This is actually harder than I thought.
I really like DK Japan, and prefer it in some ways, in that you only have to play each stage once per level (which makes more sense), and barrels is not my favorite stage. On the other hand, it's kinda too easy.
And DK Japan is the far superior game for no-hammer runs, as far as I'm concerned. Way more well-suited to that task than the US version, where you have eleventy billion barrel boards that are basically just in the way and add unlucky ways to die. Japan trims the fat and gets right to the point, which is of course conveyors and rivets.
So I don't know!
I might pick Big Kong though just to be an asshole.