See the carrying factor for me is that Dixie is the superior Aryan Kong of all time, and TP only pushes that law of the universe even further into reality. Since both games have her, I just need to look at the details surrounding the experience. I'm sorry man, but even though Retro know how to make sublime maingame content, they're lost when it comes to working out secrets and collectibles. Also you talk about the lack of weight but that's fine when you can obtain the ultimate momentum because rolling into enemies extends your roll in 2, and if you don't want that, that's ok because it's so fucking easy to determine how fast or slow you go.
Give me double teaming, Kremkoins, and Hero Coins over Puzzle Pieces, Kong stages, and fucking Banana Mirrors any day.
I fully expect the game to take a nosedive in quality come the second half, and for the final boss to continue the tradition of utterly abysmal final fights in Miyazaki games.