Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was Nintendo’s lone contribution to the recent Spike VGX Awards broadcast, even if it was just nice to have Nintendo present at the event for a change, and it was there that they came clean about Cranky Kong being the game’s fourth playable character. In case you missed Spike VGX, or just didn’t care to watch it, Nintendo re-affirmed Cranky Kong’s status as a playable character, while also demonstrating his Scrooge McDuck-esque pogo staff abilities, allowing him to reach places that the other Kongs can’t get to safely.
Nintendo also shed a bit of light on the premise of 2014’s first Wii U blockbuster, with DK celebrating his birthday with Diddy, Dixie and Cranky, only to have DK Island invaded by Viking-like animals from the Northern lands called Snowmads. From there, DK and co. must proceed across the freezing-over DK Isle to drive out the invaders.
An all-new feature not even addressed at Spike VGX was also revealed during this Direct, showcasing the Kong Pow attack, which has DK team up with Diddy, Dixie or Cranky to turn all enemies on the screen into various items; 1-Up Balloons with Diddy, extra hearts with Dixie, and Banana Coins with Cranky. The attack can be used whenever DK collects a hundred bananas while proceeding through each of the game’s stages.
Nintendo then reminded viewers that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will release for Wii U, both at retail and via the Wii U eShop, on February 21st of next year. Here’s hoping that it continues the ruthlessly challenging, but addictively fun entertainment of Donkey Kong Country Returns!
Of the several surprises announced during this Direct, another big one came for a game that’s already been available since October; Sonic: Lost World. Nintendo confirmed that the game’s Wii U edition would be receiving two exclusive pieces of DLC, allowing Sonic to play bonus levels set in the worlds of Nintendo’s franchises!
The first bonus level, Yoshi’s Island Zone, has Sonic speeding through a Yoshi’s Story-esque environment trying to help the Yoshi’s amass fruit and eggs. It features not only piranha plants, flowers and coins, but also obstacles like loop-de-loops that define the mainline Sonic the Hedgehog games! Better still is the fact that this surprise DLC is going live today, and better yet, it’s absolutely free to download for anyone that owns Sonic: Lost World on Wii U!
The second piece of DLC is not ready, and Nintendo wouldn’t divulge any information on it, beyond the fact that it would be made available for Wii U players early in 2014.
Sonic: Lost World may not be the best Sonic the Hedgehog game by any stretch, but children of the 90’s will definitely enjoy this mind-melter if they bothered to invest in the blue blur’s Wii U debut!