{"id":17127,"date":"2018-04-11T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/04\/preview_getting_funky_in_donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze_on_switch"},"modified":"2018-04-11T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T13:00:00","slug":"preview-getting-funky-in-donkey-kong-country-tropical-freeze-on-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/04\/11\/preview-getting-funky-in-donkey-kong-country-tropical-freeze-on-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: Getting Funky in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Switch"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"resize\" width=\"900\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SAVBX8vp-gk?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\" type=\"text\/html\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\">[embedded content]<\/iframe> <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Wii U game in possession of great critical acclaim, must be in want of a port. And cor ruddy blimey does <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze\">Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze<\/a><\/strong> fall into line with that as well.<\/p>\n<p>One of the more forgotten gems of 2014, if only for the fact that it was on Wii U, is also the titular Kong\u2019s fifth entry in the mainline Donkey Kong Country series, and in my personal view, the best. But has bringing it to Nintendo Switch hampered its gameplay or overall potential? Obviously not, but it\u2019s the only way I can think to segue into the preview.<\/p>\n<p>Everything you\u2019d expect to be here is here, as far as we can tell <em>nothing<\/em> has been changed or stripped out of the main game to make it more \u2018child-friendly\u2019 or less difficult. The very same balls-to-the-wall hardcore ape platforming you\u2019d want to see is here just as you left it, only with an arguably better choice of controllers. TV mode is just like the original, with a crisp 1080p resolution, a super-solid 60fps, and dripping with additional colour thanks to the full RGB range. We noticed a dip in framerate at one point when discovering a secret, but when trying to replicate it we weren\u2019t able to get anything but buttery smooth performance, so that\u2019s very reassuring.<\/p>\n<p>Portable mode is very much the same deal, only at a native 720p. Both modes also benefit greatly from an excellent amount of anti-aliasing; everything on screen is crisp and sharp, but saw-tooth edges are basically non-existent. To say this is a good-looking game is a gross understatement.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/04\/preview_getting_funky_in_donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze_on_switch\/attachment\/1\/original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/04\/preview_getting_funky_in_donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze_on_switch\/attachment\/1\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"NSwitch_DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze_03.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>So it looks amazing, plays superbly, and is all around a tip-top port, but what about all this funky new gubbins Nintendo\u2019s been bleating on about? Well, the biggest addition by far is that of Funky mode, a mode in which you\u2019re able to play as Funky Kong himself should you wish to take the edge off the challenge. Funky Kong plays much like Donkey Kong only with a host of new abilities and a larger health bar, being able to take five hits instead of just two (or four when partnered with another Kong). He can roll indefinitely just as though he had a partner Kong with him at all times, gain a little bit of extra height by double jumping, slow his descent to a crawl by hovering with his surfboard (don\u2019t think about it too much), breathe forever underwater thanks to a totally disregard of how snorkels actually work, and even stand on spiked floors thanks once again to his trusty surfboard.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s quite the laundry list of new skills, and at first it may sound like it makes the entire game a total breeze, but that\u2019s not entirely true. For example, hovering with Funky gives you incredibly limited horizontal movement, so if you fluff up a jump you <em>might<\/em> be able to save yourself, but by relying on it too much you could also put yourself in more trouble than if you were playing with the Donk. Also don\u2019t discount pits, there\u2019s not an awful lot that can save you from them. Or mistiming barrel blasts. Or just not hitting the buttons. Where Funky does make things much easier however is in the collectibles. Otherwise out-of-reach KONG letters or puzzle pieces can often be grabbed with ease by Funky using his double jump.<\/p>\n<p>He absolutely makes the game easier, there\u2019s no doubt about it, but he doesn\u2019t make the game straight-up easy. What\u2019s more when you start a save file you\u2019re asked whether you want to play in Funky Mode or Classic Mode, and that decision is final. Should you want a purely classic experience you can do so with absolutely no interruption by the bodacious baboon-relation. What\u2019s more if Funky Kong is too making things too easy you can switch to playing Donkey Kong at any time provided you\u2019re not mid-level. Doing this still gives Donkey Kong a bonus of an additional heart as well, so it\u2019s not jumping from one extreme to the other.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/04\/preview_getting_funky_in_donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze_on_switch\/attachment\/2\/original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/04\/preview_getting_funky_in_donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze_on_switch\/attachment\/2\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"NSwitch_DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze_07.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s absolutely the right move by Nintendo to add this mode; the original game was incredible, but very, very tough. What\u2019s more, the inclusion of Funky outside of making things easier also makes it possible to complete levels more quickly in Time Trial mode, meaning a whole new potential avenue of play for speedrunners. It\u2019s also just fun to be able to play through levels you know as a new character, but if you\u2019re adamant that you don\u2019t want any noob stuff invading your ultra-hardcore 2D platformer about giant apes collecting bananas from penguins, you can just stick to Classic mode.<\/p>\n<p>The only other notable inclusion aside from the previously mentioned funkiness is HD Rumble, which admittedly we didn\u2019t notice when playing in TV mode at first. Rather than using <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/super_mario_odyssey\"><strong>Super Mario Odyssey<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s policy of making everything and anything vibrate the controllers, Tropical Freeze takes a more traditional, subtle approach. Most of the time you won\u2019t feel anything, but when landing on platforms or blasting from barrels, you\u2019ll get some lovely tactile feedback. The latter is a huge highlight, as it feels like a spring is going off in your hands and is all the more noticeable in handheld mode. It\u2019s a bit of a shame there\u2019s nothing else really new given the price point of the game and the fact that it\u2019s a port, but apart from that it\u2019s difficult to find any complaints at all.<\/p>\n<p>In short, this Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a holotype for how ports should be handled. Everything is just as you remember it, the gameplay hasn\u2019t been affected in the slightest outside of Funky mode, and that little extra bit of spit and polish coupled with faster loading times just makes it an ever-so-slightly sweeter way to play the game. If you\u2019ve never played the game before there\u2019s no better time to sup from these apey waters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/ftc-disclosure\">FTC Disclosure<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p><em>Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze lands on Nintendo Switch on 4th May. Will you be picking it up?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[embedded content] It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Wii U game in possession of great critical acclaim, must be in want of a port. And cor ruddy blimey does Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze fall into line with that as well. One of the more forgotten gems of 2014, if only for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}