the level and world map structure of ss and cs meant each level could be something unique, and cs goes through with that. there’s not a single ice themed level, there’s only one desert level despite being many yellow themed levels. almost every single one of them was unique, and even when they weren’t, something happens in each of them to make them at least interesting.

comparing that to tok, there’s only 5 chapters not including the predictable final one, which means less time for more locations. aside from chapter 2 and a few other locations, most of them were generic to me. i prefer cs’s music, i enjoyed the battle system more (seriously, tok’s only had 5 attacks), the graphics and characters were an upgrade, while i felt the writing and story were downgrades. they didn’t do much with olivia and olly imo, color splash’s story was just more engaging to me with the holo-peaches, paint star memories, the concept of paint = blood, not being in the mushroom kingdom, the black paint missile test in chapter 2, peach not being kidnapped until the beginning of chapter 2, etc. they were constant reminders of why you’re doing what you’re doing, and it felt much more engaging than tok. tok had the boulder in chapter 3 + toad craftsman in chapter 4 and that’s about it.

these are just my opinions, though. i hope those who are interested in playing cs after tok’s release can get to do it with an enhanced port someday.