DKC3 is one of the greatest victims of an odd phenomenon that plagues game discussion more than anything else, and that's sequels that aren't the best thing in the series being treated as garbage. DKC3 is clearly a good game, well above average, but it falls shorter on some aspects that 1&2 excelled in without being a huge step forward from them so it's trashed. Would I rather play 1, 2, Returns, Freeze, Jungle Beat, or Bananza over 3 if given the choice right now? Absolutely. But it's still a great platformer, and I'd play it over most of the handheld Kong platformers or 64.