IMO--darker granites really suck up light -- does your kitchen have LOT of natural light? Will you have island or just those counter top runs?
Lighter granites are usually more prone to being less dense--more porous and often have to be treated to make them less likely to have pits and other issues like less able to throw off a stain...
I would go with lighter granite with darker veining--
you need to decide how much movement you want in the stone.
Do you want something that is dramatic with broad sweeps of veining or something that is more solid/speckly...

I used to prefer the more solid/speckly types but have come to appreciate the dramatic contrast of movement...
You just have to get the right slabs and make sure you get the cutters to agree on how they will cut the slabs to work in YOUR kitchen...
Having a great slab and having them ruin it because they weren't thinking about how they would actually turn the raw material into countertops is a frustration so many people have had ...get them to lay out the paper mockups they will make of tops ON the granite--whatever color/type you choose--
so you can see how they will look after cut AND take photos of those placements in case there are issues afterwards...

We bought some beautiful granite in Venetian Gold for house we were remodeling intending to sell--had some lovely movement in some sections of the granite and while they did great job manufacturing the slabs and getting long runs w/o seams they also cut away some of the most dramatic sections of color/design...
Maybe only way to get the long runs but I would have liked to know that ahead of time...would have risked a seam to keep the "look"...