The Switch version of Tropical Freeze looks great. Handheld or docked, the animation moves fluidly. It was a bit difficult to keep track of everything during tense boss battles, but portable Donkey Kong is a blast. Some of the harder levels aren’t recommended if, like me, you can’t stifle frustration sighs even when surrounded by strangers.
Tropical Freeze’s Funky Mode makes things easier without feeling like a mode for babies, and it’s a welcome change. Precision jumps and timing remain. In any of the levels or battles, you can’t cheat. You just get a few more chances. You can play as either Donkey Kong or Funky Kong. A cool uncle with wrap-around sunglasses, belt-fastened jorts, a tank-top, and a bandana, he knows a lot about living. Dixie’s ponytail helicopter or Diddy’s rocket are not as forgiving as Funky’s feathered surfboard. In the Switch version, Funky’s surfboard also makes him immune to spike damage and increases his tubularity to a level unheard of on Wii U. Furthermore, Funky Mode gives you an extra heart per level, and it replenishes your health more often during levels.
With one big exception, Tropical Freeze’s difficulty is unrelenting, but almost never cheap. It’s not just my least favorite level in Tropical Freeze, it’s one of my least favorite levels ever. You have to navigate tiny, deadly corridors with the clunkiest controls. This is up there with the underwater dam level in TMNT for NES. If I have to revisit it to 100-percent Tropical Freeze, I probably won’t be 100-percenting it.
Boss battles are also tough, but fair. There was never a time when I felt like I died because of a cheap move. I died because I wasn’t good enough. Especially on some of the later bosses, I wasn’t good enough. It’s easy to get extra lives with balloons. There are only three coins in Funky’s shop, and you can pick up extra chances along the way. Funky Mode makes Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze more accessible without reducing the platforming difficulty. Even with Donkey’s Funky uncle’s help, there’s still a lot to do. But the Switch version lets the fun platforming outweigh the punishing gameplay.
