The new canti brakes are a lot nicer to install and adjust pads on. The use of the cup and ball washers instead of those terrible sliding post style pads has been a major upgrade. Having said this if you are sure you want to replace the levers anyway then it would make a lot more sense to go with V/linear brakes over the cantis.

Shop around a little and get yourself the Rolls Royce of V/linears. Avid Arch brakes in any of their model levels "pulled" by Avid Speedial levers. There's other options out there that are more "boutique" but the Avid Arch design just plain works when it comes to parallel push styles. And the Speedial levers allows you to tune the response so you can tune in whatever level of response sensitivity you want from hard pull to one finger light and easy. If you can't score or don't want to pay for the Arch caliper sets then use any brand and model of V brake but still go for whatever extra you need to get the Speedial levers. You won't regret it. They are truly that amazing.

I had a mid 90's Hardrock for a few years then stupidly sold it. The frame on the Hardrock was basic but it just plain worked well. It may not have been from the higher end of the catalog but they were a helluva bang for the buck. Enjoy it.