Yeah, you only need to spend a minute or two on the hamster wheel, and then buy the secret code to the short cut. I imagine that part can be seriously painful if you don't figure out exactly what you're supposed to do. =P
I've generally been extremely happy with the game, but then again I haven't played Mario platforms for more than a few minutes in a decade (=platforming seemed almost fresh), and never touched any other part of the series (=no nagging feeling of playing the weakest part of the series).
Everything he says sounds perfectly sensible to me, and I now find the mystery of why this masterpiece has a Metacritic score of "only" 85 slightly less mind-boggling.







