It's also the same reason why the only animal buddy that returned was Rambi. All the others broke the flow and pace due to how slow they were. Rambi was the only one whose purpose was to keep going and wreck stuff which complemented the flow of the game nicely. Though with the water levels being back I can see Enguarde coming back too as he is basically Rambi except underwater.
I did like Rambi the best. Enguarde was okay underwater, and Winky? Well, I just didn't understand.
Anyways, I hope that there will be more levels with new animal helpers. Maybe they'll only put Rambi again, which is fine, buuut I'd like to see new variety. D: