Topic: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

[BranDonk Kong]

It actually looks pretty good.

[Shaymin]

As one of the few people here who was perfectly OK with this being the Retro project...

[Khushrenada]

So, got back into the game some this weekend and completed the fifth island and on Sunday I mostly completed the sixth island. I'm just at the final boss which should then unlock one more temple level. I stopped playing early evening and watched the Emmys. I debated going back to fight the boss or wait until tonight but decided to give it a go. After 40 minutes of failure, I regretted trying it and will see how things go tonight.

For some reason, the experience gave me déjà vu of my time playing DKCR. I feel like the same thing happened there in which I was close to finishing the game on a Sunday but ended up beating it the next day after work on a Monday. It also got me thinking afterwards about Retro and bosses in their game. I think it may be a weakness of theirs as they kind of suck. I started comparing Retro's bosses from MP and DK versus the Kirby or Mario series. Also considered 2D Metroid and the Rare DK games as well. There are a bunch of bosses I like facing in those games for various reasons because of how they play or the personality of the bosses.

There's only one boss Retro has done that I can think of positively or get excited to face and that's Quadraxis in MP2. Even there, the relationship is kind of shaky. Most of their bosses are usually long slogs. I appreciate the idea of a boss providing some challenge. I'm not looking for DKC1 World 1 Gnawty here. As a kid, it sometimes seemed weird when late bosses could be easy. Like, how did these guys ever end up in charge of their minions when they are so weak? With Retro, bosses have always proven why they are bosses and would have such authority. But Retro seems to equate challenging with lengthy with multiple forms / attacks and limited attack windows for the player. While they try and add personality to the bosses and battle tactics, it never seems to tip an encounter into something I enjoy as I play it. The end result are these unavoidable bottlenecks of gaming annoyance. I'll illustrate it as having to swallow bitter tasting medicine to feel better. It's a task you don't really enjoy but you just try and get it over with as quick as possible so that you can get back to what the majority of gameplay may be about.

Am I the only feeling this way about Retro and their bosses?

[Order.RSS]

Are you going into the final boss fight with 1 helper, or stocking up on barrels? The game drowns you in Koins, which you can exchange for extra helper barrels. Once I figured out you could go into the final boss with 3 Dixie Barrels (which is what, 8 hit points total vs. the regular 4?) it became easier and I did it in a few tries.

If you're good with Cranky Kong he's an arguably even better pick to precisely hit the boss' weak spot.

[Khushrenada]

You can stock up with helper barrels so that if the helper disappears then they will automatically get replenished back in? I never knew that.

When I start the boss fight, I can get a helper barrel at the start so I always just used that going into it. Never really saw the use in buying helper barrels since there's usually one in a level and if I were to leave a level to get a helper barrel and come back then I'd lose my progress and have to start over in which case I could probably get the helper barrel at the start of that level. Thus, I'd just continue on with DK and sometimes that meant having to figure out how to get a letter or puzzle piece with DK only moves. I'd rather still learn the patterns and get through it on what I have available rather then stack up. I'm hoping I'm getting close. Previous bosses required 9 hits and I've been getting to 7 and 8 with this one. Hopefully should just be a bit more practice. But it is getting a bit frustrating when I can get through 6 hits and still have my helper only to fall or get knocked into lava and lose all health.

Although when I say helper, I pretty much just mean Dixie. The DK/Dixie combo is what I latched onto after trying them all through the opening world and it is pretty much all you need to succeed in this game. I believe this marks the first time DK and Dixie are together in a platformer and they are a fantastic match.

[Order.RSS]

You can stock up with helper barrels so that if the helper disappears then they will automatically get replenished back in? I never knew that.

Yes, exactly. So Dixie essentially has 3 lives/6 hitpoints instead of 1 life/2 hitpoints. I don't think the game ever prompts you to try it, although I'm one of those "but what if I need this potion after the final boss fight" types who never set a foot in the Funky Store.

Was real salty when I found out against the final boss, because this would've made those Owls way easier too.

[M.K.Ultra]

I can see people's complaints with Retro bosses but I have found they are really enjoyable. I am also a glutton for punishment. If I may bring up again my recent 200% run of DKCTP  . In hard mode the final boss requires a perfect run since you are going in with just one heart and you only have DK, no helper monkeys. I probably spent 5-6 hours just repeating that boss fight.

But Khush, what did you think of the rocket barrel and mine cart levels?
Any favorite level(s)?
Favorite songs?
Were you getting all the puzzle pieces?

[MagicCow64]

I can see people's complaints with Retro bosses but I have found they are really enjoyable. I am also a glutton for punishment. If I may bring up again my recent 200% run of DKCTP  . In hard mode the final boss requires a perfect run since you are going in with just one heart and you only have DK, no helper monkeys. I probably spent 5-6 hours just repeating that boss fight.

But Khush, what did you think of the rocket barrel and mine cart levels?
Any favorite level(s)?
Favorite songs?
Were you getting all the puzzle pieces?

Tropical Freeze is one of my all time faves, and having beaten the game on hard mode, I don't agree about the bosses overall. They're involved, but aside from the polar bear you can speed through the phases with kool tricks. I'd suggest watching the top speed trial videos for them.

[Khushrenada]

But Khush, what did you think of the rocket barrel and mine cart levels?
Any favorite level(s)?
Favorite songs?
Were you getting all the puzzle pieces?

Pfff. No one's interested in that stuff. This is just another platformer for a system overflowing with platformers. You've seen one, you've seen them all. 

I wasn't really looking to get too in-depth into the game yet but just wanted to post that comment on the bosses since it was on my mind and to help bump this thread up in preperation. I have been getting all the puzzle pieces. When I mention completing islands it is because I got all the puzzle pieces and K-O-N-G letters in all the levels to consider it finished/complete. So, more will come yet, particularly as I try some of these places again in Hard Mode.

I can see people's complaints with Retro bosses but I have found they are really enjoyable. I am also a glutton for punishment. If I may bring up again my recent 200% run of DKCTP  . In hard mode the final boss requires a perfect run since you are going in with just one heart and you only have DK, no helper monkeys. I probably spent 5-6 hours just repeating that boss fight.

Having played through DKCR and its Hard Mode, I expected it would probably be about going on perfect runs through the bosses which is another reason why I've just played through levels and this boss without acquiring extra help. Might as well learn the rhythms now with less aid to prepare for that challenge. Although spending 5-6 hours on a boss fight does not sound that pleasurable.  If I'm not having much fun with Hard Mode, I may abandon it. We'll see how it goes. It ended up not being that big a deal in DKCR so hopefully it will be the same level for TF as well. In the meantime, I actually never did get back to the game yesterday. Maybe I can wrap up normal mode tonight depending on how things go and if I stop spending time posting weird irreverent stuff on other parts of this forum. 

[Khushrenada]

Alright. I never did get back to DKCTR until Saturday. Took down the final boss on the 7th try that night. Then I went through the K level and the secret 7th Island getting all the puzzle pieces and K-O-N-G letters and unlocking Hard Mode. With Hard Mode unlocked, I then basically went in reverse playing all the 7th island levels, the DK Island K level, and then I tried the Final Boss once more.

If I’m going to actually go through this on Hard Mode then I don’t want to be stuck playing that boss a long time. That 5 – 6 hours that Mr. Bungle mentioned did not sound appealing. So, I played it for a few rounds and after 8 – 10 losses, I decided to stop since the boss and last few levels had done a number on my lives. I was around 54 lives and thought I should see if I could bring that number up by playing some levels and collecting bananas and coins from them. Thus, I went to the start of DK Island and played through levels 1, 2, and 3 beating them on hard. I started playing level 4, the rocket barrel level but after a few losses there, I realized I was just tired and not really feeling in the mood to keep playing so stopped for the night.

[Khushrenada]

On Sunday afternoon, I booted this thing back up and decided to go at the Final Boss again. On my fourth try, I was one hit away from beating it and then he got me on one of his charges, bucking his horned helmet up at me. Played it some more and never got close to that point again. Was kicking myself at blowing a good opportunity. Having spent 20 or so minutes on the boss, I decided to take a break from it again and went back to the rocket level. Got through it and 5 after a bunch of tries. Breezed through 6 rather quickly. Maybe 5 or 6 attempts there. Went through level B and debated doing something else or stopping for the day.

Earlier when I was going through 4 and 5 and it was taking multiple attempts, I began thinking about the time I was spending playing this game that maybe I should be using for something else. Hadn’t Backlaugust taught me that just beating a game was pretty good without bothering to accomplish every little thing in it? What does it matter if I even do get the Hard mode done? What does that prove? Others have done it so its not like I’m doing anything revolutionary. I’m also happy enough with my gaming ability having already done long and semi-pointless tasks or difficult challenges in other games that many other players haven’t. I’m not insecure or worried that walking away from Hard mode is somehow going to diminish anything in my life. So, yeah, I was clearly having a blast playing though these levels…

Anyways, I decided to try at the Final Boss again for a bit and if it still seemed like it was going to be a long task then I wasn’t going to continue this Hard Mode quest. I beat him on my 4th try. Man, that felt good. Then I went to level 7 and beat that in 2 tries. Now I was feeling pumped again. Went to level 8 and that just took 3 tries. All that was left was level A and that took… quite a few tries. But I got it done and now Islands 6 and 7 are complete in Hard.

While it felt good to get that job done, I also realized that it meant I was pretty much committed now to beating the rest of the game on Hard and I know some of these other bosses may yet be a pain to do in Hard. However, the reason I started playing Hard Mode from the harder end levels and working backwards is for a few reasons. First, those levels were freshest in my mind and I’d already had practice in them so I didn’t have to relearn them. Plus, since they should be the harder levels to do in Hard Mode then it should make the task easier as I went along. If I couldn’t succeed in these harder levels then at least I wouldn’t have spent a bunch of time getting through the easier stuff just to hit a wall later. If I couldn’t beat them now then I might as well just walk away from the game at that point before sinking in a bunch of time on Hard Mode. Moreover, I found a lot more enjoyment and fun in the early levels then I did in these last levels so I wanted to save the more fun stuff for later.

[Khushrenada]

I’ve been making a few notes now as I go through hard on the levels and will post them here once Hard Mode is done. I know Mr. Bungle is just waiting to get into the complexities and various elements of the game and there’s a lot to discuss. So, feel free to express yourself now if you want to. I’ve beat the game so I don’t think there are any other major surprises at this point aside from getting the job of Hard Mode done. I’m not bothering with the Time Trials/Attack stuff.

I am willing to say at this point though that I am not over-the-moon with this title as Mr. Bungle or Insanolord seem to be. It’s not my favorite or number one platformer of the past decade. My upcoming comments will reflect that. This also won’t be a Mario Galaxy 1 situation in which I found most of the game rather dull and disappointing. I played Yoshi’s New Island a couple months ago. This game is much better than that. I just think it doesn’t quite bust through to the crème de la crème like some other games but, again, I’ll get more into depth on that in awhile.

[Luigi Dude]

I would say I found Hard Mode in Tropical Freeze more enjoyable then Normal because you could at least choose between which Kong you wanted to play as before each level.  The rest of the Kongs are way more fun to play as then Donkey Kong.  That's my biggest problem with both Returns and Tropical Freeze, Donkey Kong by himself doesn't always feel that fun to control.  The levels themselves are great but Donkey Kong's size and momentum makes things feel harder then they should be at times.

I have the same problem with Donkey Kong Country 1 as well.  I always play as Diddy for about 95% of the time in that game, since he feels so much better to control.  The only time I use Donkey is if I just got hit while playing as Diddy and need to find a DK barrel so I can get Diddy back, or the few times you need Donkey to kill certain enemies.  This is one of the main reasons Donkey Kong Country 2 is easily the best of the original trilogy is because both Diddy and Dixie are fun to control, while Donkey and Kiddy suffer similar problems.

The only time Donkey Kong has ever felt good to control was in Jungle Beat.  Every other game he's literally the weakest part of them, which I find funny since he's suppose to be the title star.

[M.K.Ultra]

I would say I found Hard Mode in Tropical Freeze more enjoyable then Normal because you could at least choose between which Kong you wanted to play as before each level. \

I actually forgot this. I played through the hard mode with only DK.    I guess that was super hard mode.

I did a few time trials but I found I could only get through one a day. I am just not that into speedrunning, even with games I like to replay.

[Luigi Dude]

I actually forgot this. I played through the hard mode with only DK.    I guess that was super hard mode.

I'd imagine it would be since doing Hard mode in Returns where it was DK only made me go insane.  This is why originally when I unlocked Hard mode in Tropical Freeze I was going to stop but I wanted to just try some of the early ones and when I did and the game gave me the option to choose which Kong I wanted, I got the biggest smirk on my face.  Having Diddy and Dixie's hover abilities solves most issues I have with the games controls, as well as their smaller sizes making things easier to avoid.  Even though Hard mode was still hard, it at least felt fair this time.

[Khushrenada]

I played through more of Hard Mode on the weekend of Oct. 3 and 4th. Was hoping I might be able to wrap up the game that first weekend of October but some of the World 4 levels took awhile to get through like I suspected they might. Ended that weekend having finished Worlds 3 - 7 and a little bit of World 2. Last Saturday, I finally got back to the game and wrapped up the first two worlds on Hard getting 200%. So, mission accomplished. I'm now starting to put my thoughts together for a big write-up on the game.

[M.K.Ultra]

I expect nothing less than a reader review