I played this with mods to enable quick Kong swapping (and randomized, DK64-ized music from other games). The music was a fun twist, but the Kong swap shortcut changes this game immensely. It doesn't fix all of the issues, far from it, but it makes the game a LOT more pleasant to traverse.

I had a fun time blasting through this game this way, and it was nice to revisit it without it being nearly the slog it would be otherwise. I highly recommend that mod for anyone else who wants to play this game.