Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Mario's Level Design, Evolved

Hi! I’m Mark Brown, and this is Game Maker’s Toolkit. Man, I totally let Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze pass me by. But, please, don’t make the same dumb mistake I did because this game is not only tonnes of fun, but it has some of the most creative and ambitious level design in a platformer. Like, ever. I mean, in what other game would you ride a rocket-powered barrel past a giant wheel of cheese? Or platform on the side of a cliff mid-way through an avalanche? Or start a level by jumping through mini cyclones, dodging lightning bolts and ducking underneath windswept enemies, only to find yourself trapped in the middle of a raging tornado? It’s madness.

And to achieve this, Retro had to really go beyond the level design patterns that had been used in Nintendo’s 2D platformer games, starting from the NES days - and lasting all the way up to games like New Super Mario Bros U. In that game, almost every level is a showcase for a single idea. It might be a type of platform, like these stars in Spinning Star Sky. It could be a new enemy type, like these goofy bipeds in Bramball Woods. It could be a hazard. Or a big enemy who chases you through the stage.

This single mechanic is introduced, and is then repeated through the level but in more and more difficult versions. You might have a swinging platform, like the one in Lemmy’s Swingback Castle. Then you have to jump between two of them, with an enemy in between. Then jump between two more, but now with fire underneath you. Then have fireballs pop out of the lava. Then start offsetting the pattern of the swinging platforms.

Then have the platforms dip into the fire, while you race to collect red coins And, finally, chuck it all together for one final gauntlet with loads of platforms, and loads of fireballs, before Mario can reach the goal and go fight the boss. The level might feature a small complimentary mechanic - like, Switchback Hill explores these platforms that move when you step on them, but you also have to dodge bullet bills. But these secondary mechanics are pretty much always from another level - so, bullet bills were introduced as the main gimmick way back in 3-4.

Anyway. Mario has used this design for decades, but so has Donkey Kong. In the Donkey Kong Country games, made by Rare, we got levels like Stop & Go Station, where freaky enemies run back and forth until you hit these barrels. And Red Hot Ride, where the Kongs stand on balloons propped up by hot air vents. And for Donkey Kong Country Returns, now made by Retro Studios, the same pattern emerged for most of the stages. If you look at level like damp dungeon, you’ll see that the whole stage revolves around these water wheels, which get more and more complex as the level goes on.

And this is a good way to design stages, don’t get me wrong. I’ve advocated for similar designs in the past. With this sort of level layout, these games can be filled with loads and loads of unique ideas - and by devoting a single level to them, the idea can be properly introduced, and then explored in all sorts of different ways before it’s thrown away in favour of something fresh. But, it does has some drawbacks. Levels can end up being very short because there’s only so many ways to spin each idea, stages can become quite predictable, and you’re eventually going to run out of one-shot ideas: I mean, you can find the same hazards cropping up in all four New Super Mario Bros games.

So, when it came time for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, this pattern was broken. Look at a stage such as Horn-top Hop. This is a level about horns. You’ve got horns that blow out enemies, horns that can shoot you into spikes, and giant horns that Donkey Kong can ride on. But it’s also a level about falling leaves. You climb up leaves, float down on leaves, there are leaves with enemies on them, and leaves that drift into fiery hazards.

And, also, it’s a level about leaves and horns, at the same time! At multiple points in the level, the two mechanics come together, like this section which mixes the falling pattern of the leaves, with the quick, rhythmic blast of the horns. So, where classic Nintendo levels were almost always about exploring a single idea - a typical Tropical Freeze stage might introduce two or three, or even more - and then weave them together at different points in the level.

Rickety Rafters, for example, has three mechanics: it’s got switches you pull, switches you stand on, and switches you throw berries at - and while each is introduced and explored just as well as a typical Mario mechanic, we get even more interesting challenges when we stick them together. Like here, where we pull a switch, to reveal a button which we can throw some fruit at. In Baobab Bonanza, we again see two different mechanics - but it seems like they’re kept separate. You’ve got some sections with flowers that bend under Donkey Kong’s weight, and then some bits where spiked nuts roll down hills. And this would be good enough because each mechanic gives the other time to breathe, and stops the level becoming predictable and samey.

But then at the end, the two mechanics combine in a really surprising way, as a giant spiked nut chases you, while you jump from flower to flower. Surprise is the name of the game in Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, and it feels like the level designers are in a constant arms race to outdo one another. And so even in the few levels that stick more closely to the old style of level design - like the cart level Sawmill Thrill, which is largely just about these circular saws, Retro finds so many surprising ways to spin that idea. It’s not just about making these saw blades faster or bigger, or putting them in larger groups - but the blades carve platforms out of wood, chop up timber hazards, and throw up new bits of track to jump on.

Single mechanics are the exception, not the rule, though - and Tropical Freeze is stuffed with stages that combine a handful of ideas. And as Turbo Button noted in his video about the level Harvest Hazards, Retro managed to keep these ideas cohesive, by finding some kind of thematic link between all of the different ideas on show. Consider a stage like Scorch 'n' Torch, which has maybe six different mechanics, but they’re all related to the same theme, of a forest fire.

You’ve got water berries, which can put out flames. Burning trees that fall apart when you stand on them Ropes that are on fire Burning statues that fall to the ground Hot coals that keep you moving fast And flames that fall from the sky Hoo boy. But still, each one is introduced in a careful way. The first statue, for example, squishes this enemy, and lets you know what would happen if Donkey Kong was underneath. And each mechanic has its own evolution through the level, from a tree that simply loses its leaves at the start, to a row of trees that are all burning to the ground at the end.

But they can also combine, like burning statues, falling onto hot coals, just before a burning rope. Or using water berries to extinguish a burning rope, while dodging falling fireballs. Remember - it’s only fair to throw this sort of mix at the player, if the mechanics have been taught earlier in the stage. More good theming can be found in Fruity Factory - we’ve got cleavers and conveyer belts that chop up watermelons, drills which mush through grapefruit, blenders that spit out fruity platforms, and swinging arms that smash up watermelons. By thinking less about individual mechanics, and thinking more about the theme of a fruit processing plant, Retro could come up with all sorts of wacky ideas.

Actually, this whole world is a theme. You see the Snowmads picking fruit in level one, slicing, crushing, and processing it in the next three, turning it into jelly in level five, and freezing it into ice lollies in level six - which all pays off in the boss fight...

There’s more to a Donkey Kong level, of course, than just a series of evolving and interweaving mechanics. For example, the stages sometimes have an intermission of sorts - Windmill Hills is all about windmills, obviously, and weak wooden platforms that fall apart - which then combine for windmills with weak wooden platforms on them. But there’s a whole section right in the middle where you climb up a tower and then race back down on a cable car, which has nothing to do with the main mechanics but serves to break up the level.

You also get tiny mini-games, built into the stages like in Harvest Hazards where you can test your skill with this rock-to-roll platform to collect bananas. Like the red coin sections in Mario, this gives you a nice risk vs. reward system for players who want to push their skills. These levels also feature two types of collectibles. Puzzle pieces are about exploration, and so are hidden in secret areas. The KONG letters are more about platforming prowess, and so they’re very visible but they ask you to put yourself at risk to grab them Your reward for getting these is yet more brilliant - though, absolutely maddening bonus levels, like Precarious Pendulums which has swinging platforms and electrified floors and - yep, you guessed it, the two mechanics come together in cool new ways.

Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the cute background stories, like in Twilight Terror, where you blast past these penguin dudes chopping fish. And in Reckless Ride, there’s this penguin, who parachutes away from his wrecked machine. Oh, bless him! Oh, oh he’s dead. Of course, to fit all of this in - the stages are a lot longer than your typical platforming level - Mario stages, for example, often have just one checkpoint, while a Tropical Freeze level might have two or three, to fit these, sometimes 10 minute long stages. Despite this, Mario U only has about 10 more levels than Tropical Freeze, but who’s counting, eh?

Hah, sorry, this wasn’t supposed to be about hating on Mario. My sweet, beautiful boy. I mean. the New Super Mario Bros. games have a certain old-school purity that I really like, but they also feel a bit lazy, if you ask me.

But, anyway, this more about celebrating Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Because, from the crazy background art, to the bonkers set-pieces, to David Wise’s beautiful and humongous soundtrack - there’s an incredible amount of love and attention put into each and every stage in this criminally underplayed game. But the real takeaway has got to be how Retro took the level design pattern that had served Nintendo so well, for so long - and then evolved it to the next step. By thinking about themes, as well as mechanics - Retro managed to forge an incredible set of levels that all modern 2D platformers should be judged against.

Which, maybe we’ll do in some upcoming videos. Nintendo ain’t the only kid in town after all, so it could be fun to see how other games compare. Like Super Meat Boy, N++, the Rayman duo, the new Sonic games, and Shovel Knight. Who knows, we'll see. Till then, Game Maker’s Toolkit is powered by Patreon, and these are my top level supporters. Do you have a favourite level from a platforming game? Let me know in the comments, below.

Ooh, that rhymed!