Country Returns would be getting a Wii U sequel in the form of Donkey Kong Country Tropical

Freeze

And they didn't just show off a trailer but we even got to play it too! So we figured

we'd do what we do best and analyze everything we've seen to see what secrets the footage

might be hiding.

And with that, let's get started.

So right off the bat, we can see the game is very similar to DKCR Returns.

Of course, both Donkey Kong and Diddy are back, only this time sporting a super nifty

fur effect, And based on our play-time, we can say that they play nearly identically

too, whether together or separated.

You can still roll, jump, roll-jump, cling to grass to cross over chasms, as well as

use Diddy's peanut-gun and jetpack to hover.

But they're not completely identical.

For instance, you can no longer blow on things, which was used to reveal objects hidden in

flowers or blow out candles in the original game.

But, Donkey and Diddy have gained a new ability to make-up for it, and that is they can now

pluck objects from the ground to reveal hidden things or changes the environment in some

way, such as by revealing an entrance here

In addition, the characters can finally swim again, like in the original series! And you

can even perform a sprial-attack to take out enemies--which is the first time they've been

able to attack underwater without the help of an animal buddy.

On top of that, it also provides a quick speed-boost, which you migh very well need given that there

is now an air meter that limits how long you can stay underwater, but you will be able

to collect air bubbles from discarded scuba diving helmets to replenish your aie supply.

Beyond the mostly similar moveset, we can see that the background interactivity of DKCR

is back too, such as with the ships here that unload small horde of enemies.

But Tropical Freeze takes it even further by introducing a dynamic camera that provides

a much deeper sense of immersion, such as during this barrel-cannon sequence, which

offers viewpoints far more cinematic than those of the original game.

Moving on, Tropical Freeze also marks the return of Dixie Kong who hasn't been playable

in a platformer since Donkey Kong Country 3.

And like before, she can use her hair like a helicopter to increase her air-time, even

while riding piggyback on Donkey Kong. But she works a little differently this time around.

Instead of simply allowing you to glide as in past games, it actually gains you some

altitude, which will be useful for last-minute saves or reaching high ledges. In fact, according

to one of the game's producers, there will even be secret areas that can only be reached

by certain characters

Unfortunately, we don't know much else about her as she wasn't playable in the demo.

But Dixie Kong's far from the only returning element from past games, such as the collectibles,

like bananas, balloons, and Banana coins, which likely means there's a shop of some

kind in the game where you can again purchase help-items. And we wouldn't be surprised if

Cranky Kong is once-again serving as the shopkeeper.

Then there are the four hidden KONG letters in every level. And if they operate anything

like the ones in Returns, that could mean you'll again have to find them all to unlock

a secret level in each world.

And Puzzles Pieces as back too, and based on the demo, it appears there will again be

a varying amount hidden per level, such as 5 or 9, But since Returns also had a third

option, being 7, we're guessing that'll be the case here too. And if they serve the same

purpose hereas in Returns, that means they could be used to unlock bonus content in the

game, like music tracks or concept art.

And of course the DK barrels are also back, which like before, allows you to regain a

lost partner.

But there's something different about them this time...if we take a look at the one in

this clip, we can actually see it has DD written on it instead of the "DK" seen elsewhere in

the footage. And we're guessing it's shorthand for Diddy since that's who pops out.

In addition, we can see Donkey Kong actually finds a barrel with DX written on it as well,

which as you might have guessed, houses Dixie Kong

SO it seems that the barrel actually now displays which character is trapped inside of it, as

in the gameplay we've seen, Donkey Kong only finds DD barrels, whereas Diddy only finds

DK barrels. But this only applies to the barrels found within the levels themselves, as the

ones that appear when a fallen player uses a life to respawn have the classic DK letters

on them.

So why the change? Probably because there's no longer just two-characters, with the addition

of Dixie. In fact, according to the game's producers, there will actually be a fourth

character as well, though we have no clue who it might be. But we'll get back to that

in a second...

So now that we know the barrels' display the names of the Kong inside, we can't help but

wonder if this might mean that the KONG barrels you find could be dependent on the level you

play. In this respect, they may actually be more like Yoshi in Super Mario World, where

you would find different colored ones depending on the level, but could take them with you

to any level you wanted to as long as you didn't lose them.

Though the game's producer did note that you'll be able to choose the character you play as,

so maybe you'll actually choose your players before the level even starts, which would

then change the barrels you encountered throughout the level.

Now let's get back to that mysterious fourth character...could that mean that the game

might actually offer 4-player multiplayer? Maybe, but the official fact-sheet provided

to the press only lists 1-2 players, so it does seem unlikely.

But either way, we're guessing that the character might be on the larger side physically so

that Diddy & Dixie would have someone else to pair up with--which again would make perfect

sense if the game is indeed 4-players since you'd have two teams of two

And though we don't know who that 4th character is, we do have one theory: Kiddie Kong, since

he's not only DK-sized, but Dixie Kong previously paired up with him in Donkey Kong Country

3.

Now he hasn't typically been the most favorably looked-upon Kong by fans of the series, so

maybe Retro will take the opportunity to age him a few years past the infant-stage. or

of course, it could just be someone else entirely

Regardless of who it is, we still don't know how any of this fits into the story. In fact,

we don't know much about the story at all besides the fact that Donkey Kong's home,

fittingly known as Donkey Kong Island, has been commandeered by group of vikings from

the North Sea

Wait, Vikings? Yep, just like Donkey Kong Country Returns before it, Tropical Freeze

introduces an entirely new type of enemy.

This time in the form of a variety of arctic animal types decked out in Viking gear, such

as penguins who'll come in a ton of forms like normal walking ones, bigger walking ones,

flying ones, bouncing ones, helmeted ones who are protected against your first hit,

but can then be picked up and thrown, horn-helmeted ones that we're guessing you won't be able

to jump on at all, archer ones who fire dead fish at you, bomb-carrying ones, and these

spear-guys who we can see are alerted to your presence when you get close. Beyond the penguins,

there are also walruses--who apparently take a few hits to take down-- owls, which come

in small and giant varieties Then we also can see that rabbits will be here too, and

at least one Sea Lion, who's a boss.

And did you notice many of them are wearing what appears to be their people's insignia

In fact, we can see that insignia all over the levels shown off so far, such as on tents,

ships, various banners, and boxes

Now according to the game's producers, Donkey Kong will Actually have to fight his way across

5 different islands in order to get back to his home of Donkey Kong Island

ANd this is actually in-line with the original trilogy where only the first game took place

on Donkey Kong Island, and the others, starting with the second one, took place largely elsewhere

And that's not the only similarity. As you might recall, the second game in the original

trilogy, Diddy's Kong Quest, had pirate-themed enemies. And Vikings are also pirates--only

scandinavian ones. Are these similarities entirely coincidental, or could it hint at

a deeper connection?

I mean, Dixie is back after all, and the second game is where she got her start. So we wouldn't

be surprised if an Animal Buddy or two from that game is also back, like Rambi from the

first DKC in Returns.

And speaking of which, the trailer actually doesn't show a single animal-buddy at all.

But now that underwater areas are a thing, could enguarde the swordfish be in the cards?

But let's get back to the story for a second. One of the levels in the demo was actually

the very first level of the game, and here we can see Donkey Kong pounding his way out

of the cockpit of a crashed plane. So wmaybe that plane is is how Donkey Kong and Diddy

get to the first island? Were they shot down?

Well, if we replay the intro in slow motion, we can actually see Donkey Kong and Diddy

dropping in from the sky and into the airplane. So were they blasted out fo the plane during

its crash-landing and are just now catching up to it? Or maybe the two events are completley

unrelated--Donkey Kong is known for making an entrance after all, and that plane sure

looks like it's been there awhile. Maybe they were blasted from Donkey Kong Island all the

way here?

Either way, this opening is fairly similar to the opening of DKC Returns, which also

involved pounding his way through a door.

And though we don't have footage of it, you can head right back inside to find a secret

area with TVs that you can turn on by ground-pounding which displays the game's logo--again, just

like the previous game.

And it seems crashed planes will be a theme in the first world, as if we take a look at

level 1-4 from the demo, we can see Donkey Kong and Diddy pass by several different wreckages--some

of which are still on fire and are probably pretty recent. What's going on here? Are the

Vikings shooting them down?

And later in that same level, DK travels through a destroyed a cargo ship, complete with boxes

loaded with bananas, at least if the icon on them is any indication.

And it's not long after where we see some cargo containers with a banana bunch icon

as well.

So are those Donkey Kong's bananas? And who took them originally? After all, we doubt

the Vikings are flying planes.

Okay, that's enough about the story. Let's talk a little bit about the levels themselves.

Now as we mentioned, Donkey Kong will be visiting 5 different islands on his way back to Donkey

Kong Island, which would make for 6 total. So assuming each island is a world, does that

mean the game will only have 6 worlds compared to the 8 of the previous game, excluding the

secret one?

Maybe each world will be longer this time around to make up for this? Or perhaps some

of the islands will be sectioned off into separate worlds? Or maybe the game's actually

does just feature fewer levels, with perhaps each individual level being longer to compensate--the

one's in the demo certainly seemed pretty lengthy!

And speaking of the demo, we have a pretty good idea of the first world's theme since

3 of the four levels available take place there. And unsurprisingly, it's a jungle.

Plus if we take a look at the trailer, we can see yet what appears to be another Jungle

that introduces a new gameplay mechanic: jelly-platforms that can be used like trampolines. And since

they come in a variety of colors, we wonder if they might have different properties too,

such as providing different bounce heights.

And we also know from the demo that the boss of this world is this Sea Lion. ANd did you

notice his penguin henchmen are sitting in the passenger seats of one of the crashed

airplane? That's a pretty cool detail.

Okay, so we now know there's the jungle world--duh, it's a DK game. But the demo's fourth level

takes place in World 2, and this one appears to be themed to a cliff-type area similar

to World 6 from DKCR. In fact, the level here is called Cannon Canyons, and DKCR had a similarly

titled level, Crumble Canyon, so we're pretty sure Cliffs will indeed be the world's theme.

And another clip also reveals a new new mechanic in the form of these giraffe & zebra platforms

that you can climb like a rope.

And this clip from the trailer seems to offer a glimpse of yet another level from the Cliffs

world

So that's potentially 2 of the 5 non-DK islands down, but what about the others? Well, a few

other scenes in the trailer might just provide an idea of what to expect.

Like this forest for example. Now although there were forest in DKCR as well, this one

looks quite a bit different In fact, judging by the background, it may actually be more

of a mountain region, as it seems you'll be using this new balloon platforms to reach

them, as they even extend into the background. And a clip soon after even shows shows you

using them in that same mountain region

And while we're on this clip, did you notice the faces carved in the mountainside? And

then there's the nearby door and in another clip, we can see a house on a ledge. They're

just small details, but they really make the whole area feel a little unsettling.