I played through this game again after it came out on the SNES Online for Switch, so I figured that since I reviewed the last two shortly after they came out I'd finish up one of the best Trilogy of games the system had to offer. Playing through this game again, I'm kind of conflicted on whether or not I prefer this or the second game. I think the consensus is that two is the best, but I think three has a case. Because the core mechanics have largely remained the same, it's going to be a pretty short article. Most of what I say about two applies here, so here is that review if you're interested.
https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@dlstudios/donkey-kong-country-2-diddy-kongs-quest-snes-review
The case for three comes largely in what I feel are better boss fights and the higher difficulty, especially when you come across the game's final boss. Though I don't know if better is the way to put it, there are certainly more varied gimmicks involved in keeping the fights feeling fresh. For me, it is largely about finding the game more challenging.
That said, the back and forth you have to do to trade items to finally get your full game completion can be a bit boring, and pad out the game a bit more than is necessary. There are also a couple of levels that the frame rate drops, and I am fairly certain I remember that happening on the original, it's been so long I can't remember for sure so it may be just the switch streaming. Either way, it didn't do that on the service for DKC 2, so it's a bit of a point against the game either way.
That said, I don't think it's a stretch to like one over the other, they are two fantastic games that do a wonderful job at building on their predecessors and doing enough to keep each installment feeling unique without feeling like an entirely different game. I say play all the SNES Donkey Kong Country games if you can, this was the golden age of Side Scrollers for a reason.
