While the platforming is undeniably fun, the game takes too long to hit its stride, with the first several areas being very repetitive and uninteresting. The pacing is all over the place, with each area having an inconsistent number of levels and the boss fights all being not great.

The busker sequences at the end of each level are way too involved for what is clearly attempting to evolve the Kirby endlevel minigames, but the reason those work is because they are simple and quick. The busker sequences involve landing at the top of a layer-cake-esq contraption, with each level indicating a different amount of stars you can obtain from a quick-time event minigame, which is dreadful each time. It's just too much for what should be a quick end to a fun level.

This game's fatal flaw is the pacing, which is a shame because everything else is very well realized. While the story is nothing to write home about, being completely serviceable (and a bit cute near the end), it never really evolves beyond the solid core gameplay, which ultimately leaves it as an ambitious and fun platformer that never quite sticks the landing.