Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Has Detailed Fur, But Feels Familiar

I tried two levels of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze out while I was at E3. One was a mine cart level which had Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong riding a cart down a rickety track.

The gameplay is just like the Super Nintendo Donkey Kong Country games or the more recent Donkey Kong Country Returns, where you need precise jumps to clear the level. What made the stage more challenging is that both players can make the mine cart jump. Since you can’t cancel out of a jump you have to make sure you’re not working against each other during cooperative play.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze gives players three hearts so you can hit objects like crates blocking your path twice before you have to restart the stage. New for Tropical Freeze is the camera pans around certain parts of the level so can you see the mine cart spiraling down a mountain path.

The other stage I played was the game’s first level. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong burst out of an airplane by shaking the nunchuck and remote. Eager to show off the game’s swimming feature, in the first two minutes of the game Donkey and Diddy slide down a hill and right into a pool of water. You can fight enemies under water by shaking the remote to dash into them.

While underwater, players will fight fish. On land you’ll bounce on birds, irate grasshoppers, and penguins. Penguins replace the Kremlings, the crocodiles usual enemies in the Donkey Kong Country series.

Another change in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is the blowing move from Returns has been replaced with pulling stuff out of the ground like in Super Mario Bros. 2. You can toss enemies and things other than barrels in Tropical Freeze.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is slated for release in North America this November.