I loved DK64. Sure, it was basically Banjo-Kazooie with the whole cast replaced and more collectables added, but I liked that. At least it's not up to it "butt" in Shine Sprites.
Ha ha ha, sorry, I couldn't resist. But either way, I also loved DK64. I thought collecting all of that stuff was fun rather than tedious like most find it. Oh, and I also liked the DK Rap, but I hated the SSBM version, and not just because they replaced the word "hell" with "heck".
As for the games being lame now, that all depends on wether you liked Rare's DK games or Nintendo's more.