I hate it. Aha no really. I despise this game so far BUT, I am part of the cult that has a grand fondness for the old DKC games on the SNES and I know a lot of people hate those games for the same face reasons I hate this game and it's crazy how it lines up that way. So I am here on this post looking for the answer; is it just my nostalgia? Here's why I don't like tropical freeze:

I genuinely don't like the music. I like the appeal to the nostalgia but not the new stuff it brings to the table. It feels like I'm at Disney land and an usher is within me 5 feet of me at all times asking me if I'm still having a good time, because I should be having a good time.

I don't like the look. I feel it's too cartoony and vibrant to the point, I feel some designs are just generic looking. Maybe it's just my nostalgia but I feel like the old DKC games were so ominous looking and obscure in vibe where as the visuals for this game are in complete fucking opposition. I feel like this is what appeals to others while actively repulsive to me.

As for the gameplay. I also cannot get a grip on it. I am playing it on the Nintendo switch in handheld mode and I feel like this game definitely has something it's going for with momentum and inertia where it feels really fucking good when you are rolling and plopping on those penguins while gaining elevation from timing that jump button on collapse. That feels good. All until you get to the point in the game where short-length-platforming, swimming, and automatically animating death traps make an entrance. I think the reasons are in parallel with Jeff's reasons why he doesn't like the sonic games. I feel like the game is suffering from some sort of input lag or something because every time I try to land precisely, I find myself having gone too far and dying from sliding off a platform. The water levels don't feel great at all because the swimming feels lingering... but that's no surprise since water and games never go well together. I do enjoy the crazy ass levelution and environmental- progression that can take place in just a single level though. I found that part super cool.

Again the reason I'm making this post is for someone to tell me if I should keep playing this game because I want to love it. I loved those old DKC games and their character but Tropical Freeze feels like a whole different vibe. Does this game get there? Is there anything deep in this game that might make me smile by another appeal to nostalgia because I'm trying to grab at strings here. Hope I didn't come off as a ravaging online forum type.

I love how all the platforms in it actually exist within the context of the world, thats so awesome imo. That said, I sadly despise how the platforming feels as well so my enjoyment of it kinda ends there...:`) I didn't get far in either.

Those snes dkc games definitely had a more ominous vibe going which I also think is more fitting to the jungle theme. The new games graphical style reminds me a bit of those fancy pre rendered mobile game commercials. I also dont think either of the 2 big rare composers have made a good soundtrack since the n64 days. Nothing I'd listen to outside of the games anymore at least. The music in tropical freeze does fit the aesthetics at least imo, its just that neither feels very appealing to me.

Im curious if someone'll be able to tell you something to get you to push further because to me it sounds like you,like me, just plain dislike most of what the game has to offer haha.

I played it on the Wii U and I felt the same then. When the Switch version came out and Dan and Danielle played some of it (they may have played the Wii U version), I decided to give it another shot and nope'd out after several levels.

I really, really, really want to like it a whole hell of a lot more than I do. I like the music. I like the look. I think it's got a lot of fun elements to it. But playing it feels at best meh and at worst like a huge chore. This may be muscle memory. Over the past few years, Donkey Kong Country 2 (not 1, not 3, the middle chapter is the classic one here) is a game I've gone back to quite a few times and frequently finished. Playing that game feels incredibly good to me, it feels damn perfect. Better than Super Mario World. No, really, sue me, I had that Super Mario World/All-Stars cartridge and DKC 1/2/3 as a kid and I often went for DKC 1/2/3 over Mario games and I feel the same way as an adult, after playing them somewhat recently. Anyway, it's possible that some part of my brain is expecting Tropical Freeze to control like the older games - but then, Tropical Freeze doesn't look or feel anything like those older games so it should be a lot easier to adapt. I don't really think it's that, I think I just don't like the gameplay in DKC Returns or Tropical Freeze.

I'll say that something that helped me to really appreciate the feel of this game was the Time Attack mode, which requires a lot of precise rolling and jumping and a hell of a lot of practice to get those gold medals. I've spent hours replaying the same level trying to shave off a few seconds, because it just feels so damn good once you get the hang of it.

It sounds like your mind is already made up. I don't think anyone would be able to convince you otherwise if they tried. It simply isn't for you, playing any more very likely won't change that.

The art and music are great - I’m just done with games that are strict memorization and the fail states require you to repeat the same section over and over.

The game design is baffling to me. Everyone must have skipped the day in school when you learn about miyamotos rule of threes.

I really liked DKC Returns but I didnt like Tropical Freeze very much. Maybe it's because it's too much of the same or that the levels feel like they're built for 4 different characters as appose to just Donkey/Diddy Kong so the design didnt feel quite as tight. It's probably just because I wanted Retro to make something else, didnt have to be Metroid, just something different.

Those old DKC games sucked.

I don't know what to say to someone that doesn't like TF's music so...it is what it is. I do get prefering the aesthetic of the SNES games over the more homogeneous bright look of the Retro games, but it's still a pretty good looking game. And I don't get what people hate about how the games handle but opinions. Sounds like your mind's made up dude.

I like mostly everything about DKCTF except the way it plays, its reliance on trial and error and meaningless collectibles. I willfully skip the secret areas because there is literally no point in doing them. Unless concept art gets you going which in my case definitely does not. Those are bad gripes to have with a Donkey Kong game. I do think it looks and sounds great and 2d/3d stuff works for me. I wish the game wasn't designed around gimmicky move-sets that just seem to be superficial gameplay filler. The difficulty of the game feels unearned and manufactured in a way that doesn't jive with me much at all. I wouldn't go so far as to say its cheap but it often doesn't feel fair. It's almost like with some of the preciseness asked of you the controls don't hold up its end of the bargain. I don't hate the game but I was expecting way more based on the praise it gets. I did enjoy some of my time with it but that's as much praise as I'm willing to give it.

I kinda thought I might be the only one who didn't really like this game haha. I'm powering through it but yeah I just... can't... quite put my finger on what I don't like about it. I think the controls are kinda flimsy at times, but then other times they seem intentional in a way that makes it feel very tuned. I think a lot of the levels I just find very boring. Especially in comparison to the original DKC I was playing on the SNES classic not too long ago. The levels there just seem a lot more varied. I was also sort of scratching my head at the lack of any other animals besides the rhino.

Truth be told, while I've played most of the other Country games at one point or another, the one I spent the most time with was the original so I don't know how drastically the series has progressed past that first game.

This is the most overrated platformer ive played in recent memory. Its okay, its got some fantastic moments and stages as well as some cool nostalgia hits but as a whole it uust doesnt feel greatt and never feels like it moves like it should. Dixy is the only barrel buddy worth a damn and some of the difficulty is just flat out cheap.

Deffo cant help but feel a lot of the reverence came from the fact it was on a system with few games competing on any notable level

I played it shortly after playing Rayman Legends, Celeste and Sonic Mania and all of them are far better games

I like both sets of games, but I still firmly believe that the older Donkey Kong Country games controlled far better than the new ones. They feel a lot tighter than Returns and Tropical Freeze. The newer ones are more floaty, but whatever. You can't have everything.

That's a shame, I like these new ones a lot. The music, the vibe, the gameplay. If it hasn't grabbed you by now then looks like it probably won't do anything to change your opinion if you keep going.