Not even a debate. Metroid Prime is one of my top 5 GOAT. Metroid Prime 2 and Prime 3 are excellent sequels. DKCR and DKCTF are both some of the best 2D platformers ever made. On a technical level all the games they have made so far are near to perfect.

Retro could have been Nintendo's Naughty Dog, but instead they have been wasted on mediocrity. If they finally announce a game and it is not on the level of Metroid Prime they might as well shut down. But these damn rumors that they are making Diddy Kong Racing persists. To answer the (two year old) question, yes Monolith has surpassed Retro

If you think DKTF is a mediocre game in a sense it doesn't have the same level of ambition as BOTW than 90% of Nintendo games are mediocre.

Since when was Retro ever Nintendo’s elite studio?

Nintendo’s elite studio is Nintendo EPD/EAD.

Wow, the poll is perfectly split.
Not something I expected.

I would have to put Retro ahead of Monolith Soft.
Given Retro's rich understanding of multiple genres.

To be fair, DKTF is a great game and turned out to be even better than I thought it would. But let's be honest, it's a game nobody asked for. It felt very close to DKCR and generally people aren't asking directly for the sequel of a 2D platformer.  It was an extremely safe choice to make DKTF, both from a developpmentpoint of  view and from a financial point of view.

They took 3 years to develop DKTF, and since 4 years already they did not release anything. Meanwhile Monolith Soft have realeased 3 of the greatest JRPG, pushing each time  and taking risks.

Not any more ;)

Gah, dam you.

Monolith are currently the better studio, not only from the Xenoblade games but they also help develop Zelda, Smash and various other series.

The fact people weren't expecting or asking for another 2D paltform is due to Nintendo's fault who didn't properly plan a diverse lineup and released just a plethora of 2D paltforms at the same time (all of them were btw much less ambitious both technically and from a design point of view than DKCTF).

From a development and financial standpoint it makes perfect sense to make a sequel to a critically acclaimed and commercially successfull game like DKCR.

Also what is particulary more ambitious form a company specialized un jRPGs in making jRPGs? The only real difference I see here is that while there are plenty of competent 2D platforms in the market, for jRPGs there's more demand than offering.