Topic: Donkey Kong Country (Series)

@yoshi420 I'd recommend doing Returns before Freeze despite the recent rerelease. Tropical Freeze improves a lot on Returns and without getting into spoilers some story elements are going to be more impactful if you play Returns (Remastered or otherwise) first.

Glad I hadnt played any of Returns or Freeze game before I started my journey with the series. Im gonna go dkc1>dkc2>dkc3>freeze>new returns is how I see it. Which part (NES/SNES/SWITCH) is like the hardest? DKC2 or some of the switch ones? I would leave it for later lol for now DKC1 is decently challenging, not frustrating which is ok save poinst and checkpoints are a bless 2

^thanks for this info

so Ill go returns hd after retro ones. Why though would you suggest playing Returns first? Is Freeze more challenging? Also should I skip DKC2 (just for now, after havin finished dkc1). Afraid this one might be too diffcult even tho its amazing I hear

The best is the SNES trilogy. Returns and Tropical Freeze feel much heavier, levels aren't as unique and they lack Rare's charm, enemies and animal buddies, although I consider Tropical Freeze much more polished and with a better soundtrack (by David Wise) than Returns. Returns and Tropical Freeze have some interesting levels and a few innovative ideas like Tidal Terror, but generally can't hold a candle to the original trilogy, that is packed with incredible content and memorable levels. The only thing that would benefit the classics is a higher resolution remaster, since they were designed for CRT TVs and not big HD/4K flat screens. They look rich and detailed on the former, with the best gradient that SNES was capable of (ahead of Mega Drive), but pixelated on the latter. Still, they are 100% recommended and should be played by release order. I'd recommend playing a bit further from the big flat screen to appreciate the amazing art properly.

Im getting through DKC1 what a treat, man. SMH thinking something that is 30 yr old can still be so damn good, even better then most recent productions alike. SNES means a class.

@Banjo- Oh man, don't even get me started on that Tropical Freeze ost. I have listened to it more times than I can count. So good.

@yoshi420
DKC1 is like top 3 games of all time for me along with Mario 64 and Link to the Past.

It's sublime. I still boot it up a couple times a year on my SNES and CRT tv. The controls are tight, the music is so flippin' good, the environments are immersive, and it's short and sweet where every single level feels distinct, challenging, and fulfilling.

I love Returns and Freeze, as well, just nowhere near the same feeling, though. Those SNES days are impossible to emulate.

@rallydefault @yoshi420 @Bigmanfan So nice to read that about this timeless masterpiece. You rallydefault are one of the legendary users here and are lucky to have a CRT TV because of what I mentioned above. I still have my SNES, but got to get rid of the big CRT TV when I moved, but I have an LG OLED G4 which is one of those screens with minimal input lag and infinite contrast. I usually play SNES games on SNES Mini which has less input lag than Switch.

@Banjo-
That's still a good way to play, for sure! I'm lucky my wife lets me hang on to my CRT tv haha

@Ban

True, full screen on would have been optimal. Although playing even on a medium-sized tv like 55'' makes it really ok, handhelded not so great.
Btw Im using 8bitdo pro wired while playing DK1 instead of unwired yoycons (even handhelded these are wiresless anywas) and I don't think Im experiencing any lag. At least can't notice. Controls are awesome, too.

You have some taste Mario 64 what a legend.
btw Are these Switch games same level as SNES ones difficulty-wise?
Like how about saving? Is it so strict as in DKC1 or they made it more player friendly?

@yoshi420 Pretty sure both Returns and Tropical Freeze save your progress every time you finish a level. As for the difficulty, they've given me a good challenge for sure. I've finished Returns a long time ago, but I have yet to finish Tropical Freeze.

Thx. I dont mind the difficulty at all, with the autosave feature. The first DKC game i will buy will be Returns, then Freeze (as it was suggested to take that route).

Btw it's kida funny how easy DKC1's bosses are compared to the rest of the game. At least for now. It's like the dev responsible for bosses creating was like totally out of touch with the team lol or high maybe. Btw Dk's speedrunners? My God. These guys must be on adderrall at least lmao

I love getting the perspectives of young'uns on the original DKC trilogy.

Most seem to think it's great, but the criticisms and how they find the difficulty I find especially interesting as I've played the games so often it's impossible for me to gauge.

@yoshi420
For difficulty, DKC2 is hands-down the most difficult of all the games. Period, end of the story.

But then it gets interesting. I’ve played through DKC1 soooo many times, so at this point I think it’s pretty easy. I literally just played back through Returns, and I think it’s a much more difficult game in terms of the actual raw platforming. What makes Returns and Freeze “easier” than the old ones, though, is the abundance of lives and items that can make the gameplay borderline simple. You can add hearts, gain invincibility, and pretty much farm lives if you’re willing to take a few minutes.

The original trilogy doesn’t have that stuff (well… you can farm lives, but not nearly as efficiently), so game overs can seem more prevalent.

And everyone says it's the best one, too. Yeah its pretty tough. I was playing a lot of tekken 7, tekken 8 so was more into competetive fighting gs. Single player kinda lots od dark souls. Games like these are easy to me DK needs my full attention and I still die a lot, like dark souls lot.

@yoshi420 To my memory Returns is easier than Tropical Freeze, but not by much. The bigger thing is there are a lot of QOL improvements in TF and the story of Tropical Freeze builds off of Returns in some really cool ways.

@Mothertroid well but are you sure? Im wondering which1 to choose later. Returns seems the best choice as people saying. BUT. I did a little diggin and witnessed SO MANY posts online how damn hard Returns is. They saying some rocket launching stages (I guess) gave them PTSD. Plus FT has Funky Mode, right? I dont care about easter eggs tbh can start wit TF if more friendly.

BTW. Have finished DKC1 and goind thorugh DKC2 which seems so improved and awesome, and the music? Everything's better/improved and controls are great I loved DKC2 since stage 1.
DKC1 to me was way harder (as for now) than DKC2. Maybe because1 was my first one.

@yoshi420 I mean I can't speak for everyone, but I was able to beat Returns as a kid while I was never able to beat the final boss of Tropical Freeze as a kid. I'd say the special levels (rocket barrels/mine carts) are probably harder in Returns, but the normal levels and bosses are harder in Tropical Freeze. Then again it may just be that after playing Returns I had developed the skills to more easily handle those special levels in TF. I can't speak for any of the improvements in the Switch versions as I played returns on Wii (and later replayed on 3DS) while I played Tropical Freeze on Wii U.

@Mothertroid thanks for your input. Btw are there many mine carts/rocket barrels levels in R? This repulses me I hated cart levels in DKC1 lol

@yoshi420 I looked it up and there are six mine cart levels in R. The good news is in the remake there is a crash guard item that makes these levels easier. I haven't played a lot of the SNES DKC trilogy, but from what little I did I can say that the modern minecart levels are more responsive to your inputs making them less frustrating.
There are seven rocket barrel levels in R. I would definitely recommend stocking up on crash guards for these as they can be tricky. At least the music is really cool for these levels lol.