no where near as good as dkc2 but i prefer it to the original. i do appreciate the game's far easier difficulty, it's the only one in the trilogy i'll ever consider doing everything in. the boss fights are just good if not better than dkc2, and overall level design is just a bit worse. the one coaster level genuinely gave me a headache at how fast the screen moved and that inverted controls level just fucking sucks but i thought every other gimmicky stages were good. one weird nitpick i have is that the new kremlings look a bit off, like idk they just looked better in 2. also baby kong is an eyesore but the cottage on a lake aesthetic makes up for it.