This is a very memorable game, and the work Rare put in to build DK's image from basically scratch is astounding.

Unfortunately, a lot of things didn't age very well, first of all the graphics. And I'm not talking about aesthetics, that pre-renderer look can be quite charming, even though it is dated. The problem I personally have with the graphics is on the gameplay side. Sure, those sprites might be gorgeous by 1994 standards, but they take up a lot of screen real estate, and a lot of the times the hotboxes feel iffy, and you can't see obstacles just a few metres ahead of you. This makes some platforming sections a nightmare, and a lot of deaths feel really cheap, often coming from enemies that come at you from the edge of the screen in the blink of an eye.

I also found the bosses pretty uninteresting and repetitive, and the general movement mechanics could have used a bit more time in the oven. I like that donkey and diddy have some slight differences (dk can pound the earth and roll through tougher enemies, while diddy can chain cartwheels), but they are way too subtle, and the two characters feel too similar in my opinion. Not that it is a bad thing per se, but I would have appreciated it the devs explored those gameplay differences a bit more.

I have to give a shout-out to the music, which is probably the best you can find on the snes (it is currently a contender for the top spot in my favourites list, along chrono trigger).