I completely agree with Xenesis, DKC2 seems all over the place sometimes - don't know where to look for items, and the frustration on some levels is pointless as many levels in between are very easy. It's like Rare couldn't get the difficulty balance right so went to both extremes in an attempt to even it out. DKC3 has a spot-on difficulty balance, and item collection is logical. I really do prefer it to DKC2, which just makes me confused in a broad sense.

I never understood why this is so "hated" (less revered). Probably my favourite of the three, as I dislike the fact that DKC2 had no heavy character.