I ignored this remake when it first came about because I thought it fell into the category of lazy remakes by Nintendo but gosh how wrong was I. Not only the game was originally great but got remade with passion and attention to detail.
But something I barely see being commented on the reviews THE SOUNDTRACK. It's jazzy as hell, has live instruments playing and the different elements from both Mario and DK adventures clashing and complimenting each other in a beautiful manner. The opening levels have a wonderful New Donk City to it I lost myself in the music.
By the way, if you got a surround system, you will hear the level sound effects on the back boxes and the crystal clear soundtrack on the front (just make sure your sound system is doing a PURE straight pass of the audio and not fiddling or "enhancing" the sound – it always messes up with the original intent)
Have a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQuIdCUNnS8
by FernandoMachado