Jungle Beat is my favorite DK game, but I get where you are coming from. Even putting aside the lack of Rare characters, it's hard to like Jungle Beat as a Nintendo platform. It's the most SEGA-ish game Nintendo ever developed, closer to arcade platformers such as Sonic, NiGHTS, and Jet Set Radio than Super Mario Bros, Yoshi's Island, or Wario Land. Star Fox 64 might be the closest Nintendo game, but Star Fox is not a platform.
In Jungle Beat, you are not supposed to explore the levels looking for secrets or enjoying some platformer setpieces -- rather, you have to chain your moves creating long, long combos, maximizing the banana you'll get as soon as you hit the ground (but if an enemy touches you, you lose everything). You are also supposed to play the same levels over and over until you master them (you haven't finished Jungle Beat if you haven't got all the platinum medals).
This video focuses on the Monkey Fest level. It is the quintessential JB level and highlights the essence of the game.
There are also some gameplay elements in common with later 3D Mario games. There's a "rhythmic" feel in the level design and how DK moves, which you can also feel in 3D Land/World and some parts of Galaxy 1-2 and Odyssey. Mario in Galaxy also makes a very little jump sometimes when he's near a surface, as DK. The "use melon to defeat boss" mechanic also returns in Galaxy (but to be fair, it's the Phantom Ganon fight from OoT). And one of the later levels is literally in space, although there's no gravity gimmick.
So we have a DK game that plays like a SEGA game, with no reference to past DK games but with lots in common with future Mario games. I absolutely love JB, but I can see why it's not for everyone.
Still, approaching the game from these angles (arcade SEGA game + "pilot episode" of EPD Tokyo Mario series) might help you like the game more. I used to hate classic 2D Sonic games because I thought I had to "go fast". One day, I read one long post on Gaf or Era, explaining these games are not about "going fast", but rather building momentum by exploiting the level design. It was eye-opening, and I finally had a blast with Sonic.
Still, if Jungle Beat is not for you... nothing wrong with that!