Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze's addition of Funky Mode makes it more accessible without reducing the formidable platforming difficulty to a walk in the park. There's still a lot of challenge, even with the extra help Donkey's Funky uncle affords. But the Switch version manages to take just enough of an edge off a punishing game to let the fun platforming outshine its difficulty.

Tropical Freeze is another wonderful Donkey Kong Country game, and it's better than ever on Switch.

Retro Studios displays mastery of the 2D platformer in this exquisite sequel.

Tropical Freeze adds intelligently to the formula, with new characters that imbue subtle nuance to the gameplay, a better-tuned challenge level and an increased emphasis on replay value. These features make Tropical Freeze consistently worth coming back to, and mark it as a high point for the series.

If you crave a challenge, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will bring out the best of your platforming abilities. Those expecting a cakewalk will feel like they slammed headfirst into a brick wall of difficulty.

Tropical Freeze stands among the best platformers of the last decade. Playing as Funky Kong is great for alleviating frustration or allowing skilled players to breeze through the game at high speed

[I]t's a great game – exactly what we expect from Nintendo. But in a way, that's also its problem: anyone with a Wii U would be a fool not to buy it, but so few people have committed to the Wii U, and in order to rectify that, Nintendo needs to woo the unconverted with all-new gaming experiences. And the gaming experience that Tropical Freeze provides may be rich, enjoyable, challenging and frequently hilarious, but it isn't anything conspicuously new.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze may be a simple port, but if you didn't own a Wii U this title is a must-buy.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a platformer that needs to be experienced by as many people as possible.

It looks good, sounds better and plays well...if you have a high tolerance for a high level of difficulty and/or are willing to cheat the system.