Where to start?  

First of all, it's the most recent in a line of "Modern Retro" titles alongside Megaman 9/10, New super Mario Bros DS/Wii and now Donkey Kong Country Returns.  (as far as I'm concerned, DK64 doesn't exist).  It pays awesome tribute to the original trilogy in every way.  Graphics/Art Direction are a perfectly updated to modern consoles while retaining the feel of the originals.  the audio is in every way a perfect recreation of the originals with enough of its own spin to be original and not repetitive.  The Gameplay is practically identical with a few tweaks (blowing and the 2-player mode), which is precisely what a sequel should be.  It retained the minecarts, the barrels, the bananas, the bonus levels, letters, and characters  of the originals (for the most part.)  

it's a perfect homage.  

and if that wasn't enough, the game is almost perfect.  It's got a LOT of content, a lot of options, a lot of levels, a lot of variety and a proper challenge.  You can't say that about most games in modern times, not even New Super Mario Brothers Wii.  and to top it all off, the levels are amazingly well made, creative, and original.  

There are only two things even remotely 'wrong' with this game:  1 - I hate shake controls with a flaming passion, this game would be played better with a Gamecube controller; 2 - I don't like the omission of most of the DK clan, animal buddies, and kremlings.  the game doesn't suffer for it gameplay wise, but it is a sad omission.  

easily one of my favorite games this generation.  In fact, I can't think of any I've enjoyed more on their own merits.  I LOVE the Ratchet and Clank games, as well as the Rock Band games, Smash Brothers too.  Funny how Ratchet, DK, and Smash Brothers (kinda) are all platformers...

@joecool7  your assuming that i bought SOnic4 for 15 bucks the price dropped to ten and we dont know how much episodes there will be, for all we know the next one will be the last true game and that could be 20 bucks and still be cheaper than DKCR. As for WiiWare, IMHO they have a poor library. I was speaking more in terms of the PSN/Live which has a much better lineup overall. THe y have there fair share of good 2d platformers. i rather play Braid than DKCR just because its not your typical platform. 

Black Ops doesnt offer the same experience as MOH PS1 first of all one has online component and the other doesnt, if you dont think that makes a difference well thats you and I respect that. But that makes all the difference in the world to me. dont play Starcraft so I dont know what the hell you are talking about. puzzle games dont usually go for 50 dollars retail. I like Blurays.

@milkyjoe  your making alot of sense but thats my point the advancing technology has allowed devs to do more. IMHO there not doing more DKCR or Kirby Epic Yarn or NSMBWii, Sonic4 or a slew of other 2d plats that have come out this gen. There is nothing wrong with that but instead of me paying 50 bucks for a game in a genre that i played to death years ago, it would be cheaper for me to go on WiiWare get all three DKC games, get one of the good 2d plats on the PSN or just use an emulator

Again im not attacking the quality of DKCR i played it at comiccon prior to release and i liked it, but it wasnt anything that grabbed and made me say "i need this day one". Ill wait for it to go down a bit, i still need to get that Wario Shake it and one of the Paper Marios

Okay, those are good reasons to wait. We just had a problem with the shakier comments you made.

DKC:R is special because it was made by Nintendo!!! NUFF SAID.

It is really sad that 2-D games are being devalued just because they are 2-D.  The problem starts right at the top, too.  It is an attitude that comes straight down from developers and publishers.  Even with the success of some recent retail 2-D games on the Wii, I'm not too hopeful that it is going to change anytime soon.

^^^ how is it being devalued??? The Wii gets a bunch of 2d platformers. So do PSN/LIVe just because there on the "dirty" DL service there not good??? BS, there are some good games on those services. Rocket Knight, Trine, Sonic4, Braid, Limbo, Mega Man just to name a few, and more are on the way. There is more 2d platformers released this gen than there was last gen, so i dont see the problem. You want it to be like the 16bit era where there was nothing but ripoff animal mascots??? Those days wont be returning and personally im happy for that

When have I devalued anything due to it just being in 2D?  I don't consider it that.  I would say LBP2 impressess me a lot, and has a specialness to it.  Besides the fact it is over the top in user generated content, I found the full game to come with it, not feel cookie cutter at all, eventhough it was built with a level editor that people have.  I actually found the game gave me a lot of variety and stuff I never saw before in a game that was a platformer.

Wasn't Wii Music also made by Nintendo?  Do you consider that special?

@richardhutnik  im totally with you on LBP2, the one thing that separated that series from the rest was the user created content and online. Really the game is infinite if you think about. Thats honestly why i had no problem giving MM my money cause i know that it has alot of stuff under the hood. Not that that makes DKCR any worse but once you've beaten it and gotten all the KONG letters or whatever else you can grab thats sorta it.