It was cool to see him as the villain in 1-3 because it was a running story essentially. I didn't like his mad scientist look in 3 though, it didn't fit him or look cool.
It was good that Nintendo decided to take a break from him for Retro's games because even though it was still DKC, it Returns and Freeze are just different plots altogether.
He's just an iconic villain in that 1) DKC was actually a good game and he was the final boss with a cool design and neat gimmick and 2) I forgot what my second point was, but he's cool. Kremlings as a whole were cool and the tribal conflict between Kongs and Kremlings was just another aspect of the games that felt right. Other than that, some people are just fags about reptile dick or something Idk they're gay for him.