Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze Review - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze Review Summary

Release Date: July 8, 2025

Hosts:

• Tim Geddes
• Blessing Adeoye Jr.
• Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller
• Andy Cortez

---

Introduction

In this episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, hosted by Tim Geddes and Blessing Adeoye Jr., the discussion centers around a comprehensive review of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The hosts delve into their personal experiences with the Donkey Kong franchise, dissect the game's mechanics, level design, collectibles, music, and overall impact within the platformer genre.

---

Personal Experiences with Donkey Kong Franchise

Blessing Adeoye Jr. shares his retrospective journey with the Donkey Kong series:

"[Donkey Kong] is a very fascinating franchise for me because I've been in and out of so many of the games..." (09:44)

He reminisces about playing the original Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong 64, highlighting his limited interaction with the Donkey Kong Country titles due to hardware constraints:

"...I didn't have a Super Nintendo growing up, right. My sisters had an NES..." (09:00)

Tim Geddes concurs, adding his own preferences within the series, particularly favoring Donkey Kong Country 2 and Tropical Freeze:

"...Donkey Kong Country 2 and Tropical Freeze are my favorites..." (17:39)

---

Gameplay and Difficulty

The hosts commend Tropical Freeze for its challenging yet enjoyable gameplay. Blessing Adeoye Jr. expresses his admiration for the game's difficulty, likening it to classic platformers that require mastery:

"I can play and still be like, damn, this is a banger." (14:38)

Tim Geddes agrees, noting the game's ability to balance difficulty without becoming frustrating:

"...it's challenging in a way that I like because it brings me back to classic Donkey Kong games..." (41:22)

They discuss the inclusion of Funky Mode, a mechanic that allows players to become invincible but with certain trade-offs, enhancing accessibility without compromising the game's core challenge:

"I am now a funky mode apologist. I didn't use it, but I understand why it's there." (15:48)

---

Level Design and Collectibles

A significant portion of the discussion highlights the intricate level design and the layered collectible system in Tropical Freeze. Tim Geddes emphasizes the importance of well-placed collectibles in enriching the platforming experience:

"...levels of collectibles and how each one kind of fits into the next of teaching you to fully explore the levels..." (35:47)

Blessing Adeoye Jr. elaborates on how the game's collectibles create a language for exploration, encouraging players to engage deeply with each level:

"They have such a strong economy of collectibles in this game..." (34:18)

The duo praises how Tropical Freeze builds upon its predecessors by introducing a hierarchy of collectibles, from bananas to puzzle pieces and Kong letters, each serving distinct purposes and enhancing replayability:

"...singular bananas, you have the bundles of bananas, you have the Kong letters, you have the puzzle pieces..." (35:42)

---

Music and Sound Design

The music in Tropical Freeze receives high praise for its ability to evoke nostalgia while introducing fresh elements. Tim Geddes highlights the seamless integration of music with gameplay:

"The music is sublime... there's a rhythm to it." (43:15)

Blessing Adeoye Jr. appreciates the reprises of classic melodies from earlier Donkey Kong Country titles, enhancing the game's nostalgic appeal:

"They reprise a lot of that stuff... I can't really recall in my head automatically..." (21:42)

---

Bosses and Villains

While the gameplay and level design are lauded, the hosts express mixed feelings about the game's bosses and antagonists. Blessing Adeoye Jr. feels that the new villains lack the charisma and memorability of classic antagonists like King K. Rool:

"They just felt like a bunch of bad animals... I was kind of let down on that, on that front." (25:48)

Tim Geddes echoes this sentiment, questioning the depth and personality of the new villains:

"...they didn't really do much for me as far as, oh damn, like these are the guys." (25:48)

Despite these critiques, they acknowledge the mechanical creativity in boss designs, even if the characters themselves fall short:

"...they went above and beyond of really thinking out these boss fights..." (27:48)

---

Comparisons with Other Platformers

The conversation includes comparisons between Tropical Freeze and other iconic platformers like Mario and Crash Bandicoot. Tim Geddes draws parallels between Tropical Freeze’s level design and the meticulous craftsmanship seen in Metroid Prime:

"...from a gameplay and kind of art design perspective." (24:45)

They discuss the evolution of platformers, noting how Tropical Freeze stands out amid the influx of indie titles by maintaining high production values and creative level design:

"They really did a great job of having it be a language... It goes from, okay, 2D platformers to, oh my God, these games are special." (36:00)

---

Overall Impressions and Score

Both hosts express high regard for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, commending its polished gameplay, innovative level design, and enduring challenge. Blessing Adeoye Jr. rates the game a 9 out of 10, emphasizing its ability to stand the test of time:

"I'm going to say 9 out of 10. I give it a 9 out of 10." (40:34)

Tim Geddes concurs, highlighting the game's ability to remain engaging despite being over a decade old:

"It's a 10 year old plus game... it holds up that well." (41:01)

They acknowledge minor criticisms but agree that these do not significantly detract from the overall experience:

"...small qualms, small complaints, but nothing that really takes away from the game that much." (38:30)

---

Conclusion

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is celebrated on the Kinda Funny Gamescast for its exceptional level design, challenging gameplay, and nostalgic yet fresh music. While there are critiques regarding the depth of its villains, the hosts unanimously agree that the game stands as one of the best 2D platformers available, deserving of its high praise and enduring legacy within the genre.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Blessing Adeoye Jr.: "Donkey Kong is a very fascinating franchise for me because I've been in and out of so many of the games..." (09:44)

• Tim Geddes: "Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, I think, is one of the best examples of the layers of collectibles..." (35:47)

• Blessing Adeoye Jr.: "I'm now a funky mode apologist. I didn't use it, but I understand why it's there." (15:48)

• Tim Geddes: "The music is sublime... there's a rhythm to it." (43:15)

• Blessing Adeoye Jr.: "I'm going to say 9 out of 10. I give it a 9 out of 10." (40:34)

---

This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the podcast episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the full episode.

Transcript

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

At Chipotle, we also have a playlist. Guacamole as it's being hand mashed. The sizzle of adobo chicken on the grill, the chopping of onions and cilantro. We call our playlist Real.

[Tim Geddes]

Order now.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Chipotle for real.

[Tim Geddes]

What's up and welcome to the Kinda Funny Gamescast for Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Of course. I'm your host, Tim Geddes. I'm Jo by blessing. Adio. Yay, Junior.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Good day, Tim.

[Tim Geddes]

Good day to you. How you doing?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm doing pretty good.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I mean, watch Superman last night.

[Tim Geddes]

Yes, you did. I did as well. I don't want to give too much of my thoughts because of course we have in review coming later in the week. Reviews are. We're not allowed to give reviews yet, of course, but we are allowed to give initial thoughts to. Would you like to give any?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'll just say I'm coming. I'm coming off of a high.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes. I'll leave it at that. Bless. Look up. Yeah, look up. You might see me up.

[Tim Geddes]

I love that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's all I'll say.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay, good. Well, I like that a lot. That sounds great, but we're not talking about Superman today. O no, that's Thursday, everybody. We're talking about Donkey Kong.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Let's go.

[Tim Geddes]

All right. I'm so excited for this because we are doing a review of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, one of my favorite platformers of all time. What? Definitely one of my favorite recent platformers. But then it breaks my heart when I realized this game's over 10 years.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I was gonna say not recent at all.

[Tim Geddes]

I know.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Not recent whatsoever.

[Tim Geddes]

But you haven't played through it. So this is your first time and you are in the hype leading into Donkey Kong Bonanza. You're like, you know what? Now is the time we're getting funky, Bab. We're playing Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. But we'll get into all that in just a little bit because this is the kind of funny games cast where each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews, and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, like reviewing old games just to get hyped for new ones, I think that's very awesome that we have an amazing audience like y' all that supports that stuff. So thank you for showing up day in and day out for all the shenanigans we have here at Kind of funny. If you like them, please get the kind of funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify or Apple podcasts to get all of our shows ad free and a daily exclusive show. That show is Greg Way. For a chance to be part of this show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. What's your hype levels at for Donkey Kong Banana? We are very, very close. We're like 10 days away, something like that. Nine days.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh my God.

[Tim Geddes]

Right? It's the 17th, I think. Yeah, we're getting, we're getting real close.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Holy banana.

[Tim Geddes]

So yeah, remember housekeeping, we're an 11 person business all about live talk shows. Games Daily was all about the ghost of Yote State at play being announced. Coming this week after this episode of Gamescast, we are doing a Death Stranding 2 stream with Greg Miller. That should be fun. Yeah, him, I don't know what he's.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Doing, but building roads, I assume. So yeah, he's already beaten the game so he's just be doing, I think open world stuff. Building roads, delivering packages. And that's of course to build up hype for The Death Training 2 spoiler cast happening tomorrow. Tomorrow, I believe tomorrow. Later this week. This week's been crazy.

[Tim Geddes]

It's been flying, man. Life's been crazy. A lot's been going on. I cannot believe Death Stranding 2 is just straight up out. People are playing as of today.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

The the calendar says tomorrow, so we can say tomorrow the death rating to that cast is happening.

[Tim Geddes]

Get hyped everybody. For that's one if you're a kind of funny member. Another thing to get hyped for is it is Greg's 21 minute review of James Gun's Superman. So if you want that hot off the press, fresh out the theater thoughts from Greg Miller. You got to go get the Greg way today. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Delaney the Psalm Twining, Carl Jacobs and Omega Buster. Today we're brought to you by Shady Rays. But we'll tell you all about that later. For now let's get into the topic of the show. So it's Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze review by blessing in 2025. But it's also just a Donkey Kong bonanza hype check. I might want to pull Roger in here at some point because that boy's out there.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh yeah, no, he's like we got to start calling him Roger Kong or something. Like he's like he's part of the family. Yeah, I think there's something about we gotta have a conversation about like me, you and Roger and just like cute furry critters. Because between. Between Sonic, between dk, I guess Mario's not furry or critter.

[Tim Geddes]

No, he can be. When he wears sometimes. Sometimes he is a Nuki suit.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, but like, there's something else with.

[Tim Geddes]

You for a second.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Go for it.

[Tim Geddes]

I don't like Mario in the Tanooki suit.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

No.

[Tim Geddes]

I like him with the Tanooki tail and the hat with the little ears. I don't like him when he's full Tanooki. I don't never go full Tanooki.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

No. What is. Is it the thing?

[Tim Geddes]

It's the eraser. That's what it is.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Did you not get far enough in Mario 3 all the time. Is it the fact that's a later game upgrade?

[Tim Geddes]

There's. Okay, it's a couple of things. First off, yes, it was a much rarer item.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, you never really saw the three.

[Tim Geddes]

Get into new key. And then you get it. Jesus God damn Christ. But then you get it and you're like, what's it. What's it do different? Besides looking adorable? Because yes, it looks adorable. I understand that this is not an Astrobot situation. I'm here for the look.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's a good design, but you can.

[Tim Geddes]

Kind of just hit down B and then go in the background as a statue and let enemies pass you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, it's the.

[Tim Geddes]

It's useless. It's. You. Have you ever used that ever?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

No.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, but like, it was cool. I think. Here's the thing. I think this is why canonically we fuck with the Tanooki and this is. This is to the credit of Mario 3, is that they pace out the power up so well to where later game, you start getting weird shit. And the Tanooki, I think was the peak of like, what the fuck? I'm a statue.

[Tim Geddes]

Shoe is definitely the weirdest one.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

The shoe is weird. The frog suit I fucked with. It's crazy sick though, how you go from Super Mario Brothers 1 and it is like, all right, you can throw fireballs. That's like the one.

[Tim Geddes]

Upgrade it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And then you get to Mario 3 star, I guess.

[Tim Geddes]

But that's. Sure, sure, that's a temporary power up.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But you get some more Brothers three and like somewhere in the. In the Nintendo design room, they're like, put them in a. Put him in a frog.

[Tim Geddes]

Put him in a frog.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Put him in a frog. And it's like, what the. How'd you get here?

[Tim Geddes]

That's the thing. How'd they get there? My favorite thing about Nintendo is the how they got there is mostly obvious. It's like, oh, they had a full water world. They're like, yeah, we need a power up that makes you swim better. What should it be? Frog.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Tim Geddes]

Fucking frog.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Geniuses.

[Tim Geddes]

They're geniuses. Tanuki.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think it was like the start of like the first weird power up.

[Tim Geddes]

Like, the real crux of my issue with the tanuki is back in the Mario 3 days, I didn't have beef with the tanooki suit. I just preferred the raccoon suit. Right. I thought the power, the actual power up ability of the Tanooki didn't add in any gameplay way I gave a shit about. So I was like, whatever. And I just preferred the way the Mario looks. Also. Kevin, can you please bring up Super Mario Brothers three box art? We're talking about some of the most iconic box art of all time. He's looking so damn good on that thing. All right. That yellow just blah in your face. You know what goes great with yellow, red, blue, and white? It. Why not? You know what I mean? The most garish color pattern of all time, but it sticks out and it freaking works. But yeah, I love this thing. He has a little tail, he has his little ears. It's great. Then you get to Super Mario 3D land and they're bringing back the tanuki suit for the first time and they allow him to do all the stuff. Guess what? Raccoon suits just gone. Raccoon suit erasure bless.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like, gone from the box art.

[Tim Geddes]

Gone from everything. We've never seen the goddamn raccoon suit again. It's just tanuki this, tanuki that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Wait, you're talking about just in general, like the Mario. Mario, Yeah, I mean, Mario Kart, you know? No, the tanuki isn't the. Or. Sorry, raccoon. Sorry. Raccoon. Raccoon. Damn. I'm doing it now. I'm operating. I mean, you're right, but that's because we got like the super. The. The cape in world, which is awesome. And I think people, I think the cape became a bit more iconic. But also, we didn't really see the cape after that either, right?

[Tim Geddes]

No. Which is.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Mario doesn't really fly anymore, Right.

[Tim Geddes]

He does in Galaxy.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I mean, a 2D Mario, like. I guess you're right. And Galaxy kind of does. He has like the bumblebee thing. Yeah, but he doesn't, like, fly as freely, I guess. Mario 64, he got the. They're doing it. They're redoing it every game.

[Tim Geddes]

All I'm saying is bring back Raccoon suit. Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Everybody told you I want that tattooed.

[Tim Geddes]

And I appreciate that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You should specifically, like. I want the raccoon. Just ears and tail tattooed.

[Tim Geddes]

I love that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Just represent Mario.

[Tim Geddes]

That's really good.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, one day soon.

[Tim Geddes]

Hopefully soon, everybody. All right, Bless.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yep.

[Tim Geddes]

Enough about Mario. This isn't his day. He gets so many days. This is the day of the Kongs, okay? Four of them in particular. One of them, perhaps if you were good enough to play the game. Donkey Kong Country. Tropical Freeze. Did you play the original Donkey Kong country games? Did you play Country Returns on the Wii? Have you ever played this? I want your history before you get into your score.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So Donkey Kong is a very fascinating franchise for me because I've been in and out of, like, so many of the games, but it's. It's rare that I actually play all the way through a Donkey Kong game. So at the beginning, right, the original Donkey Kong, I played a ton of the original Donkey Kong. Funny enough, like the arcade classic, Donkey Kong played the. Played the out of that game. Don Kong country was that series that Addison had. I didn't have a super Nintendo growing up, right. My sisters had an NES that we play all the time. That's why I played so much Mario 3. And then I had a Super or Nintendo 64, which is why I played a fuck ton of Don Kong 64. But the Don Kong country games, the Super Nintendo ones, were the ones that I would go to Addison's house and like, we would hop in and I'll, you know, play a bit of the. Which one? Diddy's Conquest. I'll play, like, some Diddy's Conquest. Play some of the classic. Play some of three. But then one day, I got a Game Boy color. And on that Game Boy Color. Oh, yeah, I forget what they titled it, but they had a report of.

[Tim Geddes]

Don country straight up.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I had Don Kong country on the Game Boy color.

[Tim Geddes]

It was abysmal.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I played so much of that game on the Game Boy color. And so, like, weird history. But I have hopped into, like, these various games. Donkey Kong Country Returns. I started and actually fell off of. Because I wasn't having a good time. Yeah, I don't know why. Like, there's something about that game that just did not stick for me.

[Tim Geddes]

So are you talking about recently on the Switch or you talking about back in the day?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Back in the day.

[Tim Geddes]

So the biggest problem is that was during the Wii era, which was Nintendo had to force motion controls into every goddamn thing. So Donkey Kong Country Returns not free from that evil Evil curse.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Because you would have to like shake.

[Tim Geddes]

It to do the role. Just the role.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, just the role. You're right.

[Tim Geddes]

You would have to shake the Wiimote.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Then you had to like blow into the mic to like have him blow the little flowers and stuff. Like the Switch version fixes all of that stuff. But yeah, I understand you kind of being like, I'm falling off.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So I played that fell off.

[Tim Geddes]

Fairly difficult game, all things considered.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Well, here's the thing playing Tropical Freeze is that Don Kong Country, I think typically very difficult game, right?

[Tim Geddes]

It can be. It can be. I feel like each of the games has a different thing that makes it difficult. Donkey Kong country one, it's the. How sparse and spread out the. The save points are where like no individual challenge is that difficult. But you're not getting lives left and right. So if you're. If you don't kind of pace out your lives correctly, you can get into a. A sticky situation. D our country 2 like bramble blast and things like that actually sticker brush symphonies level. Those are difficult. And there, there's. There's a lot of the. All the Minecart things are. Are kind of like annoying sometimes.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And like, dude, I remember struggling on the Game Boy.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, you can kind of like continue that on where there's always something that's like a huge difficulty spike.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. And so, yeah, like fell off of returns. And then of course Tropical Freeze came out, but it came out on the Wii U and only 13 million people owned a Wii U. I did not own a Wii U. And so I never came around to playing Tropical Freeze until this last week because I finally had a reason. Right. And it's. For me it was less so even that like, I remember when. When they first re released Chocolate Freeze on the Switch. Like, I didn't have the inclination to get it just because I was like, I. I don't think people had expressed as much to me how good that.

[Tim Geddes]

Game is until that was all that it was.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Honestly.

[Tim Geddes]

Obviously, I'm so fudgeing annoying about this game. But I mean real talk, like, you bring this up, but 13 million people with the Switch like this you. The Wii U was such a joke and like nobody wanted it to be a success. Like, there was the hardcore Nintendo fans that were just like, I got this thing just like, we're getting games, but like, just let us enjoy our goddamn games.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And it was so hard. I remember being in IGN and like telling people, guys, this game is freaking good, man. And it's like people laugh, literally laugh at it and they're like, oh, the, the red funky mode. You got the funky mode. It's because at game awards they didn't do themselves any service. Like they came out and like their big Nintendo announcement is now Funky Mode is here. And it's just like, like, what are we doing? What are we doing? Cranky Kong's playable. It just felt like very tone deaf decisions from Nintendo. So the people that played, they knew, but everyone else was like, it's just another Donkey Kong country game that's not featuring the Kremlins and King K Rool that we remember from before.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We gotta have a conversation about because there's definitely a conversation to be had there. But another thing to it too is Tropical Freeze, I believe came out before I worked. I started working at Kind of Funny. And I realized this because a couple weeks ago when I mentioned like, okay, I think I'm going to play this game, maybe we could do a review on it. I went to pick up my Switch and I was like, oh, I don't own this game. And so I went to Greg and I was like, yo, is there any chance we try to get a review code? Like just knowing that it wasn't going to work out? Because why, why would Nintendo have a review code for a game that came out years and years and years ago? Funny enough, they came, they got back at Greg and we're like, here's a.

[Tim Geddes]

Review code amazing for Tropical Freeze.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Shout out to Nintendo. That's for getting us review code.

[Tim Geddes]

That's very cool. The chat is correcting me on some things and I think it even illustrates my point more. Yeah, the Funky mode was not for the Wii U. That was when they, they added it to the Switch. That was the new big fun thing. Which is like, that even was a weird marketing thing for the Switch era. It was just Cranky Kong is going to be playable and like the four playable characters that they announced, which was even more bizarre. And that was at a time that people wanted Retro to be making Metroid Prime 4. So when they announced another Donkey Kong platformer on the Wii U, it was like, what the fuck are we thinking right now?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

So I'm very excited for you now.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I've now beaten Tropical Freeze, which is like, it feels like a long time in the making, a long time coming. And I'll say, I love this video game. I'm, I, I think was surprised, I was surprised by a few things. One, how old this game feels in some ways. Not necessarily in like A bad way, but more so. Like I picked this game up, start playing and I'm like, oh yeah, this is a Wii U game from 2013. 2014.

[Tim Geddes]

Like 13 or 14.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

At least a decade old.

[Tim Geddes]

14.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And so as I'm hopping into it, it like it's almost like being sent back in time a little bit where I'm like, oh yeah, like there is like the cutscenes look a little bit old. Like the pre rendered stuff looks a little bit older and like 14, you.

[Tim Geddes]

Know, I think early 2014, February 13th.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay, there you go. And I think since then, obviously like there have been so many indie platformers that have come out and all this stuff where I'm like, oh man, I'm so used to playing Celeste. I'm so used to playing like Meat Boy, which I think was earlier than this. But like even still, right? Like platformers have come such a long way since Tropical Freeze, which I would say is a compliment to Tropical Freeze that I can play and still be like, damn, this is a banger. Like, I am very impressed with Nintendo's ability, ability here to. And I think maybe even more so Retros, right? Like this feels like such a pure Nintendo platformer in all the great ways. In the fact that this is retro. Doing this, working with Nintendo with these characters and it feels so polished, it feels so creative, but also at the same time it feels this game is very challenging. I was taken aback by how much I was dying and how hard this game is. I am now a funky mode apologist. I didn't use it, but I understand why it's there.

[Tim Geddes]

I love it. I love this review so much.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

By the time I got to like World four or five, I was like, oh, no wonder, no wonder. One of the boss. Well, a couple of the boss fights.

[Tim Geddes]

They just have one too many phases where you're like, oh yeah, you expecting me to keep going? Okay, yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh my God, don't get me started on like, why won't you die? Just fucking die. I don't like, why are we still fighting? It's that element of it. It's the like there's one boss where you're swimming the entire time and you have to like, like charge into things to then hit the boss or like charge into the boss where I think things like that sometimes feel dated and artificially hard as opposed to like naturally difficult in like a great way. So I do have some qualms with that. But overall, I think the moment to moment gameplay here is fun. It has that good converse combination of Feeling like it's fresh, original. I. One of the things I hear talked about all the. All the time with this game, but it's really cool seeing it in action, is how every platform and function of the levels is a natural element of the level. If there's a platform, it's because there's a tree sticking out or it's because there's, like, something that created that platform. Like, everything is part of the world design, which I think makes this game age beautifully. I think that part of the level design is so well done. And then also, like, I like the. The upgrades, even though I think Diddy Kong and Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong kind of feel similar as far as, like, all right, cool. They just let me float longer, right? Diddy Kong has his jetpack. Dixie, her hair spins or whatever, and she might have, like, a little bit of levitation to it, but, like, Cranky, Cranky Kong felt truly unique as far as, like, how he functioned as an upgrade where I'm like, bouncing off of things and I never really had that strong of a preference. When I see one of those upgrade barrels, it's like switching around to their different logos or I'm like, all right, cool. I think I'm going to go Cranky Kong here, actually. I'm going to go Dixie Kong here. Right? There's a good balance of that.

[Tim Geddes]

And I think that is something that's so special about Tropical Freeze when we're talking about comparing the Donkey Kong country games, because I. I love all of them to different degrees. Three still the one that I owe it to people in the chat, I forget who exactly, but I owe it to them to. Maybe it was Mara. I think that I need to play through that game one day fully because I never really gave it its due. But two and Tropical Freeze are my favorites, and I love one a lot. There's so much about one that like elements that are my favorite. But the thing I like least of one is I always prefer to be playing as Dixie than Donkey Kong.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

One.

[Tim Geddes]

Yes.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Diddy.

[Tim Geddes]

I. Yeah, I always prefer to be Diddy than Donkey. And it's just because of how different they play. And I feel the mobility that you have as Diddy is like so much better. The levels are better designed for that type of gameplay. They solved that for me in two because you, Diddy and Dixie, they play so similar. So I love that. This game, I think, does a. The best job of no matter who you're playing as it feels right. It feels like the levels are designed for them and to Your point? It's fun to play as the different characters, just to kind of switch it up a little bit. Even if it is cranky, who I would say is probably the least interesting of all of them.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, yeah. Like, I think the bounce move it, like for specific scenarios, it can be very useful. But then even when you're not in those, like, I'm going to bounce off this thing kind of thing, I think it can still be someone useful. Especially when you're swimming underwater. That was one of the things that I learned at like probably way further into the game than I should have where if you're underwater with Cranky and you press the like a button, he'll like swing with his beard. And that got me through many a jam once I learned that. And so shout out to that. I think that stuff's awesome. And then one thing I love about this game, and this is like, like maybe the one compliment I'll give to it. Especially over like the New Super Mario Brothers stuff. Until. Wonder where this game has such good set piece moments. I think about, was it New Super Mario Brothers for Wii U that had the Starry Night level where it was like, oh, damn, this is special right here. This game has like a handful of really cool set piece levels where you had like multiple sort of silhouette levels that you're playing through where you can see the color of DK's tie and then like maybe the hair of Dixie or whoever. And then everything else is kind of silhouetted and that presents so well. It looks really cool. And then like those levels also, they're not the most like, at least for me. Right. They weren't super demanding as far as difficulty and so like getting through them kind of felt like a moment. Right? Like that, like the difficulty didn't distract from like actually playing those levels and enjoying them and getting through them. And so stuff like that I loved. I really like the like, kind of like the challengey sort of levels where you had the barrels. Yeah. Like the bonus. Well, the bonus room. So then like the levels where it'll be, I'm flying on a barrel and I essentially have to get from beginning.

[Tim Geddes]

To the rocket barrel levels.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Dude, the rocket barrel levels in a different universe. I hate those levels.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But in this game I really like them.

[Tim Geddes]

Do you know why?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Why is that?

[Tim Geddes]

Because you beat them. They're in your past, you know? You know what I mean? That is the difference. You either fucking hate those things and you're like, I'm putting the controller down. Never played this game again.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Where you push through and you get through it. You. You're like, you know what? I kind of with them, like, that's me.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I was like, I. With that. I. With the Minecart levels, and usually, like, I hate them. I remember as a kid hating the Minecart levels, so I like those as well. The music is really good. Here's the thing.

[Tim Geddes]

David Wise man.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Here's the thing. Did he score this game or what? Like, they just were. Because I heard aquatic ambience, and obviously I heard reprises of his music that he did for the. The classic Don country games. But, like, I love that whenever you're swimming underwater, you get that hint of a quad Champions. They knew. They knew what the assignment was. Here we go. So, yeah, Kevin, try to bring in some sound there so you can hear it a little bit. But, like, I. I think the music's great. I like that they reprise a lot of that stuff, honestly. If I'm being real about it, though, like, I think the music that's memorable for me are the point parts where they reprise, like, the original stuff. I can't really recall in my head automatically, but, hey, when you got a soundtrack that's so good from your classic entries, bring it back. Make that shit pop. Like, I'm looking forward to Sticker Brush Sticker Bush Symphony in Bonanza as well. Right. Like, of course the stuff that I want.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. But, yeah, so great. Dude. We're going through, like, the whole wood chipper thing in the Minecart. Like, there's just so much creativity in the places you go. And originally, that was, like, a big concern with the game because Donkey Kong Returns, the first one on Wii that you could now play on Switch as well.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

So maybe if you're. It might be a little much back to back, but, like, when you have another lull, it'd be a fun one to go to. I do think Tropical Freeze is vastly superior, but still a good game. Has some special, unique things about it, too. But one of the big issues was the. The, like, tiki bad guys were kind of forgettable. It was definitely not. They're more similar to the. The Rabbit Family in Mario Odyssey and, like, the Koopa Kids or something. You're like, all right, we love these things, even if they're overdone at this point. But not having the Kremlins or K Rule or anything even at the time was definitely a letdown. And then when we get to Tropical Freeze, it was like, all right, cool. Now there's these, like, Penguin Vikings and, like, the Theme of the game is ice, and ice levels are usually people's favorite levels.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

So there was a lot going against it. Like, oh, man, are you telling me half the theme of this game is gonna be something I'm not gonna love? And, man, I was wrong. Like, they really find creative ways to make the Tropical freeze motif work in so many different ways that you would not just expect.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I, I, I thought there would have been more progression to it, but I, I, I think at the end of the day, I like how it netted out. I guess I won't spoil Dog Con Tropical Freeze. Right. But, like, you get some ice levels, but I like the fact that a lot of that stuff is saved toward the end. But you do get these environmental changes as you're working your way through the different worlds they have here. And like, getting to, I think it was like world two or three where you had like a fiery Savannah situation. I was like, oh, this is like, I, I kind of like there being like a climate change sort of like, ethos to this. And again, let's. The creativity of the level design here, like, for me, as far as, like the recent, like, the modern, like, new Super Mario Brothers games, if I'm comparing this to that, I think this game kind of like, topples those as far as level design up until maybe Wonder, I think wonderful wonder with the Wonder Flower stuff or Wonder Seed, whatever it's called. Right. Like, that does a lot to bring Mario 2D Mario back on that creative level for me. But Tropical Freeze, what they're doing with this game in 20, early 2014, as far as level design and keeping it creative and interesting and having every level kind of have its own gimmick to it. Like, bravo. Like, they really, really killed it on that front.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. I mean, you know, we're talking about retro. Right. So coming off of Metroid prime trilogy at that point, like, they. Metroid prime is, you know, in a lot of ways, pinnacle of level design and world design atmosphere and all of that. They really took that and applied it to a Donkey Kong country game. And yeah, on paper, that doesn't make sense. But then seeing this compared to the Super Nintendo games, it makes all the sense like this. It really is kind of like, oh, sometimes, you know, A plus B equals C in the most obvious ways. And that's what I think Tropical Freeze is from a gameplay and kind of art design perspective.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Now to talk about the villains, the characters, all that stuff. Right. I, I'm in a weird place with Donkey Kong overall, where obviously we have the nostalgia for the classic things. Right. And like I played like, you know, various forms of the classic country games and then also a lot of DK 64. So when I think of DK, I think of Kremlins, I think of King K Rool and I feel like that has kind of solidified in my brain as like the prototypical iconic. Like these are the DK enemies. And so like I didn't know. I know. Actually, I think I did know that coming into this game we're going to get like a different sort of like cast of villains or whatever. They didn't really stick out to me. Like they didn't really do much for me as far as like, oh damn, like these are the guys. You know. For me it just felt like, okay, here's a bunch of bad animals. Like these animals are coming in and like they're icing the place up and they're, you know, messing with DK and like you got to take him out. Like I, I was kind of let down on that, on that front, Tim, for you, like, do you remember that being a thing that like was a point of conversation?

[Tim Geddes]

Oh yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. It was a point of conversation. To this day I still agree with it. I, I don't think that they're bad by any means, but I, it's a, a difficult conversation to have because we are old men at this point talking about these like worlds and characters that were made and designed for children and we're talking about games that some of them are 30 plus years old and some of them are 10 years old and everything in between. Where are we really just going to do the same thing over and over? Is it really always going to be these like, like army fatigued crocodiles coming at you and all that or are we going to switch it up? You look at the Mario side and it was a long time since we'd seen the Koopa kids. They were in Mario 3, they're in worlds and then we didn't see them for a long time. They came back in New Super Mario Brothers Wii I think it was. And then just kind of non stop. Right. Like that they're always there.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And it just, that's a little bit like, okay, Ben, they're done that in terms of boss fight design, which is what they're there for at the end of the day. Otherwise like who really, what personality they. They have little tiny things. But it's not like a major focus of any of the Mario games is the lore and story of the Koopa Kids, you know. Yeah, but that's a little different with the Donkey Kong games. I feel like the, the Kremlins and King K Rule in particular had more character to, to him, had a theme that was associated with him, had the whole pirate vibe going on, specifically in Duncan country too. So I feel like it's been way too long since we've seen those villains and there's still more to give there where I would have been really hyped in the same way that you get hyped hearing the old David Wise music in this game. Kind of like modernized, getting the K Rul themes and all that stuff. It felt like a fleshed out bad guy character because it had that 90s melody based video game music to it. Like boss fight music that had layers to the phases and stuff. These new guys. It just felt like you're fighting bad animals with bad guy boss themes. It didn't feel like I associate any of the like boss themes with the characters and I do think that goes a long way for these type of games.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. And I, I think. I don't know if I have a better solution aside from like, you know, I don't know, put more personality or whatever. Or maybe it's just that I'm an adult, right. Like I'm an adult playing this. And so it's like, I don't know if you're going to make a villain in a kid's game that's going to like stand out and be memorable and be something where I'm like, oh, that's fudgeing cool. But in like, you know, I've had, I feel like I've had this problem a lot with recent platformers that it could be more of a me thing. When I look at Astrobots villains and I'm like, it doesn't do much for me. But yeah, for me it's the same thing here. I'm like, you know, I think mechanically finding these villains, I like a lot of what they have going on. Even though they're fucking tough a lot of the time. Like I, I think, you know, they really went above and beyond of really thinking out these boss fights and making them be a thing of you have to master this game like we're making you master the mechanics of this game to really take them out. I think on that level they did a great job. But yeah, that's like, that was like one of the things where I was like, man, I would love to see, see this step up.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Another thing I want to shout out are the collectibles because of course we're talking about dk. We got to talk about collectibles.

[Tim Geddes]

You got to.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's funny how in so many platformers, right, Mario, you got the coins, I guess. Ratchet, you got the bolts or whatever. Right. Like, everything has its own collectible to it. And the bananas don't get old to me in dk. Like, there's something about, like the, like even the sound of picking up a banana or picking up a bundle of bananas and like, you know, musical. It. Yeah. Like there's a feel to it. There's a feeling to it. And like, I don't know. I, I, I, I like that. The coin stuff. Cool. Like collecting currency so I can buy balloons and shit. All right. Dope puzzle pieces for challenges. You know, you collect the bundles of bananas sometimes and like, that'll appear or the, or the Kong letters will appear. I like the wealth of collectibles in a game like this. And I want a wealth of collectible.

[Tim Geddes]

And I think, I think. You know what, I have thoughts on that. But I want to save till after a word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Shady Rays. Get ready for the season ahead with quality shades built to last. Our friends at Shady Rays have you covered with premium polarized shades that won't break the bank. Shady Rays is an independent sunglasses company offering a world class product rated five stars by over 300,000 people. They have hundreds of options to choose from, so you're bound to find the perfect pair to match your style. If you don't love your shades, exchange them for a new pair or simply return worry free within 30 days. There's no risk. When you shop, their team are always there to have your back with personal and fast support. Y' all know I've been outside a lot playing Pokemon Go and it's such a great experience wearing Shady Rays when I'm out and about looking dope exclusively for you. Shady Rays is giving out their best deal. Head to shadyrays.com and use code funny for 35 off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300000 people. Again, go to shadyrays.com use code funny to get 35% off polarized sunglasses. Couple good chats I want to bring up real quick. 11 hymn says I'd say world 5, the fruit lollipop production line counters these complaints about enemies. If it's perfectly with enemies and the world matches them to make a story, I think that's when the game is at its best is when there are like levels of storytelling throughout the level design.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And with the bad guys and with the music and that all comes together to create these like, memorable. You called them set pieces earlier. But it is kind of these, like special moments within the game. I don't think we get enough of them. And I don't think that we get enough that feels like it is leading into the next world. It kind of just feels like its own little one and done thing, which is great. But I feel like for some of the big boss fights and stuff, like, I don't think that it has that additive level of if we never see these villains again in a Donkey Kong game, I'm going to be totally okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Dude. If you ask me right now to like name the villains or name like.

[Tim Geddes]

The bosses, seeing them visually, it's like I'd remember, like, oh, yeah, it's you. You know what I mean? But like, I don't know that I'd get excited about that. But I. I agree that there are. There are definitely good examples.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Also, I know we're about to talk about collectibles, but Kevin brought up a level. That one again, like this. This is another one of those barrel flight levels. Right. But like, one of the things I love that the game does is it at random points will turn 3D. Like sometimes it'll be with. You'll hop into a barrel and it'll shoot you into a foreground and then the level continues. And that's a small thing. But also, like, I'm sure design wise takes a lot of time, but also adds a lot to the experience as far as, like being immersed in these levels, going from foreground to background, background to foreground, that stuff is awesome. But then even the camera switching and it's still being a 2D platformer, but like, you get this brief sequence of being in a 3D plane and like having that different feel to it that makes that shit feel like an adventure. Makes that shit feel dynamic. And I love that shit.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. I mean, if you love that, bless. You should play Crash Bandicoot Fort. It's about time. Probably. Right? There's. And then also after that, Nico de Rico. The magical world that blends this game in Crash 4. All right. There's a lot of good stuff out there. If you like this, there's not that much because, like, there's a very specific feel to these games.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I should play Crash 4. I'm like, I've grown up a Crash hater.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But I'm.

[Tim Geddes]

Crash 4 is different.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm Ready to right my wrongs.

[Tim Geddes]

No, it's not perfect, but like, it is different. And I think that you, I think you'd really, really, really vibe with it. I want to talk about collectibles. Talk about. We got a little sidetracked there. I think that the sign of a incredibly well designed platformer is well placed collectibles because they are the difference between you play through the game and difficulty levels that you don't need to just set and forget. It's part of your dynamic experience playing the games. You can just get from point A to point B, beat the level and be done, or you can get all the puzzle pieces and the Kong letters and everything. And when you get K, O and G and you're like, where is that N? You have the choice when you beat the level, do I go to the next level or am I going back to find that thing? And whenever you're incentivized to do that, you're incentivized to check out every nook and cranny of the level and really get behind how well designed these things are. And I think that is where they go from, okay, 2D platformers to, oh my God, these games are special. And there's always been something about Donkey Kong country specifically. Whether it's the rare games or the retro games. They care about their collectible placement so much. I think about the Mario, the New Super Mario Brothers games. They have the coins. Yeah, the challenge coins. Right. Like the. There's like the three in each level or whatever.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Those would be the things where it's like, you know, on your first playthrough. I always try to get. Because I like that stuff. And they'd always kind of put them like out of reach or like somewhere that like you wouldn't necessarily go. And that's cool. And that's fine. There's something about, you know, how many times have you heard video games, they, they're well designed. When they teach you what you need to do, the first screen of Super Mario Brothers one that teaches you go left to right and all that. Like, you know what I'm talking about, right?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yep.

[Tim Geddes]

Donkey Kong country and donkey Kong Country 2 in particular. The way they use their bananas, the way they, they have ranked systems of collectibles where bananas, lowest tier, right. They're just everywhere. But they're not just okay, they're all there. They can get you the lives and all that. That's a function of them, gameplay wise. More often than not, the bananas are there to guide you, whether it's guiding you to completing the level. Or you see a hole that every time you would jump down a hole like that, you die. But you see a row of bananas pointing down. That means there's probably a barrel down there for you to get into. They teach you how to explore these levels so that you can find the collectibles in a different way. And I'll never forget playing Donkey Kong country one and starting a level, and at the very beginning, there was like, a bunch of bananas not even making an arrow, just kind of like, to the left. And I'm like, oh, so now any time I play a level in Donkey.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Kong country, you go to.

[Tim Geddes]

I go left first every single time.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Same.

[Tim Geddes]

That shit's special, man.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, I think, is one of the best examples of the layers of collectibles and how each one kind of fits into the next of teaching you to fully explore the levels that they have designed for you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I think they do a great job of having it be a language. Like, you talk about the tier. The tiers of collectibles, right? We have the singular bananas, you have the bundles of bananas, you have the Kong letters, you have the puzzle pieces. Is. Right. And that ranks up as far as, you know what their purpose is. And then also, like, the difficulty of getting them. I do also like that. Like, even the. At that lowest tier, the bananas, the regular bananas, have multiple functions, like you mentioned. You get the lives, but then also sometimes bananas will appear, and then you have to collect all the bananas in a certain amount of time so that you can get a puzzle piece.

[Tim Geddes]

Yes, right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And like, you learn this as you play play the game, and then as you do that, right. The language of the game changes and the ways that I'm thinking about exploring all these levels changes. I forgot to even mention the coins, too, right? Like, you have. They have such a strong economy of collectibles in this game to where in late game, there are times where I'm like, God, I'm just praying for a balloon. I'm just give me extra life right now. Like, I can. I can use it, man. I'm praying for a coin so I can afford, like, some kind of shield for the next thing or an extra heart or whatever, right? Oh, man, I just need a heart. Because I am. I'm one hit. I need a heart right now. Like, at any given moment, there are some collectible that I am kind of in need of, like, I'm desperately asking for. And it creates such a great tension while playing this Game and also, like, ups the difficulty, right? Like, this is such a. I. I think, you know, having this game or this series kind of be the balance out of. Hey, Mario. It's easy, Mario. It's like more of a casual experience. Like, you can play it at a higher level or whatever, but at the end of the day, Mario is meant for everybody. DK is that upper difficulty. Hey, like, for me, me playing, I. I gave up pretty quickly on collecting everything because I was like, yo, I.

[Tim Geddes]

They're asking a lot of me.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

They're asking a lot of me. I'm going to throw my controller on regular, like, playing regularly, just trying to, like, complete the game, period. Just trying to get to the end of it. There are times where I'm like, putting down my controller and like, you know, fudgeing, clenching up my fist and be like, God damn it. You know, I can't believe I fucking died in that way. Or I got chopped or like, this level right here. Fuck this. You know, like, there's so much in this game. But I appreciate the. I appreciate how hard this goes because, like, it has the presentation of like, what you want out of a Nintendo game, right? But, like, you can interact with this game on such a deep level through those levels of collectibles, levels of difficulty that they. That they add to it. That I appreciate because I could have played this game for probably like three times as as much length as I played it for, for this review.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, if that's the case, bless, like, real talk, you have Donkey Kong Country Returns. Like, like, that's. It's just awesome that, like, if.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

It is there for you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

They. Again, not too much more, but, Kev, can you bring up Nico Dorico, the Magical World real quick? It's N I K O.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

This man will always bring up Nico.

[Tim Geddes]

I have to. Somebody has to.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And I. I want to be clear. It's like, you know, this game is a. A from a very small team that may or may not exist. It's kind of a weird, like, something may not exist. I mean, I remember trying to figure out who made this game and it was just like, it was very. It seemed shadier than it probably is, but, like, I don't know. But then there was a video when they announced the director's cut of real people that were, like, working on the game. So I'm like, I love the idea.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Of, like, this being a Nintendo Ghost Ghost Kitchen, where it's like just a.

[Tim Geddes]

Secret team, kind of has that vibe to it. But oh, this is just an ad. So yeah, a lot of problems with the game in terms of just like yeah, the characters look fucking weird. And if you had problems with the Nintendo style of cutscenes in. That's all that this is.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh great.

[Tim Geddes]

Don't worry about that stuff. But oh yeah, it's just a 4k donkey Kong country Tropical Freeze.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I love that.

[Tim Geddes]

Like it's. You'd have a blast with this game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

The big Nico letters at the top earlier.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, dude. Oh, I don't know if there's any part of this that like actually beat a level but it ends the same way. If you jump into thing and then beat up the. Oh it's like it is the most copy and paste of a game ever. But I mean I'm not complaining when it's a game I love. And then yeah, all these sequences that are more Crash 4 inspired.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hell yeah, dude. I got this downloaded like it's on my Switch too. I'm gonna.

[Tim Geddes]

Awesome.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm gonna boot it up one day. I gotta get Crash four on there as well. I think like I'm gonna add that to my. I'm a backlog guy now. I used to be anti backlog but this year I'm starting my backlog and backlog Poppy. I'm here for it. And I had an error. Tropical Freeze was one my backlog. So I've knocked that out now and I'm going back to Mass Effect 2. I'm going to add Crash 4 to the backlog.

[Tim Geddes]

Dude, I'm so happy Crash 4 is getting played.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But yeah, overall like if I'm giving a score to Tropical Freeze, I'm going to say 9 out of 10. I give it a 9 out of 10.

[Tim Geddes]

I'm so happy to hear that. Plus I'm also happy to hear that you want to play Crash 4 and maybe, maybe we get a group of us together do a multi man replay re review. That would be fun.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Be fun.

[Tim Geddes]

I love this. 9 out of 10. Obviously amazing on the kind of funny scale. I think that that is incredibly important to point out. This is a 10 year old plus game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Tim Geddes]

Right. And sure it's coming out on Switch, but still you are giving it a 9 because it holds up that well. And I've heard you over the last week talking about this and talking about how some of the difficulties surprised you and stuff and I was thinking you might go a little lower. I. I was thinking. I. I was thinking, oh, you might be like hey, it's great, I get it. But 7.5 or 8. So to hear you say 9, I'm like, goddamn, dude.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

No, it's like, it's just too, well, it's too polished. It's too like, I think even for the difficulty stuff, it's difficult in a way that I like because brings me back. Like there's such a strong nostalgia I have in struggling hard in a 2D platformer that I, I kind of with like it, it reminds me of playing classic Donkey Kong games and dying on the, the CART level.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And like trying it over and over again and just praying for to see an extra life. You know what I mean? And like, I think there is something about that experience that I miss out in Nintendo games, especially out of Mario. I've never in the last like decade and a half of Mario games, maybe even longer than that, right? Like, there's not been once where I'm like, damn, I wish I could get an extra life right now. Like not once. But there's something that I think is special about that experience and I think games have often leaned off of that in favor of like making stuff more player friendly, which I understand and like, I think in a lot of times is necessary.

[Tim Geddes]

But like a funky mode.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

There is a funky mode to make this game more player friendly. And also you can spend coins to buy more lives, which I ended up doing in the last world finally where I was like, yo, I'm shelling out, give me 30 balloons it. And then I died like 20 times on the final boss. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, that final boss dude.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. But I, I appreciate how much this game asks of you. I again love the like, level design of it. I think that makes it age so well. And yeah, like, I don't know, I, I, I have like small qualms, small complaints, but nothing that really like takes away from the game that much. I think this, I understand why people would say this is one of the best 2D platformers ever made.

[Tim Geddes]

And earlier when we were talking about the bananas, I, I brought up that there's like a musical quality to collecting the bananas where like you just, even the sound effects, it's satisfying to collect them where, you know, I mean, it's satisfying to get rings in Sonic or coins in Mario, but that's different than this game. There's always been kind of a, a music theme to Donkey Kong. First off, the music is sublime.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, right.

[Tim Geddes]

Like, oh my God, we're just talking about some of like the best music. Just listen to period video game or otherwise. And then you think about the bongos you think about just like the moves that Donkey Kong has, and there's a lot of, like, musical type levels in this or even just like bouncing down. Like, we just had the B roll a second ago of like, him jumping on the different enemies to get over obstacles. And you get a rhythm to it. But then you also, like, feel the music of it as you're. You're playing through. Like, like, I mean, literally, they're bouncing on like, like timpany drums and stuff. And it's like the sound design, I think, goes so far in this game to kind of like make it all a cohesive experience. And that's me really excited looking at everything they're showing from Bonanza of having Pauline be in the game and having singing be such a big part of the game, like, seems so bizarre. But then you're like, all right, cool. The Mario Odyssey level with Pauline with her singing and stuff, like, cool. They're just tying that back in. But it really goes back to, like, the core of Donkey Kong's identity to have, like these musical based worlds and powers. Like, let's talk about Donkey Kong Bonanza.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

We are 10 days away, let's say. What are your hype levels?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm super hyped for it. I mean, obviously I'm. Me and Barrett are the DK 64 sickos, right? Like, I. I think back to that game all the time whenever I think about, like, games that define my childhood and how much I. I love that game as being the only 3D Donkey Kong game, right? Like, the fact that we're getting another 3D Donkey Kong game, it's insane to me that we're here. But then also I think one of the things that I remember feeling leading into the last direct that we had for DK Bonanza. And I think one of the things that makes it special that I'm playing this game now being the previous DK game before Bonanza, is that, like, Nintendo is trying to usher in a new era of Donkey Kong, right? Like, Don Kong doesn't look like this anymore. Like, Donkey Kong now looks like DK Bonanza's Donkey Kong, which kind of harkens back to the classic Donkey Kong, right? And, like, you know, when you think about what Rare did with DK and what Retro did with dk, so many other people handle dk. Nintendo in house doesn't often, like, you don't have the EPD team make Donkey Kong games, right? Like, this is kind of a new thing. It's a new emphasis. It's a new like, era that Nintendo is trying to step into with, with this character that I'm so fascinated about. Because I think for me, like, you talk about the music, you talk about, like, what DK means for me, I also will throw out there the fact of, like, you know, shout out to the iconic things that Rare brought to the franchise, like the barrels. And, like, you know, I even looking at that world map, I was like.

[Tim Geddes]

Man, think about it. They didn't. Right. What did Donkey Kong throw at Mario?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, I didn't even think about that. Like, I guess shooting out the barrels is what I'm thinking of. But that's a good point.

[Tim Geddes]

That's a good point. But that's the thing is, like, it all comes from somewhere. Like, it's like.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's a really good point.

[Tim Geddes]

To your point, though, like, Donkey Kong just has such amazing legacy that, like, so many talented teams have worked with. But there's a through line. They always.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

There's a through line.

[Tim Geddes]

So much with it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like, I almost wanted to say there's like, a culture to Don King, which, like, there is, like, as far as, like, I guess, an ethos. There is a design language to Donkey Kong, and it's very thick and very. It's like, very. It's a very strong, you know, design world that they have within DK that I don't think I think about too often. Right. Like, like, it's funny because when I say culture, I almost think, like, Sonic fans, I leave as a culture there. But, like, you know, DK has so much going on in it, and there's so much to pull from. And so I'm excited to see Nintendo play in the Donkey Kong world, which is funny to say, but, like, they don't often do it, and there's so much that you can do there. And so I'm excited for that. I mean, I'm excited for it mechanically. Right. It being from the Odyssey team, we finally got that confirmed. It having this destructible environment stuff I'm fascinated about. I think that has a lot of potential to be really cool. Adding Pauline to the mix. I understand, like, why you want to do that. To give, like, you know, this. To give a character to it. To give, like, somebody who can speak words. And then also, like, yeah, the musical element to it as well. And then also having a redesign for DK that can be more expressive and can be more animated. Like, they're making a lot of decisions here that feel intentional. And, like, I'm, I'm very excited about it. Like, I, I, I Think it's one of those ones that's not going to hit me fully until I have the in my hands and I'm just exploring the world. I'm like, man, this is what it's about. But for you, where do you stand with it?

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, I'm very similar to you. I can't wait till I'm three hours into this game because I feel like there's going to be that, that initial kind of like warm up period of learning all the different mechanics and stuff. But I want to know how just straight up hooked. I'm going to be wanting to explore everything because you, you're taking the Mario Odyssey team, at least some of it and you're applying the logic of Donkey Kong. Everything we just spent 45 minutes talking about of all the collectibles and how there's like levels to the collectibles and how it teaches you to explore the levels. Apply that to a 3D open space that the Odyssey team is known for. This could be an all timer.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Again, I have my trepidations. I didn't love it when I was playing it. I didn't love the you can destroy anything. It kind of just felt a little haphazard and empty to me. Seeing the direct makes me think, okay, cool. There's a lot more here that than just breaking everything. Like having the different upgrades with the animals to allow you to traverse differently. Like I definitely. And from day one I've been holding out being like, I'm just talking about the experience I've had with this game, but I obviously am hopeful for them. Talking about the team, talking about the ip, talking about this being the first major post launch game for the Nintendo Switch to like, yeah, the expectations are this is a game of the year contender, right. So yeah, very, very excited.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think the place where I see I sit with it is I, I already have the expectations that this is gonna be a great, great game. I'm. I'm curious, Slash excited to see if this can be a great, great Donkey Kong game. I think coming off of Tropical Freeze and us having this conversation, right? Like, yeah, there is such a legacy here in the direct we got. So they talked about a lot of that stuff, right? Like, hey, here's music. Hey, like, you know, here's the character, here's Diddy Kong, here's these characters that we've seen before, right. But it is still, you're still doing something new. I think you're doing something risky here as Nintendo by like, you know, really trying to refresh what this Is. But also I want to see big swings. I want to see dk, you know, be in that big. That Nintendo Big three, Nintendo Big five that we talk about.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. I mean, I love it. And again, like, we're talking about incredibly high quality games. It is funny because I'm not even joking at all. But it's like Donkey Kong 64, I do think is going to be a lot of people's touch point to, like, thinking when they see this game, they'll think about that game. And that's not doing it any favors. Right. Like Donkey Kong 64 was, again, for a lot of reasons, I'm not even talking necessarily about the actual quality of that game. I'm talking about the fact of when it came out and it was not Banjo Kazooie.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean?

[Tim Geddes]

It's like at that point, it was the, what, fourth rare 3D collectathon on the N64. And also it required the expansion pass. Like, we're very similar conversations so much. Exactly. But same with Tropical Freeze, where it's just like, when it came out, it was like, well, people wanted Metroid. People, you know, didn't want another Donkey Kong country platformer. It was the Wii U. Like, there was a lot of factors against it. There are only factors for it now for this one. Right. Like, Bonanza's teed up to be the most mainstream, wide appeal Donkey Kong game we've ever had. So I hope they pull it off.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. More than like the original Donkey Kong. Do you think so? Yeah, I feel like the original Donkey Kong is so, like, I mean, iconic.

[Tim Geddes]

Iconic, sure. But I'm talking about, like, actual people wanting to play the game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Sheer numbers.

[Tim Geddes]

There are more gamers now than there used to be.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's fair.

[Tim Geddes]

You know what I mean? It's just like, yeah, sure, maybe you played the. The arcade Donkey Kong, but like, no one's rocking for that. Not no one. Very few people. And I'm saying this is somebody that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

How dare you.

[Tim Geddes]

I Rock for two.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Watch your mouth.

[Tim Geddes]

Have you played Donkey Kong 94 on the Game Boy? No, it's on NSO. If you love that game, there's a full game. All right, everybody. This has been our Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze review in 2025. I love our job. So good.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm glad we got to do that.

[Tim Geddes]

That's insane. Great conversation, too.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I almost didn't make it. I almost didn't beat that game because I was bosses. I was trying to save over the. Over the weekend, obviously. Birthday, July 4th. I wasn't trying to, like, quote, unquote, work. I know I'm playing a game, right? But I was trying to focus on just relaxing, chilling. So I was like, all right, I'm gonna mark out some time yesterday, Monday, right, To, like, beat the game. Because I was in the last world. And when I tell you those last couple of levels, oh, man, they're my ass. I was like, dude, I want to beat this game for the review, but, man, this boss. This boss fight is whooping me. We made it.

[Tim Geddes]

We made it. Everybody let us know in the comments below. Actually, we got an inner jet stream super chat saying my wife's never played Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze. You both convinced me it's time to co op it with her this weekend and prep for Bonanza. You both rock. Hell, yeah. Have the best time. I hope that that's great. I've never actually played it in co op, so I don't know. I don't know how that's gonna function.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I don't think. I knew there was a co op.

[Tim Geddes]

Mode, so good luck. Hope you'll love it. And until next time. Love you all. Goodbye.