Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, released both for Nintendo's WiiU and Switch, is part of the long-running Donkey Kong franchise and is a popular side-scrolling platform game developed by Retro Studios. In terms of gameplay, players control the characters from the Kong family, each having unique abilities, to navigate through levels filled with enemies and obstacles. The crux of the story revolves around the Kong family's home island being invaded by Snowmads, creatures from the North Sea who freeze the island over. The Kongs then embark on an adventure across six different islands to displace the Snowmads and reclaim their homeland.

The game received much appreciation for its creative level designs, challenging gameplay, rich graphics, and syncopated music. It stands out for its cooperative two-player mode where one player controls Donkey Kong and a second player controls one of the other Kongs, adding more fun and strategy to the experience. Tropical Freeze was additionally lauded for maintaining the legacy of the Donkey Kong Country series, which began in 1994, and for modernising it with sophisticated design and graphical updates. Amidst the rise of 3D platforms, it has made significant contributions to the continuing popularity of the 2D platform games, thereby impacting the history of gaming.