Matthew – Tuesday, March 25, 2014, 12:00 AM

I've been playing Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the past few weeks, and it's just terrific. Anyone who's grown up on platformers owes it to themselves to try out this one--it's impeccably designed, has a great soundtrack, and feels very fresh and dynamic throughout. Retro knows their stuff.

That said, pretty much everyone agrees that Dixie is the go-to Kong of the buddies! Her floating ability seems to be more versatile and life-saving than Diddy's, and has made several stages of the game far easier for me (to the point where I try to avoid picking her more than a few times a world).

To be honest, though, my favorite to use is Cranky. He's a spry old coot and kills it in the speed runs.

Sorry about the long podcast delay, but we'll have a new one for you next time around!