Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Reviews

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is ranked in the 93rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
May 4, 2018

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a solid, if occasionally frustrating platformer.

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75 / 100
Feb 18, 2014

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a solid, if at times frustrating platformer, but the inclusion of a couple new characters aren't enough to stave off the feeling that we've seen all this before.

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Guardian
Top Critic
Feb 16, 2014

[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.

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Feb 19, 2014

Nintendo's bounding ape returns again in a thumping, enjoyable but unambitious platform game.

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Mar 7, 2014

Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze might be a disappointment in theory, but once I started playing it, I couldn't help but fall in love. The level designs are some of the best I have seen in the genre, the soundtrack is stellar, and the difficulty is tough but never unfair. For the audience that owns a Wii U and desires platformers crafted to perfection, this is a must-own. Nintendo continues to pump out stellar releases for its console; I just wish the audience was there to purchase them.

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8 / 10.0
Feb 18, 2014

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is a master class in the art form of 2D platformers, but it's way too difficult for its own good and this makes the inherent flaws and limitations of the genre all the more obvious. Tropical Freeze is probably the best side-scrolling platformer we'll ever see from a technical standpoint. Now it's time for Nintendo to stop making them for a while and actually do something new.

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Feb 16, 2014

Though it fails to innovate in an engaging way, the base on which Tropical Freeze is built is solid as a glacier.

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83 / 100
Feb 17, 2014

Platform gaming fans would be silly to pass this one over; however, the rest of you may want to "proceed with caution" as although it is a very good game, it is far from being an easy one to master.

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Feb 16, 2014

Building on the success of its forebears, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze look great, features some excellent boss battles, lots of well designed, challenging levels, and enough secrets to keep you coming back for more.

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8.5 / 10.0
Feb 17, 2014

Familiarity be damned, this game feels like a deliberate labor of love from Retro Studios.

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Dave Aubrey
Top Critic
7.8 / 10.0
May 1, 2018

Fun to revisit, but hardly essential.

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86 / 100
May 1, 2018

If this will be your first time playing Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, you can scarcely afford to pass this up. With a fresh set of eyes, this is an absolute home run from Nintendo.

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9 / 10.0
May 1, 2018

The Switch version of Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is basically the same as the one released on Wii U four years, and that's a good thing. It was an excellent game then, it still is nowadays: fun, challenging, full of ideas and tough, like the best games of the past.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Ken McKown
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
May 10, 2018

While the new features are a nice bonus, the core game is still here and still fantastic.

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GameMAG
ACE
Top Critic
9 / 10
May 13, 2018

Thanks to a new character and the release on the popular system, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has finally become available to a wide audience. This is definitely the best version of the platformer, which will please users with good difficulty, but without annoying deaths, improved graphics, fast loaf times, interesting levels with lots of secrets and hardcore mode. Moreover, now you can play Tropical Freeze in portable mode, and that's a really cool addition.

Review in Russian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Feb 17, 2014

"Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" is a top-tier offering for the Wii U, but it doesn't break the mold the same way "Super Mario 3D World" did late last year. It's a Wii U exclusive, but it fails to take advantage of the GamePad. This is a good game that missed opportunities to be great.

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8.5 / 10.0
Feb 28, 2014

The fifth entry in the Donkey Kong Country franchise, Tropical Freeze may not contain many surprises, but its an expertly-crafted game with an excess of personality.

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Feb 18, 2014

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a very solid game that could've been great if its developers had utilized more outside-of-the-box thinking during development. It's tried and true, but suffers from over-use of the "safe approach."

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Ray Carsillo
Top Critic
9.5 / 10.0
Feb 17, 2014

One of the best platformers I've ever played, Tropical Freeze finds a way to build on the successful foundation of Donkey Kong Country Returns in new and wonderful ways.

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9.5 / 10.0
Feb 24, 2014

If you own a Wii U, you have no reason not to pick up Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Its challenges are numerous and demanding, but not without leeway, its secrets are nigh-infinite and most importantly, it brings with it that classic Nintendo sense of fun. DKC: TF is meant to be a challenge, but it's a challenge that excites you with the joy of triumph, not one that frustrates you with failure.

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