Just thought I'd make something for people to post quick thoughts on DKCR after they've finished the main game. 
 
I was really impressed that a studio was able to create a game with the same level of quality and respect of the original DKC games.  The quality of level design and art are just as if Rare had made it back when. Lots of fun. Definitely stands with the original trilogy. Not quite sure exactly where it stands, it's hard to beat the classics. But it's certainly welcome to the family. I prefer the old semi-realistic style compared to the more cartoony, but it still looks great.
 My main points of complaint are:  

1.  Motion controls. You get used to it somewhat, but it's still annoying. Rolling is so essential to DKC gameplay. 
 
2.  Soundtrack.  The soundtrack isn't bad, just very safe. Lots and lots of remixes from DKC1 (all great). I guess it's better safe than sorry though. For a sequel, I'd like Retro to put forth the same creative efforts as the composers at Rare back when. Some brand new organic-sounding memorable tracks would be cool. 
 
3.  Diddy not playable in single player. The new system works fine, but personally I just prefer using DK, dying, then switching to Diddy. Gives them both equal screentime. Diddy is literally just piggy-backing DK the whole time.
 
4.  Lack of returning characters. Only two animal buddies in the game, no Kremlings, and no Funky Kong or other Kongs. I like variety, and the Tiki invasion thing isn't bad, but they lack the personality of the Kremlings. So I'd either like to see them return in some way or have the Kongs fight a new evil. Remember Klubba? You didn't fuck with that guy.  And we don't need to go Kong crazy like DK64, but just a couple more would've been nice. 
 
5. New Super Mario Bros. Maybe it's just me, but it seems way too similar presentation-wise. The map screens with blue and red dots, a path to unlock in each map, and the intro loading screen to each level showing the characters running across a slim background sliding across. This is really nitpicky, but It just stuck out to me.  
 
Not to sound too negative, as stated above, I really enjoyed the game and it's just as good as the originals. It's great to finally have DK back in some actual games. DKC2 is still my favorite though. I think Nintendo giving DKC another go could've gone far worse. I'm glad Retro was able to do it justice and I hope to see a sequel.

I honestly don't know why I bought this game. I can already tell DKC 2 is still a superior product in every way. I'm sure it's fine, but nintendo totally got another sale based on nostalgia without actually improving on their IP in a significant way.

I got used to the motion controls, but my main issue was that without Diddy, you can't roll through more than 2 dudes without taking a hit if there's a third one. It's a real bummer since in the SNES games you could always keep rolling so long as you were hitting enemies, and it really makes the roll a poor attack in this game.  
 
As for the soundtrack, I think having most be remixes is a cop out, and the new tracks don't really measure up to the classics, but all in all I think they're effective in adding to the environment, and that's all I ask for honestly. 
 
I quite liked it though, it was truly a more modern DKC. I feel it successfully takes the things that were great about the DKC series and executes on them in a way that is modern. However, its numerous minor flaws make me put it behind DKC2 as my favorite in the series, but hey, Donkey Kong Country Forever could be great, as this was very much a first generation product. I have high hopes that they'll be able to straighten out the rough edges and deliver, because their first attempt was damn good.  
 
And honestly, I gotta say, the liveliness of the environments has made me question what it truly means to have next generation graphics. Surely we have done it all wrong, it's not high definition trees we like, it's trees that sway in the wind!
 
Note: I am assuming the sequels will be called DKC Forever and DKC and Robin.

" I got used to the motion controls, but my main issue was that without Diddy, you can't roll through more than 2 dudes without taking a hit if there's a third one. It's a real bummer since in the SNES games you could always keep rolling so long as you were hitting enemies, and it really makes the roll a poor attack in this game.   As for the soundtrack, I think having most be remixes is a cop out, and the new tracks don't really measure up to the classics, but all in all I think they're effective in adding to the environment, and that's all I ask for honestly.  I quite liked it though, it was truly a more modern DKC. I feel it successfully takes the things that were great about the DKC series and executes on them in a way that is modern. However, its numerous minor flaws make me put it behind DKC2 as my favorite in the series, but hey, Donkey Kong Country Forever could be great, as this was very much a first generation product. I have high hopes that they'll be able to straighten out the rough edges and deliver, because their first attempt was damn good.   And honestly, I gotta say, the liveliness of the environments has made me question what it truly means to have next generation graphics. Surely we have done it all wrong, it's not high definition trees we like, it's trees that sway in the wind! Note: I am assuming the sequels will be called DKC Forever and DKC and Robin. "

Wait, so King K.Rool isn't in the game? I haven't played it yet, but I was expecting it to really be him behind everything. Now I'm sad. 

Pretty good game. Although, it does get a little too hard in some areas. Some levels took me so many tries to beat the first time around. Also, all the extras, such as the hidden levels and puzzle pieces and stuff are nice. I like the bosses too. They are creative.

Have played the game co-op with a friend, here's a few things we noticed:
 
- First of all the game gets really hard when played in co-op, one might be a little quicker then the other making him die really often. The 5-second system really sucks, since anything can still happen to the person that's off-screen.
- There's no separate life tracking like in NSMB, so you will loose 2 lives whenever you fail, as that happens quite often, I've seen a lot of game over screens ;)
- This one might be due to our dirty minds, but most of the level names sound a lot like porn movies, just saying...
 
So although we died a lot, we did enjoy the game, it's really good.

When you say "beat it", are you including the golden kingdom or whatever the hell? 
Also I can't believe someone actually misses Donkey Kong family members. If Donkey Kong's family and Sonic's friends got into a shittiness banjo duel, it would be neck and neck.

A damn good game, enjoyed myself quite a bit.  I found it a little easy, but what can you do.

I was actually pretty disappointed by the game overall. The motion control was a huge pain in the ass; the roll move is absolutely essential for speedruns, and having it tied to an imprecise waggle is completely baffling. I gave up on speedruns in frustruation because of this. I love 2d platformers and will play any big ones that come out because good ones are sorta rare nowadays, but this game was mediocre.

Are you fucking serious? 
 
Spoilers for Donkey Kong?

" Are you fucking serious?  Spoilers for Donkey Kong? "

I thought there were a few levels that could have used an extra checkpoint or two.