The Wii and Wii U games always felt like parallel universe sequels to the first DKC, not incorporating any of the changes from the second and third games and making different creative decisions.
I didn’t like them (after 3 playthroughs each) but could never articulate why. [This video by PostMesmeric](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlgCAaAQVPA&t=1062s&pp=ygUbZG9ua2V5IGtvbmcgY291bnRyeSByZXR1cm5z) finally did.
These include: reducing Diddy’s role, not having interesting bonus rooms, making DK the focus, diminishing the role of animal buddies, and being mostly a left-to-right scrolling game.
DKC2 and DKC3 were the opposite of these: Donkey Kong was sidelined, the bonus rooms were interesting and varied, levels frequently had you going in different directions, and you transformed into animal buddies, and no Kong was strictly better than the other–each had their strengths and weaknesses.
by MarcusQuintus