I may have loathed the croctopus as a kid, but that stage is one of the few in the game that actually offers a decent sense of challenge and tension. I think it's an extremely good addition to the game.

And anyone who thinks the DKC water stages are slow is mad. If you know what you're doing and jam on the swim button, you can get through them really quick, and with Enguarde, who's available in practically every water stage, you can really fly. Name one platformer, predominantly land-based but with a handful of water stages, that moves faster in its water stages. I mean, even freakin' Sonic, which is supposed to be all about speed unlike DKC, absolutely crawls in the Labyrinth Zone.