The original DKC was fantastic when it launched; nothing groundbreaking aside from the wonderful visuals (and stellar soundtrack) but good, solid platforming gameplay and the debut of Diddy Kong, with its only big weakness being that it was a bit short. Unfortunately, its sequels failed to live up to what the original had accomplished (my opinion), feeling way too derivative of what the first had already done, and not nearly as fun or memorable despite any minor advancements made. Having said that, they're still ok games that play well.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for DKCR for Wii, which, stupidly, featured the addition of mandatory motion for the roll move... in a 2D platformer that relies on precision. Factor in that the game was nothing to write home about in the first place (not to mention that ridiculous "blow" move) and it left me disappointed with Retro's freshman take on the series. However, the glorious Tropical Freeze came along and eliminated the deplorable motion move while simultaneously delivering a game that was so imaginative and polished that it finally met (even exceeded) the magic of the first game. The only thing that still bugs me is Donkey Kong's slippery control, which I realize is an intentional design choice, but not one I'm fond of.
Regarding 2D Mario, the "New" games were nothing special and I didn't like SML on Gameboy, but there are very few games ever designed that have the level of creativity and excellence that SMB, SMB3 and SMW achieve. Tight controls, great level design and secrets abound, 2D Mario is just plain fun and without equal as a series among platformers.
To sum it up, even the best of the DKC franchise can't compete with SMB3 or SMW for me.
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