So, Gamespot's Mark Walton panned the latest Donkey Kong Country game (Tropical Freeze) as unexiting, not having new designs or challenges, and just feeling "a little off." He does make some true points in the full article-- yes, it's not as good as Rayman Legends, the boss fights go on for a while with no checkpoints, and there are some levels where there is a "stop and start" aspect to the stage-- and seems to be wanting to play a good Sonic game rather than a DKC game (he praises the speed of the minecart levels, for example). What distressed me, though, was that the main reason he seemed indifferent to the game was that he felt the levels were uninspired and poorly designed. I'm only halfway through the game now, and already I'd say at least half the levels have a clever gameplay-related design element, and 90% of them have a great visual twist to them. Despite my "I'll spoil whatever, whenever" policy, I won't go through and name all the bits here, but I will take one level as an example of how expertly the level designers mixed aesthetics and gameplay designs to make a stellar level.
The level I'm talking about is a minecart level (which yes, Walton says are among the high points of the game, of which there's at least one in each island so far by the way), which is a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it part of the games. First, it's great that the designers decided to include them; they're a wonderful throwback to the older games in the series, I find them fun, and the proliferation of endless runner games that owe a LOT of inspiration to these levels (more on that in another post, possibly) suggests that they're a winning gameplay mechanic in the right dose. But, given that they've been in four major 2D platformers, the idea could be stale by now, so how did they spice it up?
First, the setting is somewhat interesting-- it's a sawmill, thematically appropriate to the island's concept, though not very original on its own. Midway through, it switches you from the minecart to a log flume, which makes perfect sense giving the setting, and which also allows for a small but fun change in mechanics (your flume sinks in the water after jumping). The you're back on the regular minetrack and the stage starts falling down around you, then a giant blade is chasing you-- again, not exceptionally original but solid additions-- before the track starts to fall apart and in another gameplay twist you end up jumping to land on track coming from behind you as you move forward. And all this is mixed in with other solid elements, including the usual collection aspects (those puzzle pieces are fiendishly well hidden) and two secret level exits. It's a particular high point in the game, but it exemplifies the care, thought, and intelligence put into all these levels.
I don't really care that Walton didn't much like the game, or that he gave the game a low score because of feeling like something was just missing or that the game wasn't exciting even. But, the bullet point at the end of his review-- "dull, derivative level design"-- is asinine. The "derived" level aspects are polished and still creative, and the innovative stuff is just flat-out awesome. Again, the game is no Rayman Legends or Mario Galaxy, but it's damn well put together, and if your opinion is that it wasn't fun, fine, but own it as "I just didn't like it" instead of coming up with flimsy justifications for a low score.
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