After 32-years in the spotlight, Donkey Kong is, relatively, an old hand amid the brash, attention-seeking new bods in gaming but it seems, entirely appropriately, he has no intention of fading away politely. The quite brilliant Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze proves that the ageing simian still shines in his natural habitat: the 2D platformer. Tropical Freeze, sequel to the Wii title Donkey Kong Country Returns, is, like its forebear, a challenging platformer in the classic form. It brims with sharp level design and boasts enough secrets to keep even the most capable of players busy for hours.

The extraordinarily pretty Tropical Freeze trumps its predecessor with the spectacle contained amid its landscape – developer Retro Studios has done an eye-catching job of making a 2D playing field where levels unfold and reshape themselves with dramatic results. Admittedly it has not dared to adjust the template from Returns too much, and Tropical Freeze's multiplayer lacks the single-player game's grace and pace, but it remains a superlative contribution to the genre.