Retro Studios received a bit of grief when the world found out they were making this instead of another Metroid Prime. By the world, I mean 3 angry nerds on a videogame forum with Samus avatars. Despite Donkey Kong Country Returns being a huge hit and selling over 5 million, gamers were surprised when Nintendo green-lit a sequel. To be honest I liked DKCR but not nearly as much as the Metroid Prime games, so I had one foot in the entitled playground myself. At the end of the day we found out Retro gets to make whatever they want which is a good thing. DKCR was a refreshing change for Retro and they did an amazing job, but it didn’t hit that special spot for me and the level design felt a bit tame. Tropical Freeze however, is an entirely different beast. A beast that was frozen and injected with tropical goodness, then unleashed on unsuspecting Wii U owners with tropical fury. I bought the game about a month ago and I’ve already gone through all the levels, then back through them again on Hard Mode. It was a brutal challenge and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but perfect level design kept me going and I’ve loved every second of the struggle. In my mind it is (without a doubt, far and away) the best 2D platformer ever made and one of the greatest games ever. Retro Studios completely blew my expectations apart and if you’re having trouble getting excited I’m here to sell you some Tropical Freeze. It’ll enhance your performance and keep you going all night for weeks on end.

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