I've come to a conclusion: I think DKC: TF is superior to DKCR. Just my personal opinion of course.

Easily, if just for the controls, music and graphics. And story. Wait a sec... it starts to seem kind of obvious.

In every possible way.

100% it with all the puzzle pieces. It took me something between 23-29 hrs, but I did it. And I'm happy and it's a accomplishment to the game, because I rarely 100% games.

I really, really like the soundtrack in this game and I am amazed that they actually didn't think about hiring Wise for the Returns... to me, the music there was too... calm? Not powerful enough? Unmemorable maybe (except 1 or 2 tracks that made appearance here)? Here the music sounds awesome and makes me want to come back to this game just to hear more of the awesome sounds.
Level design is brilliant... except for few stages, like 4-K, when the platforms are rotating and I was not exactly sure when can I jump on the platform, resulting in deaths (and me nearly vomiting). The difficulty was perfect most of the time - I rarely felt cheated by the game or had been thrown a cheapshot (unlike Returns). Most of the things were clear through the whole game. The game is awesome and contender for GOTY 2014.

But there are some things I hated. First, World 7... my God it's disappointing. I expected something among the lines of SM3DW. I wanted this game to last forever, but after these 3 stages I've had enough of this game. 7-1 was ok, 7-2 was cheap, but 7-3 drove me to the limits... of patiance. Falling through platforms, cheapshots, there was everything that could be wrong. And it brings another thing that I hated - it wasn't that much of a problem in the "main game", but stopping in the air when hit is a problem, especially here - I can promise you that you will die many, many times near the end of 7-3, because when you will understand how the platforms work, it's a brezze... until you will get to the cheapshots near the end. Also, controls sometimes felt unresponsive - when I wanted barrel roll, Kong was only slamming or doing nothing, same with catching vines.

I still don't understand the talk about the final boss being the hardest... I crushed him in the 3rd attempt and was disappointed at how easy he was. Coke bear and fishy were much harder.

Although Hard mode must be like a punishment - I mean, I don't know how can you get Kong letter in 6-1 (or was it 6-2), when it is under falling platform with flame guy just waiting for you without help of the gang. Same with 5-4

Yesterday I got the remaining KONG letters and cleared the remaining temple levels so I could take care of Secret Seclusion. Overall, it was difficult, but not as hard as the temple levels. Levitation Station was my hardest level, and my easiest was Crazy Clouds. Hard Mode is a great challenge and very rewarding.

I've been having much more fun doing time attacks then in Returns since you can restart the level immediately after dying and you don't lose lives. I've gotten several golds and even a few shiny golds for levels like Scorch 'N' Torch. I've even challenged myself to get as many gold and shiny gold medals as possible. The biggest thing about the time attacks that gets me is that you have to read everything about the level. You need to keep in track of every enemy, platform, vine, or spring you come across. As a result, I've been observing the details of level design close than I ever have before. It really makes me appreciate how much effort Retro Studios put into the level design and the game in general.

Indeed. Time attacks are great, except for that it makes the levels seem much shorter.

I got the game recently and it is amazing! I want to know what is the hardest level in your opinion?

@DestinyMan I finally got gold medal in all the levels on Thursday. After doing this, it almost feels as if they designed levels with speed running in mind. The enemy placement is insane and the level designs feel so flawless, if done right things just go so smoothly. I managed to get 7th place on 7-2 in the bonus world. That's my highest rank. I usually stop after I finally get my medal though. I usually rank between 15-30 in levels and I always get gold before I watch someone else do it. I've spent extra times on certain levels just because they are so fun to speed run no matter how many times you've done it. There are certain levels though that are quite the opposite and had me raging to a certain extent.

Retro has done something amazing with this game and I'm pretty sure I've put more time into it than any other Wii U game. Just talking about it makes me want to go beat some of my times.. it's a little discouraging though knowing how hard it would be to rank as 1st or even top 5 in any of the levels. The guys in first manage to do it so ridiculously flawless, it's hard to imagine beating one despite how many times you practice.

Do you think this game has any odds of getting some DLC? I know I'd be buying that day one.

@Dave24 It seems the experience differs greatly for everyone. For instance, with your biggest complaint, I didn't really find 7-2 to be all that cheap. In fact, it was honestly one of the more forgiving levels of the three, as your kart, rocket barrel, and yourself all have separate health bars. 7-3, I can understand the frustration towards, but with the exception of that one puzzle piece, I really didn't find it that unfair. I did think it was kinda mean that any hit on the final section is death, with very few exceptions (I've seen someone survive a hit on the rocket section. Point?)

I also didn't have any trouble with the Fugu fish fight, or really any of the controls for underwater sections. It all flowed naturally for me. However, I /did/ have a lot of trouble with the final boss and an INSANE amount of trouble with the bosses of worlds 3 and 5. It's also around this point that you start to realize how tedious 9-hit boss battles can get. ESPECIALLY if you're trying to play them in Hard Mode.

I similarly had far more trouble with the jump timing in 2-K and just outright surviving in 6-K than I did trying to figure out when platforms were active in 4-K. Now, I'm not one to back down from a challenge, so Hard Mode makes up for the lack of bonus, for me. But I can totally see why it doesn't do it, for you. Not everyone is that willing to wreck themselves for completion, so the fact that the bonus is so unrewarding could be seen as a bad thing. However, I feel like this game was intended more for players like me, anyways. Fans of the old series who can't say no to a difficult platformer.

@DestinyMan The time trials are pretty fun, but Hard Mode is where it's at, for me.

@Spuratis I believe we may see some DLC in the future, and I won't hesitate to pick it up.

@Spuratis: I don't know if there'll be DLC, but I know I would snatch it up if there would be.

Finished the final boss yesterday, I thought it wasn't that hard at all, only took 5 tries I think (with dixie kong yellow hearts, extra heart + potion). The boss in the third world (the monkeys) is the toughest one for me, followed by that weird fish in world 4.

The underwater boss was the easiest boss for me. Did it in one time. But the final boss took endless hours...

I can't get enough of the soundtrack; it's just too good. Nintendo needs to keep David Wise for future games.
Aqueduct Assault

High Tide Ride

Harvest Hazards

I know! I've always loved DKC music. My top 3 tracks would probably be...
Sawmill Thrill (Pretty much only for the waster section. I love that part!)

Seashore War

And Hightide Ride.
Homecoming Hijinx and Windmill Hills would be 4 and 5.

@mystman41: My favorites are Funky Waters (Amiss Abyss), Scorch 'N' Torch, Grassland Groove, and Windmill Hills. My favorite boss theme is Big Top Bop's.

I'm at 5-3, with all KONG letters, puzzle pieces, and K-levels completed up to this point. I thought that 5-1 Harvest Hazards was the most difficult to find the items and complete the level. Probably my least favorite world to play was Sea Breeze Cove but it had beautiful characters and levels. So far I found the levels to be very unique and fun to play. One that stands out to me is Frantic Fields near the end of the level. My favorite music is found on Autumn Heights.

I've been reading the other post and I can't help but smile. It seems that while one person thought Fugu was the toughest boss, others found him easy and Ba-Boom to be hard. Some found the K-levels tough while others found the Secrete Seclusion levels to be more of a challenge. Basically what I'm getting at is the fact that everyone seems to be having completely different experiences with this game....more then the typical video game. I think that points out how well designed this game is as there is something for everyone.

Who's your favorite boss? Mine is Skowl. He's surprisingly tough for the boss of World 2.

I'm loving this game but MAN I wish they hadn't added an air timer to the underwater levels. That really contradicts the relaxed feel they had in the original Donkey Kong Country games.

I didn't seem to have much trouble with this. I think the only time the water meter really became a problem was World 4-B, and that's a secret off of a secret. Having it be really tough to survive just makes sense. It was a level with a different feel than the rest, and I personally applaud it for trying.

Besides, people are under this false impression that this game is supposed to try to be DKC brought to a new console. It's really not. It's Retro's own project, and the only things they seem to want to connect them to the original series are the basic idea and the music. If this weren't the case, they would just use the Kremlings, instead of their own creations each time.

I finished it a couple of weeks ago, beat a couple of levels on hard and never played it again, tough i loved it.

I guess ill start a new file in a couple of months or during summer drought.

This is what the game over music sounds like. It's like DKC2's, only a lot more upbeat.