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In Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, why would anyone not use Dixie Kong?

FernandoRocker

FernandoRocker

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Oct 25, 2017
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I bought a digital copy of Tropical Freeze a couple of weeks ago ($35 USD at the Argentinian eShop) and I'm playing it for the first time (I have the Wii U version too but never played it).

Great game. I love the level design. I'm playing in Normal difficulty, and I'm about to start World 6 (keep in mind that I won't advance until I got all the KONG letters, all the puzzle pieces, and cleared K stages).

But, why would anyone pick Diddie or Cranky from the barrel? Dixie is the best, and kinda overpowered, right?

She has the best jumping mechanics, and the best swimming mechanics too. In all the 5 worlds I have been playing, there has been only one single stage where Cranky Kong was required to get a puzzle piece (and that's only if you don't want to get damage).

Was Dixie Kong your main buddy?

TYwR5QB.jpg
 
Lua

Lua

Member
Aug 9, 2018
1,951
Dixie is the best in all the mainline donkey kong games she's in.
 
Ravenwraith

Ravenwraith

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
3,353
She is basically easy mode. On later runs I liked to challenge myself to not pick her up.
 
Wil Grieve

Wil Grieve

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I don't understand how anyone can enjoy that game. It is baffling.
 

Deleted member 20852

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Why would anyone not pick Cranky? The pogo stick mechanic makes any game instantly at least three times better.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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guess its tradition by this point. diddy is far better than dk in DKC and dixie is better than diddy and ..... thing in DKC2 and DKC3

Joshg27 said:
She is basically easy mode. On later runs I liked to challenge myself to not pick her up.
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i thought funky was "basically easy mode"
 
DecoReturns

DecoReturns

Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,003
Dixie is the best.

but I prefer DK for the challenge. Plus he's faster in the sense you're not using Dixie's ability which "slows" you down just a bit. Kills momentum
 
Lady Bow

Lady Bow

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Nov 30, 2017
11,305
Diddy was useless cause you could already cover long horizontal distance with roll jumping and Cranky was pretty situational so yea Dixie was clearly the best.
 

Spine Crawler

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,228
you may want to pogo stick the game a bit with cranky. other than that dixie is the best character and diddy is just a waste of a slot. i would love to solo the game with dixie but donkey is forced on you.. meh
 
Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus

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Oct 25, 2017
2,982
In a game where you can build up so much momentum, her hover destroying any momentum you have kills it for me. Funky's double jump feels much better.

Once you start speedrunning levels Cranky is by far the most satisfying and just overall the best one.
 
Vivian-Pogo

Vivian-Pogo

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Jan 9, 2018
2,036
Funky is New Funky Mode.

Dixie is Old Funky Mode.

Cranky is for hardcore gamers like himself.

Diddy exists.
 
Weiss

Weiss

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I think there's exactly one moment you have to use Diddy to find a secret underwater route.
 
Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus

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Oct 25, 2017
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Diddy gets the distinction of being by *far* the best Kong underwater, so much so even Funky speedruns specifically switch to DK just to have Diddy during underwater levels.

iirc the standard mode speedrun uses Diddy in more levels than Dixie, lol.
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

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Oct 25, 2017
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Because Cranky Kong is the superior character. Best flow-playstyle. Absolutely untouchable.

Dixie is nice for getting to know the game and casual play.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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"speedrun this, speedrun that"
look, speedruns are fun to watch and everything, but a large, LARGE number of the people playing the game dont care about doing it themselves
so a character being best suited for speedrunning doesnt beat a character being best suited.... for everything else
 
Dyle

Dyle

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's one of my main issues with the game, she's too good and basically makes Diddy and Cranky useless for a casual playthrough
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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Dyle said:
It's one of my main issues with the game, she's too good and basically makes Diddy and Cranky useless for a casual playthrough
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i dont think its really an issue, its not like the game is unbeatable with the other kongs, just "harder"
since the first game one kong is always vastly superior than the other (or others) except maybe dk64 but we dont talk about dk64 around here
 
Trelova

Trelova

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Apr 8, 2020
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now what im wondering is, in the original Donkey Kong Country, why would anyone want to play as Donkey Kong when Diddy is just him but better

it's like every time Diddy dies i have to downgrade...
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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Trelova said:
now what im wondering is, in the original Donkey Kong Country, why would anyone want to play as Donkey Kong when Diddy is just him but better

it's like every time Diddy dies i have to downgrade...
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beating stronger enemies in one hit and pounding the ground to find goodies
problem is there are not that many strong enemies in the game and with diddy you can just run-jump over them 90% of the cases anyway
 
Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus

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Oct 25, 2017
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Starlatine said:
"speedrun this, speedrun that"
look, speedruns are fun to watch and everything, but a large, LARGE number of the people playing the game dont care about doing it themselves
so a character being best suited for speedrunning doesnt beat a character being best suited.... for everything else
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The OP asked why would anyone pick the other kongs, I'm pointing out once you're better at the game the allure of the double jump goes away and you'll appreciate what Cranky offers way more.

Obviously most people won't go knee deep with the game, but the game mechanics and level design are deliberately designed for momentum conservation and going fast, and that's where Dixie gets noticeably worse outside of specific skips she can do. Speedruns are obviously just the best showcase of that, but the game has time trials and leaderboards lol.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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Spinosaurus said:
The OP asked why would anyone pick the other kongs, I'm pointing out once you're better at the game the allure of the double jump goes away and you'll appreciate what Cranky offers way more.

Obviously most people won't go knee deep with the game, but the game mechanics and level design are deliberately designed for momentum conservation and going fast, and that's where Dixie gets noticeably worse outside of specific skips she can do. Speedruns are obviously just the best showcase of that, but the game has time trials and leaderboards lol.
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Most of the platformers i played in the last 30 years had some sort of "time trial" in them and i didnt engage in a single one - and i wouldnt consider myself a 'casual' by any metric, going as far as obsessing over collectibles and 100%+ percentages in certain games - except for the timed ones, which is my my rayman legends and battleblock theatre saves to this day have all the little trinkets in every level but that pesky little clock badge/trophy

Most people simply don't care about "going fast" in platformers unless the level specifically forces you to. So the argument against "losing momentum" is kinda moot. People mostly want to beat levels, find secrets and not die. And Dixie is better suited for that in the eyes of most.

I'm not disputing your answer for the OP since its pretty valid, just people who are arguing back under a lens of speedrunning which frankly is far from being a concern to 95% of the playing base of these games
 
BassForever

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I like the idea of the 3 kong allies even if they weren't as balanced for your average player

Diddy better at horizontal movement

Dixie better at vertical movement

Kranky better at dealing with hazards

Others have already mentioned Dixie's short comings in speed runs and leader board scenarios, but if your goal is just beat the game it's rare that Dixie isn't the best option for a blind level play.
 

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Trelova said:
now what im wondering is, in the original Donkey Kong Country, why would anyone want to play as Donkey Kong when Diddy is just him but better

it's like every time Diddy dies i have to downgrade...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There are points where you'd want DK's abilities, but yeah, Diddy's straight up better most of the time.

DKC2's the one where Rare really nailed the symbiosis between the two characters, with levels confidently designed to take advantage of both character's abilities.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

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MochaKoffee said:
DKC2's the one where Rare really nailed the symbiosis between the two characters, with levels confidently designed to take advantage of both character's abilities.
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did they
i still remember beating it with dixie 100% of the time and just hovering over "skillfully designed areas to take advantage of diddys mobility"
 
Undeniablybiased

Undeniablybiased

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Oct 25, 2017
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For most of the time yeah. But they all have their specialties. Diddys better underwater (and I find him better for a lot of bosses because it's easier to time your hits with diddys hover over dixies). Certain secrets obviously can't be found without cranky. But also if you ever want to try doing time trials or just challenging yourself crankys best for a lot of that.
 
Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus

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Oct 25, 2017
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If we're strictly talking casual playthroughs, honestly even I liked her the least there. Pogoing was way more fun and in Diddy's case being able to stop the jetpack as soon as I want and time my landings made him feel more satisfying to play with. Won't deny Dixie definitely trivializes a lot of the platforming, but the momentum killing slow hover I had to commit to made her feel awful to me, but I'm also not exactly a stranger to the series and didn't care for having that kind of double jump.
 
Kinsei

Kinsei

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Oct 25, 2017
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Cranky is better for speedrunning
Diddy is better for the water levels

As far as just playing through the game casually, she's the best. Though a casual player may find the way her hair twirl halts you annoying and prefer the other two because of that.
 
QuixoticNeutral

QuixoticNeutral

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Oct 25, 2017
2,644
One level where I found it distinctly advantageous to switch off Dixie was 6-K, where I had a much easier time with Diddy due to the low spiked ceilings everywhere, which made Dixie's lift more of a liability than anywhere else in the game.
 
OP
OP
FernandoRocker

FernandoRocker

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Oct 25, 2017
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México
QuixoticNeutral said:
One level where I found it distinctly advantageous to switch off Dixie was 6-K, where I had a much easier time with Diddy due to the low spiked ceilings everywhere, which made Dixie's lift more of a liability than anywhere else in the game.
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I'm about to start World 6 today (I'm doing one world per day). I will keep this in mind when I reach 6-K later today.
 
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