I know, they can still be good games (DKCR was still obviously a good game) it just feels weird to not have the iconic enemies of the franchise in one of the main games. And it's not like DKCR was originally a different game like SMB2, they made the conscious decision to exclude the Kremlings. I mean, I won't begrudge TF because of it, the Vikings at least looks a little better than the Tikis, and I'm sure it'll still be good, but it just feels kinda off, you know?
And iirc Goombas and Koopas were in SML, but Koopas worked differently (they exploded).