/
Mount/dismount Donkey Kong (for player 2)

Professor Chops appears from behind a rock to teach the player how to perform a Corkscrew attack. This is the button combination for the Wii U GamePad primary control scheme.

The Kongs can skip water by performing a continuous Kong Roll on its surface.

Characters

Playable characters

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has four playable characters (five in the Nintendo Switch port), making it the Donkey Kong Country game with the most playable characters.

Name	Description	Kong POW Ability
Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong is the character the single or first player always controls. He is able to water skip when rolling with another Kong on top of him. Underwater, Donkey Kong is able to charge at enemies to defeat them.	N/A
Diddy Kong	His jetpack allows him to hover in midair and get speed boosts underwater. His Peanut Popgun can be used to shoot and stun or distract enemies for a brief moment.	Turns enemies into Red Balloons, which add lives.
Dixie Kong	Her ponytail allows her to get a short lift or fall slowly in midair. Underwater, her hair can also be used as a propeller, conferring more agility in her swimming; secret exits can be found with her hair as well, by going through currents. Her Gumball Popgun can shoot bubble gums at enemies.	Turns enemies into Gold Hearts, which allow extra hits from enemies.
Cranky Kong	His cane can be used to defeat hard-to-stomp enemies, and as a pogo stick in order to jump higher and on spikes. Also with his cane, he can whack enemies underwater. His popgun shoots dentures at enemies.	Turns enemies into Banana Coins, which can be used to purchase items in Funky's Fly 'n' Buy.

Supporting characters

Name	Description
Funky Kong	Runs the Funky's Fly 'n' Buy shop, which sells various items in exchange for Banana Coins, similarly to Cranky Kong's Shop from the previous installment.
Professor Chops	Runs the checkpoint booths in each level as he did in Donkey Kong Country Returns. He no longer offers the Super Kong option, which does not reappear in the game.
Rambi	Rambi retains his role as the sole ridable Animal Friend. He can bash into enemies easier than the Kongs and can break some walls or other big objects that the Kongs cannot normally break. He can also defeat enemies by just walking into them. He is affected by lightning and runs away as he bumps into fiery enemies.
Squawks	Squawks is once again a hireable character, who will sit in the corner of the screen and warn the player if Puzzle Pieces are nearby during a stage if placed in the inventory for a level.

Bosses

Each boss of this game is faced at the end of one of the six main worlds. The Kongs have to deliver nine hits to a boss enemy in order to defeat him; after every three hits, the boss will anger and morph into another phase, usually changing color to reflect this. As the final blow i