Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, known in Japan as Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze (ドンキーコングトロピカルフリーズ), is a side-scrolling 2.5D platform game developed by Retro Studios for the Wii U. It is the fifth game in the Donkey Kong Country series and the direct sequel to the Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns. Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong appear as playable characters, similar to Diddy Kong's role in Donkey Kong Country Returns, while the main antagonists, the Snowmads, are based on stereotypical Vikings, and appear as animals such as penguins, walruses, and owls.

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. It can be purchased at retail stores, or digitally from the Nintendo eShop, with the digital version requiring 11300 MB (approx. 11.3 GB) of memory to be installed. Standard set Wii U consoles don't have enough internal memory to have this game downloaded on them without an external storage device, but deluxe set Wii U consoles do.

Story
The story begins at Donkey Kong's hut, where the Kongs are celebrating his birthday. Suddenly, one of the balloons flies off the Kong house and over the sea, where Snowmad ships are stationed. Far away from the island, a Pointy Tuck watches over them, locating the Kong house and relaying info to their leader, shrouded in a dark silhouette. Upon the leader nodding their approval, the Pointy Tucks bring him a horn which he blows, creating a large amount of wind, as well as an ice dragon.

Just as he is about to blow the candle out, Donkey Kong notices a mysterious snowflake appear and put out the candle on his birthday cake. He turns away with a frustrated look on his face as he hears an uproar, and he and the other Kongs exit the house. The ice dragon from earlier flies toward Donkey Kong Island, turning the sea under it to ice. The Kongs are then blown away from the island by the ice dragon's intense winds, landing on the Lost Mangroves island. Afterwards, a large ship stations itself where the Volcano from Donkey Kong Country Returns used to be, and the Snowmads seize Donkey Kong Island for their own, turning it into a frosty area with continuous snowfall.

After traversing across 5 islands with each posing its own threats, the Kongs finally arrive at Donkey Kong Island under control of the Snowmads. 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 in the depths of the volcano. After a long battle, Donkey Kong delivers the final punch to Lord Fredrik, which sends him flying out through the roof of the Snowmad's ship, destroying it in the process. The Kongs wander out of the remains of the ship and look out from the mountainside to see the end of Lord Fredrik's fall. Lord Fredrik crashes into the remainder of the Snowmad ships out in the seas of the island, defeating the entire Snowmad clan and freeing the island from their control. Donkey Kong then notices the horn that was used to freeze their island fell out of Lord Fredrik's hands during his fall, which he catches and blows into, producing a breeze of flowers that carries the Kongs to the bottom of the island. The Kongs watch and rejoice as the breeze of the flowers flutter around the island, melting all of the ice and snow, returning Donkey Kong Island to its former glory.

New features
The gameplay of the title is very similar to that of its predecessor, Donkey Kong Country Returns, but features more playable characters. These are Dixie Kong - who can do the Helicopter Spin by using her ponytail to propel herself up in midair and glide - and Cranky Kong - who can do the Cane Bounce by using his cane to destroy or overcome some obstacles otherwise (potentially) dangerous to stomp on, such as Urchins and Spikes; likewise, his cane helps reaching higher platforms, due to the force exerted on the ground when using it, and serves as a substitute to Dixie Kong's ponytail.

The game also presents ice and underwater levels, which were absent in Returns. The Kong's ability to swim has been restored, though it is much altered from the Mario-styled swimming controls present in the original trilogy. In fact, the swimming mechanics are similar to those of the New Play Control! version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, where instead of pressing the jump button to gain impulse, the player has to move the stick /  buttons. The Kongs are now given limited air while underwater, requiring them to seek out air bubbles to survive. A Corkscrew attack has been added, with which the player can defeat certain enemies or collapse less durable structures while underwater.

In many areas of the game, players can encounter handles fixed on the surface of platforms. The Kongs can pull these handles to uncover their roots from under the ground, which can be either bonuses or Barrel Cannons that launch them to other places. Not only this, but upon plucking some of these objects, certain phenomenons occur; for example, in the level, Mangrove Cove, such handle keeps an enormous, apparently buried tree from getting out of the earth, and when the player takes it off, the tree will start uncovering itself fast and give the player some branches whom he or she can use as platforms in order to progress through the stage. Another example is that from Seashore War, where platforms partially sunk within the frozen water, very dangerous for the Kongs, contain handles that can be grasped by the heroes in order to pull those platforms off the sea. These examples show that some handles in the game are mandatory for advancing.

The plucking function can help transport several objects, such as items where the possibility to be carried and thrown exists - barrels, DK Barrels, and Watermelon Fuse Bombs are the most common items to be transported. They can be taken directly from the ground, but can also be buried under it and obtainable only by plucking handles. The player can actually haul even enemies, specifically those that are relatively small and wear orange helmets, like Tuff Fluffs and Tuff Tucks. Portable items and enemies are sometimes necessary in order to destroy hinderances, bags with precious content, and tough foes.

The ability to pick up enemies and throw them, and overall the plucking capability, was, as the producer Kensuke Tanabe states, inspired from Super Mario Bros. 2, which he helped developing.

For the first time in the series, the camera angle can change dynamically in some levels where Blast Barrels or minecarts are found, showing more areas and perspectives of the scenery. A new feature in this game is the Kong POW attack, which turns all enemies on-screen into items. This move can only be performed when 100 bananas have been collected, and when there is another character on Donkey Kong's back.

Time Attack
A mode originating from Returns, Time Attack of any level can be accessed only after the player has hit the Slot Machine Barrel at the end of a level at least once. It is a completely optional mode, meaning it doesn't unlock anything hidden in the game, nor contributes to the completion percentage.

Before entering Time Attack, the player is given the possibility to choose which partner to be found in every Buddy Barrel. He or she can choose between Diddy, Dixie, Cranky, or Default - meaning the Buddy Barrel will be spinning in a roulette style and change its content once in a while. During Time Attack, Donkey Kong, along with the partner chosen, being controlled by the player, has to finish the level in the fastest time possible, and in the end, he can obtain one of the four medals according to the time: bronze, silver, gold, and shiny gold. For every single one of them, there is a time limit, and if the player manages to get to the finish barrel before the timer passes this limit, he or she will be awarded with the respective medal. Note that the time limit of the shiny gold medal is not shown, although it exists.

Checkpoints are absent in this mode, but Professor Chops assists to the Kongs' race. He waves a symbolic green flag at the beginning and stops the timer with a regular checkered flag when the finish barrel is hit.

Hard Mode
When the player has completed every level in the game, an additional game mode, Hard Mode, is unlocked. In Hard Mode, the player can choose any of Donkey Kong's partners, but they will only get one heart, and can't use any items bought from Funky's Fly 'n' Buy. Checkpoints are removed, and it is only possible to play with the Kong chosen at the start.

Bosses
The bosses of this game are each faced at the end of every world. Below is a list of all bosses in the game, with their respective level and the world they are encountered in mentioned inside parentheses.
 * Pompy, the Presumptuous (Big Top Bop, Lost Mangroves)
 * Skowl, the Startling (Mountaintop Tussle, Autumn Heights)
 * Ba-Boom, the Boisterous (Triple Trouble, Bright Savannah)
 * Fugu, the Frightening (Fugu Face-Off, Sea Breeze Cove)
 * Bashmaster, the Unbreakable (Punch Bowl, Juicy Jungle)
 * Lord Fredrik, the Snowmad King (Volcano Dome, Donkey Kong Island)

Snowmads
Below is a table containing all the minion sub-species enrolled in the Snowmad army, classified into categories. They are followed by a brief description on their behavior and combat. The first and final in-game level appearances of each enemy is also mentioned.

Other enemies
Along with the mischievous Snowmads, there are also many other foes the Kongs have to fight or avoid throughout their adventure. Some of the enemies may only change in appearance, but otherwise act the same. Below is a table whose content is composed of all of the enemies that are not related to the Snowmads. The syntagmas written in bold and atop every section of the table belong to the worlds the enemies listed underneath them are first encountered in the game.

Worlds and levels
The game has seven total islands, consisting of six "main" islands and one secret island (Secret Seclusion), which serve as the game's worlds. Though the course of each world, the Kongs can visit Funky's Fly 'n' Buy item shop, where Funky Kong sells life balloons and other balloons, portable partner barrels, banana juice, hearts, crash guards, and figurines of characters in the game that can be obtained through a capsule toy machine.

The table below lists all of the worlds and levels in the game, including their respective music theme and number of Puzzle Pieces. Since not every musical composition in the game has been given a name, several of the ones shown are either described as covers from the past Donkey Kong games, or merely marked as conjectural with a pointy line.

Note that the titles of the musical themes which are succeeded by an asterisk (*) in the following table are stated in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Staff
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze notably marks the return of long-time Donkey Kong Country composer David Wise, whose last soundtrack for the series was for the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! in 2005. Wise was specifically brought on board by Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh.

Pre-release and unused content
Early footage of the game, specifically the one from the E3 trailer, showed heads-up display that was a bit different from the current version. The place where the life counter is did not feature anything behind the hearts; in the final version, there is a wooden plank icon. There was also no possibility to see whether the player can perform the Kong POW move, as the banana bar was missing.

In Levitation Station, if DK jumps towards a block as it is forming, he may hang in the air beside it until it is ready to return to the background.

When a player finds a Schnautzel near a Tuff Fluff in Horn Top Hop they need to make sure they that it's slightly facing the background and keep rolling into it. If done correctly, the Schnautzel will be knocked out falling into the background instead of the foreground.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong's 8-bit sprite, holding a Wii U GamePad, appears at the end of Aqueduct Assault stage.
 * Donkey Kong Jr.: The levels in Secret Seclusion feature music that originated from this game.
 * Donkey Kong 3: At the second checkpoint of Fruity Factory, the background features a replica of the first stage.
 * Donkey Kong Country: The music theme "Aquatic Ambience" is covered. In the Canopy Chaos level, Cranky's record player from this game can be found and when ground pounded in front of it, it plays this games' title theme. The music theme "Jungle Groove" has two covers: one during the loading screens between levels and another during some levels. Part of the music in the level Frozen Frenzy contains a cover version of the music theme "Fear Factory". Part of the music in the Crumble Cavern level contains a cover version of "Cave Dweller Concert" from this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: Dixie Kong returns from this game which marked her first appearance. Bramble levels, swamp levels and beehive levels return. The music theme Lockjaw Saga is covered. Part of the music in the Frosty Fruit level contains a cover version of "In a Snowbound Land" music from this game. The music theme Stickerbush Symphony is covered. Part of the music in the level Frantic Fields contains a cover version of "Run, Rambi! Run!" from this game. One of Dixie Kong's idle animations in multiplayer involves her playing some air guitar could be a possible reference to her playing her electric guitar from this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble: Water skipping returns. Part of the music in some secret levels contains a cover on Wrinkly's Save Cave (the one where she's sleeping) in this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns: Being a direct sequel to this game, the levels in Secret Seclusion have a remix of the music from the single Golden Temple stage in this game (which itself was remixed from Donkey Kong Jr.). Also, the design of Donkey Kong Island is based off its appearance in this game; all of the worlds from this game can be seen. Finally, a number of sound effects from this game are used. In the level Blurry Flurry, Mega Squeekly has a cameo still alive in the background while frozen solid in an iceberg. The giant Eyeball from Handy Hazards makes a cameo in the background of the level "Frozen Frenzy" frozen in place. Mugly makes a cameo in the diorama of Donkey Kong Island frozen under the ground. In the level Rocking Relics, a part of the music has a cover of the Boombox beat from Donkey Kong's hut. Also, one of the logos seen in the cockpit of the plane Donkey Kong crashes into in the beginning of the game has the logo for this game. Snaps, an enemy from this game, makes a cameo on the title screen.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: One of the games Donkey Kong plays on his Nintendo 3DS during his idle animation is this game. During the animation, he can be heard passing a Goomba and collecting a coin.
 * Mario Kart 7: Donkey Kong sometimes plays it during his idle animation. He is heard playing as himself, picking up a Super Leaf item, and avoiding a Green Shell.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D: The Crash Guard, Green Balloon, and Portable DK Barrels originated in this game. Also, this is one of the games Donkey Kong plays on his Nintendo 3DS during his idle animation. He is heard in Cranky Kong's Shop, as well as activating a secret path in a level.

References in later games

 * Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: A number of Snowmads appear as Trophies. Additionally, the music that plays in Mangrove Cove and in every second temple level are playable in the Jungle Hijinxs stage under the names "Mangrove Cove" and "Swinger Flinger" respectively, despite the latter originally playing in the level Bopopolis and every second level after that.

Trivia

 * The name "Tropical Freeze" is a pun on the term "tropical breeze".
 * In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Donkey Kong's idle animation shows him playing a Nintendo 3DS with one of the following games: Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D.
 * Funky Kong makes a The Legend of Zelda reference for the Crash Guards (very similarly to how Cranky Kong does in Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D with the DK Barrels) by saying, "Vehicle troubles? It's dangerous to go alone - take one of these!"
 * This is the only installment in the series without a handheld port.