Donkey Kong Jungle Beat depicted Dk as big, buff, hairy ape. His model was fantastic! The new animal buddies were just that, new animal buddies. They were fun, useful and in the case of Orco they were spectacular. Just because Squaks, Rambi and Diddy weren't around doesn't make the game any less awesome. I'm glad it didn't rely on nostalgia either. It seems like today all anyone ever wants from Mario is to battle completely new and unique enemies, I'm glad there has been so much variety in the Dk characters. I do love the Kremlings most of all though.
I completely agree. Up until Jungle Beat, I didn't even think DK was much of a fighter--for a gorilla he was unusually not aggressive; and that's even considering the DKCs, 64 and the 1st 2 SSBs.
I also really liked JB; at first I just ignored it because Rare didn't make it and I confused it with other DK Bongo games, but when I finally did get around to playing it, it turned out to be great. DK himself was much more action-oriented--practically super powered, and compared to what I saw him do in previous games it was a great surprise. I loved 2/3 DKCs, but tbh DK wasn't the reason why. Diddy and Dixie were much more appealing to me and felt more useful; he was just some big slow ape that had a slow ground pound and hurt heavier enemies. Also I had no urge to compare JB to any DKCs because they were nothing alike to begin with. One was a standalone game and the other was a trilogy. Now, if JB was named "DKC4" I wouldn't have been happy with the direction they took. But it wasn't, so I saw no need to be mad, especially since the game was good.
The one thing I truly wish would carry over from that game is that clap of his. A gorilla so strong that his hands break the sound barrier is freakin dope--Diddy's got jetpacks and guns, Dixie's got a helicopter hairstyle so what about DK? TBH I think it'd be great as an aerial DownB; it's not replacing ANYTHING WHATSOEVER, and its literally a progression of his hand slap which relies on vibrations to begin with, so what's the legitimate problem? That and the DKC roll are what I really wanna see him use in SSB4; also, having his forward smash be a sound wave clap when fully charged sounds good too.