does anyone prefer Retro studios DK games over Rare?

I think you can make an argument for Retro, but Rare laid the groundwork for a wonderful franchise, that technically Retro just built upon. however, i will say level design and the creativity of the enemies is pretty good by Retro, not that Rare was bad, but the gameplay of Rare and its character traits beats Retro.

I wasn't a fan of blowing on flowers in DKCR, so I'm glad they took that out, but i miss being able to just play as diddy, dixie and kiddy.

over all

I'd say Rare still holds the better DK games. what do the rest of you think?

Idk, I enjoyed DK:TF a lot but idk if its still as good as the old ones... But I also don't know if thats cause the older ones were better in quality of its just nostalgia

Please XD

I think that if Rare had the opportunity to work on these more advanced consoles their games DKC games would surpass Retro's... However, Retro has done a remarkable job to keep the feel, challenge, and excitement up to a remarkable level that I did not expect.

Retro has done a good job but the Rare ones are way better.

I have played Returns only ,but I think nothing comes near to the snes trilogy and especially Dkc2. They were the best for its time in every department: gameplay, graphics, music (David Wise by far the best composer in the 90's, that man was year ahead for his time).

I still don't believe music like this was running on a 16bits console: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qp0_NE8M1c

So Rare by long shot, but Retro has been doing a good work. They have talent, that's demostrated with Metroid Prime too

Absolutely.

The Rare games are great, but feel dated and have many frustrating elements that keep them from being exceptional.
DKCR, on the other hand, was almost flawless. 2D platforming at its best.

Donkey Kong 64 is still the best game in the series.

Not taking away from Retro because their versions are fantastic and it was hard to live up to the bar set.  With that being said, working with the hardware limitations of the SNES compared to Wii and Wii U must be considered here.

I'd have to give them that. On a technical level, Rare DKC games were ahead of their time and were brilliant. When it comes to that, there is no contest.

That said, I played the Rare trilogy several years after the original launch, so I guess never really felt that impact.