Platform guide
Donkey Kong Wii U games
There is one disc. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze came out in Europe on 21 February 2014 and it is the only Donkey Kong ever sold on a Wii U disc here. The console had more Donkey Kong than that, but all of it was download-only — the Wii game Returns through the eShop, Tipping Stars, and the Virtual Console re-releases of the SNES trilogy and Donkey Kong 64 — and all of it disappeared when the shop closed in March 2023.
The short answer
One disc: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014), Retro Studios’ sequel to Returns, with Dixie and Cranky Kong as partners and six islands of the hardest, best-built platforming on the console. The Switch port from 2018 only adds Funky Mode. Want Returns as well? Its Wii disc plays on every Wii U.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in stock
European version, checked and started on a real Wii U before it was listed.
Everything Donkey Kong that reached the Wii U
| Release | Europe | Format | Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | 21 February 2014 | Disc (later also as Nintendo Selects) | Still available second-hand |
| Donkey Kong Country Returns (the Wii game) | 22 January 2015 | eShop download of the Wii disc | Gone — eShop closed 2023 (the Wii disc still plays on a Wii U) |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars | 20 March 2015 | eShop, or a box with a download code | Gone — eShop closed 2023 |
| Donkey Kong Country 1–3 and Donkey Kong 64 | 2014–2015 | Virtual Console downloads | Gone — eShop closed 2023 |
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
Retro Studios followed Returns with a game that is bigger in every direction: six islands instead of eight worlds’ worth of one, underwater levels back for the first time since the SNES, and two new partners — Dixie Kong with her helicopter hair and Cranky Kong with a cane that works like Scrooge McDuck’s pogo stick. David Wise, who wrote the SNES Country music, came back for the soundtrack, and it shows.
It is also hard. Not unfairly, but the way the SNES games were hard: levels that ask you to learn them, a rocket-barrel or two that ask you to learn them twice. The Wii U version runs at a steady frame rate and supports the GamePad, the Pro Controller and a Wii Remote with or without Nunchuk, and two people can play it together.
Nintendo re-released it as a Nintendo Selects budget disc later in the console’s life, and ported it to the Switch in 2018 with an added Funky Mode. The Wii U disc is the original, and it is usually the cheapest way to own the game.
Or buy one that has already been checked
Every Wii U disc we sell is European, checked for surface damage, and started on a real console before it is listed — so it loads and plays through. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked to all 27 EU countries.
See every Wii U game we haveQuestions we get asked
How many Donkey Kong games are there on the Wii U?
One on a disc: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, released in Europe on 21 February 2014 and later reissued as a cheaper Nintendo Selects disc. Everything else Donkey Kong on the system was a download — the Wii game Returns sold through the Wii U eShop, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars, and the Virtual Console versions of the three SNES Country games and Donkey Kong 64. All of it went with the eShop when Nintendo closed it in March 2023, so the disc is the only Donkey Kong you can still buy for the console.
Is the Wii U version of Tropical Freeze the same as the Switch one?
Nearly. The Switch release from 2018 is the same game with one addition, Funky Mode, an easier setting where you play as Funky Kong with extra hearts and a hover. The levels, the music and the four playable Kongs are identical. The Wii U disc is the original, and second-hand it is usually the cheaper way to own the game.
Can I play the Wii Donkey Kong games on a Wii U?
Yes. Every Wii U plays Wii discs, so Donkey Kong Country Returns on its Wii disc works fine — you switch the console to Wii mode and use a Wii Remote, because the GamePad is not supported in that mode. That makes the Wii disc the practical way to get Returns now that the eShop download is gone.
Are Wii U discs region-locked?
Yes. A European Wii U only runs European (PAL) discs, so an American or Japanese copy of Tropical Freeze will not start on it. Everything we sell is the European version.
Does Tropical Freeze need the GamePad?
It works with the GamePad, the Wii U Pro Controller, a Wii Remote on its own or a Wii Remote with Nunchuk, and the game plays on the GamePad screen alone if the television is in use. Two people can play together in co-op, with the second player as Diddy, Dixie or Cranky Kong.
What should I check on a used Wii U disc?
The playing surface for scratches, that it loads past the title screen, and that it saves — the save lives on the console, not on the disc, so a second-hand copy carries no previous progress. Every disc we sell is started on a real Wii U before it is listed, and the condition is stated per copy.
Do you ship Donkey Kong Wii U games across the EU?
Yes — tracked shipping from the Netherlands to all 27 EU countries, no customs charges inside the EU, and 30 days to return an order. Your country’s exact rate appears at checkout before you pay.
More Donkey Kong: the one 3DS cartridge, the three DS cards, the four Game Boy cartridges, or the whole series in order. Same disc slot, different franchise: all Mario Wii U games and all Zelda Wii U games.
Dutch reader? Wii U-games — het hele aanbod in het Nederlands.