The fact of the matter is that while Tropical Freeze may be “kid-friendly” it is not just a “kid’s game.” It is difficult and frustrating and therefore incredibly satisfying, and I would recommend it to any “hardcore” gamer who thinks Nintendo’s games are just for kids. The game is so difficult that at times my wife(who works in childcare) would be watching me play and ask, “This is supposed to be for kids?,” admiring its difficulty. Many have criticized Nintendo since perhaps the release of Mortal Kombat for their commitment to kid-friendly games and say that their games don’t appeal to “hardcore” gamers, only “casuals,” but any play through of Tropical Freeze will help destroy this notion. To me, this is the real definition of “old school” gaming, satisfaction arising out of the frustration of play. The final boss of the game took me almost an hour to beat, and when I finally got the last hit on him, it was one of the most satisfying gaming experiences that I’ve had in quite some time. The bosses are very inventive even by Nintendo’s standards and are always a pleasure to play. None are easy, making every victory that much more satisfying. As Tropical Freeze progresses, it becomes more and more difficult, and each section is topped off by a boss battle, which are far and away the best part of the game.Įvery boss is unique and requires vastly different strategies to beat. While it can be discouraging to die so often, I actually never got bored with the levels that I was dying on, a testament to the game’s great and engaging gameplay. Over the course of playing its six worlds(I didn’t get to any of the bonus stages), I died well over a hundred times with some particular checkpoints being ones that I visited over a dozen times. A lot of reviews of Dark Souls say that it hearkens back to “old school” video games, and I’m here to tell you that Tropical Freeze is as “old school” as it gets, while also being beautiful, engaging, and exciting to play. That said, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a very hard game, so difficult that it reminds me of Battletoads(though it’s not that difficult). I’m not the greatest gamer, but I have the technical skills required to play any game and assess its difficulty. Regular games like Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Half-Life 2, and Pikmin 3 are cakewalks for me. If I’m given an option, I usually choose the “hard” difficulty in a game to make things interesting. I’ve beaten The Binding of Isaac so often that a “mom kill” isn’t an achievement. I’ve beaten Dark Souls and Super Meat Boy multiple times and don’t consider them hard games. Often times the ideas surrounding and inhabiting a game are disconnected from the technical skills required to play, but in order to review Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, I’m going to need to display some street cred. Normally when writing about video games it isn’t necessary to flash any “gamer credentials” to show that I’m good at video games.
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