The levels in Super Mario Galaxy 2 are weird. They're fairly open, but linear; they're three dimensional, but hemmed in. In some ways, actually, Kirby's Epic Yarn has better hidden secrets and branching paths.
The reason for this unexpected difference (3D games should, after all, trump 2D games when it comes to hiding things) is that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is made up of functional areas.
These are areas that have a specific purpose, like hosting a puzzle or minigame or introducing a new power up. Because much of the game's galaxies are full of such areas, it's fairly easy to see where things are out of place. And, where things are out of place, something is, more than likely, hidden.
In Kirby's Epic Yarn, however, the parts of each level are much more neatly knitted together. No doubt this is the case because the levels here aren't sectioned into particular functions. Each level is just a series of screens to navigate through. The game also benefits by not trying to hybridize a fairly rigid expression of platforming with linear three dimensional environments.
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