Game's okay.... gameplay is plenty fun..... but variety and engagement factor is pretty low after you grind a bit of chapters, first time variants come up is something really cool... but again it gets stomped below all the rest and how repetitive it gets.
To add a sting, difficultly for some very specific things get insanely ramped up (nothing impossible no worries, but enough to make it frustrating). And sadly... there are some specific parts of the game (very few) that are badly designed, to the point that it is clear what you should do but the timing is badly coded so it doesn't really work as intended

In any case, it is still fun for a while and an okay buy

Picks up where DKC3 had left off with the more interactive overworld, to the point where half the game is spent in the overworld. I don't mean it in a negative light, exploration and puzzle solving is satisfying. The 2D sections play like Retro Studio DKC.

Great soundtrack by Wise, Kirkhope and two new names (at least to me), Griffin and Murdoch.

Goes for dirt cheap pretty often, the game is worth it at full price or on sale.