Support NeoGAF

[OricWindstar]

It also contains one of the best songs in the entire series. Fucking Godlike soundtrack all around.

 

[Falawful]

It is strange to me as well, because DKCR was and still is absolutely fantastic. There are actually things I still prefer about DKCR, but I can see why people prefer TF. There was just a lot more variety in mechanical, level, and environmental design in TF, there were less minecart and rocketbarrel levels, Dixie was in it, it had far better boss battles, superior music, and players weren't forced to use waggle controls.

Lack of waggle and superior music is absolutely true. But in all honesty I was very lukewarm about TF's boss battles (DKCR's weren't much better). I like minecart levels and the rocketbarrel levels I think were well-done. Dixie honestly made the game much easier than Diddy ever did and I don't think Cranky added a whole lot.

Level design was mostly good, with some absolute rockstar standouts like the burning savannah, Irate Eight and final world spoilers

Spoiler

well basically all of the final world lol, but ESPECIALLY the silhouette one where you're fighting to climb an avalanche that is destroying the dino world from DKCR. SO GOOD

.

I think I probably just played this within a month of Mario Bros U and Rayman Legends, and was too burnt out on 2D platformers to really appreciate it. But yeah, DKCR struck a (slightly) stronger chord with me in the end.

 

[Macapala]

For the love of fucking god use the analogue stick in the swimming levels! In fact, use the analogue stick exclusively.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

My main complaint is the damn swimming world. Got fuck I hate the swimming in this game, and a whole world of that? *groan*

Use Diddy kong for any swimming stages. Her ability makes it a lot easier to maneuver around obstacles and enemies.

 

[Miker]

If I played some of Rayman Legends on Wii U - one whole world with me as Rayman and my girlfriend as Murphy on the gamepad - and didn't like it all that much, should I still try out Tropical Freeze?

My main issue w/ Rayman Legends was that it was simplistic, kinda one-note platforming. I'd say it felt like it was too autopilot - I would just hold forward and jump as needed. Which I guess extends to all platformers, but I can't describe it any other way. For reference, I had played the auto-moving Rayman game on iOS before, and I feel like Legends required similar amounts of input.

I think DKCRTF would be more up my alley, because it looks more methodical and momentum-based, but I'd like more opinions.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

You could post my run of that level instead!

Spoiler

Sorry for boasting! It's not the WR anymore though :-(

Small world!

Lack of waggle and superior music is absolutely true. But in all honesty I was very lukewarm about TF's boss battles (DKCR's weren't much better). I like minecart levels and the rocketbarrel levels I think were well-done. Dixie honestly made the game much easier than Diddy ever did and I don't think Cranky added a whole lot.

Cranky's addition was well worth it if you look at how fun his pogo stick mechanic is to use when you've figured a level out. Just open up any speedrun that includes him; far more engaging than Donkey Kong's other two sidekicks where you simply... press a button to float a little longer. Whoopee. Plus he can use his dentures as a mini-stun projectile if you screech to a halt:

Rocket barrel stages were awful. They'd be fine if the controls weren't so cumbersome - in spite of their simplistic nature - and they always felt like they went on for too long as a result. The handling just didn't feel 'direct' enough, especially when you compare how much smoother the swimming was. Still nothing as bad as the infamous giant bat stage in Returns overall in terms of needing to know what's ahead of you in advance, but still the opposite of "fun" in my book. And I feel the boss fights could've been great if they were shorter; I don't necessarily mind the flavor animations after each hit since they add personality, but for simplistic boss fights (since it essentially boils down to straight-forward pattern recognition) they felt rather drawn out whether or not they were well-designed. Which they usually were fortunately, but again, too lengthy.

If I played some of Rayman Legends on Wii U - one whole world with me as Rayman and my girlfriend as Murphy on the gamepad - and didn't like it all that much, should I still try out Tropical Freeze?

My main issue w/ Rayman Legends was that it was simplistic, kinda one-note platforming. I'd say it felt like it was too autopilot - I would just hold forward and jump as needed. Which I guess extends to all platformers, but I can't describe it any other way. For reference, I had played the auto-moving Rayman game on iOS before, and I feel like Legends required similar amounts of input.

I think DKCRTF would be more up my alley, because it looks more methodical and momentum-based, but I'd like more opinions.

Yes.

Rayman Legends does get more difficult in the long run and can put up a decent fight when it wants to, but honestly it's still a far cry from Tropical Freeze when it comes to challenging level design, much less the indie greats such as N+, Super Meat Boy or Dustforce. Tropical Freeze's momentum-based gameplay on the other hand requires more finesse (especially when attempting to clear levels faster) and offers more control of your character once accustomed to Donkey Kong's weight, on top of levels gradually demanding more precision as you progress through the worlds. The optional K-stages (which open up after collecting all the KONG letters in a given world) are feisty too, never mind the actual final set of levels. Hard Mode also puts your skills to the test.

 

[BumRush]

I got a wiiu for Christmas and by the time I was able to start playing it was midnight. Didn't stop playing trop freeze for at least 3 hours. Wow.