Narrative is nothing special but better than most give it credit for. First off, the cutscenes are inoffensive at worst, imo. But more importantly, most people conflate narrative in games with just cutscenes and dialogue, while ignoring the "storytelling" that can be present in gameplay. Every throwback and new spin on old ideas, every remix, every rocket propelled truck invokes more in me than all of the dialogue in Colors and Unleashed combined. It's an aspect of game narrative I wish people talked about more.

Anyways, level design is the best in the series and some of the best I've ever seen in any game period, which is the real reason the star count is five.