About the only difference I noted was that her spin was modified from an unending descent slower to a brief upward boost, both  of which fitted well with their respective game's level designs.

I haven't yet played Tropical Freeze, but this is how I'd rank the rest (at the risk of making everyone think I'm a lunatic).

Donkey Kong Country 3
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country

So I think Retro's work is right there near the top. I'm really looking forward to Tropical Freeze.

Rare had a very talented at their SNES/N64 era. Not only DK but their games from that period were awesome. Some even revolutionary.

I enjoy Retro productions a lot, excellent DK reboots, but overall, Rare did slightly better games. 

Going back and playing the SNES ones after DKCR/TF, I do miss 6the more zoomed out  camera though.

this man/woman speaks the truth, in my opinion at least.

EDIT: i prefer Rare's games because of the tag team system, i hate that in retro's games you can't control what you want when you want.

i also want a sequel to DK64.

It's really just the same thing, multiple skillsets, just simultaneously instead of having to switch.

Retro Studio's games are simply better in every way. Control, graphics, level design, pacing,... they're better games but they should be. The only thing that Rare games did better was the music, which was phenomenal. Also remember that the newer games are significantly longer than the previous games. The reason people are even discussing this is simply nostalgia. Everyone knows the newer are the best, objectively, but there will always be a special place for the original trilogy.

That said, this is the way it should be. It's more advanced hardware and software, and the groundwork has been set. The original Donkey Kong Country series are classics for a reason, and the fact that Returns and Tropical Freeze are so good does them a great service. To claim which is the "best" is largely taste based at this point anyway. I still think Donkey Kong Country 2 is the better game for me based somewhat on nostalgia and theme. I especially liked the pirate theme, but even then if my mood shifts this opinion can change.

Something worth considering though is Returns does suffer a little for me by being on the 3DS/Wii, which means I either have stupid waggle controls on the Wii, which simply ruins a game in my opinion and makes them unplayable, (I actually refused to get the Wii version, as well as New Super Mario Bros. Wii for this reason); or the far better option the 3DS, which still unfortunately leaves me with the problem that my big hands cramp up on the small controls, especially using the shoulder buttons to grip vines as such. It makes extended play harder.

Currently the best in the series is almost certainly Tropical Freeze and that's a delightful fact, it's additional gameplay elements, and the idea of borrowing the Duck Tales style pogo mechanic for Cranky Kong (inspired idea), make for just enough added variety to make it really shine. Really though, why choose? The series is fantastic. Rare did a wonderful job realising it on the SNES and the people who did that have likely long moved on from Rare now anyway, so having Retro Studios take on the franchise and do it such good justice is one of gamings best success stories

...if only Sonic had this much luck.

This may be unfair, as it is mostly my childhood talking, but the snes dks blew me away; Retro's recent attempts don't come close to that for me. While they are still good something about returns and tf have left me feeling underwhelmed about the experience as a whole. Frankly, a lot of nintendo's latest offering have left me feeling that way.

umm, what additional gameplay elements TF have?

You know, first level of DKC had few hidden levels(screens) being shorter in lenght than first level in TF(but there you can find maybe 2 at most). You could change your monkey instead of using only Big one, you could ride a rhino, you could use that rino to find new hidden levels, those levels where not only about "get all bananas". You could even drop a barrel at some point to reveal another hidden thing. In the next level you run in the Jungle at night in a storm, which ended at the end of the level.

In TF, first 3 levels that I played, same scenery, same platforming, same hidden level, and nothing new.

That's an unfortunate thing about getting older; that childhood wonderment is hard to re-create in an adult. It takes so much more to wow an adult, jaded by the real world of jobs, stress, grief, loss, and mortality... we're simply not sated by a cartoon monkey in a tie jumping on animals and being fired out of barrels any more, and where it not for nostalgia the originals probably wouldn't do much for us either. The secret is to let youself be childish, allow yourself to fall back to the thinking you had when you where 13. Old enough to have some critical thought, but young enough that saying a cartoon monkey is cool doesn't feel embarrasingly trite...

...if you can do that, the magic of Nintendo begins to work once again. I'm quickly approaching 30 and I'm happy to say I sat with an oversized cup of hot chocolate, after a hot shower, in a dressing gown; and played Super Mario 3D World without distractions. No kids to look after, no job to go to, no responsibilties to care about, and no worry that I needed to be somewhere in a few hours... it's one of the best games ever made, and playing it properly will make you feel like a kid again. The same is true of Tropical Freeze, Sonic: Lost World, Duck Tales Remastered and so many more. Let yourself be a kid inside and I swear that childhood feeling will come back.