From the outset, it doesn't feel like a so bad it's good game at all (I will get back to this). The graphics are way too nice, the game honestly looks lovely. Kevin's character design is slightly funny, but his walkcycle is genuinely good. The music is good, but I wish there were more sound effects. The narrator is no Amelia Tyler, but it's still a very interesting element to have.
The gameplay is... fine. I do wish the double jump was a little less finicky and the movement a little less floaty, but it's not horrible. Collisions seem fine, attacks land as expected, no jank or weirdness here. It feels very standard. It's not exceptionally good, not horrifically bad, not stunningly unique.
So far all this is what I'd expect from an earnest attempt at a normal jam game, with none of the weirdness that I'd expect from an SBIG entry. There is a bit of humour, but not enough to give it a strong SBIG feel.
The shop is literally a waste of time, and the joke is just not funny enough to make up for it. Fortunately, that section of the game is not that long.
The difficulty ramp is insane. The first level is fairly easy, but then it really starts leaning into using platforms you can just barely reach, and introduces kill spikes and moving platforms. I found the tower particularly problematic, and really struggled to get the jump pads/accelerators to activate. Not sure if it's a bug, if I'm missing something, or the timing is that tight. I'm not a fan of the backtracking, either.
I think platformer fans will enjoy it, but the problem is that not every player in a jam is a platformer fan (I don't get on with them well) and this game is on the very edge of being too difficult for casual players. The worst part is that the difficulty ramp happens before the twist, meaning some players will never see it.
Yes, there is a twist, but it comes way too late in the game, and it's not unique or dramatic enough to pull the rest of it into SBIG territory. Honestly, it's one of the most expected twists you could have in a story like this. It also brings in one of my least favourite mechanics- enemies that drop on top of you and can't be avoided. Other than that, though, we don't get any gameplay changes, nor does the visual style significantly change.
I also don't really get the ending. Spoilers, so I won't post it, but it just kind of... reverses the twist?
There was no way I was going to replay the whole game to see if there was an alternate ending, but I did try turning the narrator volume all the way down and replaying the final level, which made no difference.
All in all, I think this would be a good entry to most jams, but it just doesn't hit the right notes for SBIG Jam, or at least doesn't hit them hard enough or fast enough.