It's a masterpiece of a game with a great soundtrack, awesome boss fights, and rewarding challenges and gameplay! It seems to me that it's easier than the original. They balance out the difficulty with giving you a TON of bananas and balloons for any number of optional challenges. My only nit pick is the barrel riding levels and the mine car levels aren't as difficult as they used to be. I preferred them to be instant death if you make a mistake because you fell like a BOSS when you're finally able to pull them off while getting all the KONG letters and the puzzle pieces. Though, I get why thy tamed it down a little. I'm not mad because it's extremely fun.

I have only played it a little so far but I'm very happy with it. It's a little too hard for my 3 yo, but I probably shouldn't have expected it to be playable. It is actually very playable as a team game with a younger kid (as long as one of you knows what they're doing :) ). If you enjoyed Donkey Kong Country Returns, you will definitely like this. I miss the Kremlins from the original Rare games, but all the Kongs are present and lots of fun to play. Funky is especially fun. My one complaint is that Nintendo just keeps repackaging old games and charging full price. But hey, it's an awesome game and worth buying if you never played it.

Going back to the original Donkey Kong Country on SNES, this series for me has consistently been the best platforming experience, with fun, challenging, original levels. I never got around to playing the original release of Tropical Freeze, so I'm glad I could finally pick this up (although it is a bit annoying to pay full price for a re-release). It's exactly what I expected in the best way possible - more challenging, incredibly fun platforming. Highly recommend for long-time fans of the series as well as those who have never experienced DKC.