QCF: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

 question that’s been springing up a lot more than it ever has in the past, is why does Nintendo insist on being a proprietary entity within the industry? Why not go third party and bring that trademark “Nintendo magic” to the PS4 or Xbox One; the answer is simple—their games benefit more from them being their own boss than suffering from it.

For example, when the internal R&D departments aren’t developing themselves, they rely on second-party studios that are allowed explicit creative control over some of the company’s most prized properties; enter Retro studios and their sequel to the revived Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

Nintendo’s strategy may come off pandering, even to the most dedicated fanboy, but like Super Mario 3D World, impressions aren’t everything and, this cold jungle romp is another delightful gem to celebrate the ownership of a Wii U.

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QCF: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D

ack in the day, when they weren’t developing half-hearted motion titles or games with papier-mâché animals in them, Rare had a partnership where they developed games for Nintendo, and they got their big break reviving one of the Big N’s biggest icons; Donkey Kong.  While the reception toward the Donkey Kong Country franchise has always been wildly mixed (seriously, what’s up with these guys?) it’s definitely secured enough of a following for Retro Studios to live up to their name so to speak, and release a modern sequel on Wii…

Flash forward to 2013, Nintendo makes the call for Retro to port the monkeys over to the 3DS, and Retro being the forward-thinking bunch that they are, decided to work on all of the criticisms of its Wii cousin, it’s safe to say that they succeeded.

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