Simple, short, and very effective in conveying the message it wants to. The platforming spikes starting in world 2 and the final level of 3 is almost impossible to beat with only 3 lives on your normal playthrough - but these levels symbolize the struggle the characters had with game development (one of the levels is literally Mario 1-1), so I can let it slide. I could nitpick the flashback and the "twist" if I really want to, but I think it's a fine game and was pretty fun and emotional to go through.