I wish I could like this game as much as everyone else does. For the longest time I've heard that Tropical Freeze is one of the best 2D platformers ever and after playing it TWICE this year, I can say that it's great but not one of the best.

To first give it praise, this is one of the most polished platformers I've ever played. Each level is expertly crafted and compliments Donkey Kong's movement super well. Donkey Kong controls perfectly and I love the addition of Dixie and Cranky as characters. This game looks amazing, has a great soundtrack, and is fun.

However, this game has problems that I feel might just be a me thing. First, the bosses in this game just suck. They take way too long to beat and are big chore to get through. But my biggest complaint is the levels and swimming. I think the levels just go on for way too long. As much as I love how much detail and how good the design is, they feel just a bit too long making the game feel way longer then it actually is. Also, I'm not a fan of the swimming in this game. Way too many levels rely on swimming and I just wish I was playing as normal DK during them.

Overall, this game is still good but lacks in a few areas leading to a A-tier game.

I thought this game was good, although it was pretty difficult and I thought DK's movement was a bit slow and clunky, especially without another Kong which allowed him to keep rolling. All the levels were unique and varied, and in particular, I liked World 5, Juicy Jungle and World 6, Donkey Kong Island, which were full of great levels. Getting all of the puzzle pieces and KONG letters was tough and at times frustrating but ultimately rewarding so I still enjoyed it. I haven't completed Hard Mode and I have no plans to as it was hard enough at the standard difficulty, I don't think I could handle Hard Mode. Finally, I have to say that there wasn't much "freeze" in this game like the title suggested which I think is a bit misleading.

Pretty good DK game, i really like how they inplemented the cast to help DK but sometimes i wish we could control them too like playing with diddy, dixie or even cranky kong.

The bosses are a bit offhand with some of them taking too long to die, especially the final boss but even there is plausible cuz he is the final boss... also personally i dislike ice stages in any platformer, i don't know why they make it the main aspect of the game, but it is really insuferable mainly in the final island... f**k sliding mechanics xD

Another game that's probably in my S tier.

DKC: Tropical Freeze is one of the most inventive platformers I have ever played. I had no interest in playing this game when it came out, as it just seemed like another DKC game and Returns when I played it was kind of uninteresting. My eyes only got turned to it after I watched the Game Maker's Toolkit Video about this game's level design. I knew I needed to play it immediately afterwards.

What Mark is saying in that video is absolutely true - the level design in this is the kind of stuff they should be teaching in game design school. Every level doesn't throw one or two things at you independently, it throws 4 things at you that bounce off each other in a way that makes this game a blast to play. These mechanics are all diegetic as well, as they fit the world design and aesthetic choices perfectly. This rides that line perfectly for difficulty, having the challenge of an old school Donkey Kong platformer without some of the more annoying aspects those games had.

The fact that this has gained a cult appeal from it's slightly disappointing performance at launch is testament to its quality. If you are even slightly interested in platformers, you are doing yourself a disservice not trying this.