The game’s soundtrack can be described in two words: relentlessly upbeat. No matter what’s going on the music happily marches along, providing a constant reminder that this is supposed to fun and whimsical. It’s a little much after awhile — I played with the volume low most of the time — but I suspect kids will enjoy it.

Where the layout runs into trouble is with consumables and magic. Holding down the left bumper brings up your collection of usable runes (read: potions) while the right accesses your available spells. You can select them from there or map them so that a tap of the bumper unleashes the mapped skill. Sounds simple, right?

As complex and difficult as the courses become, the controls consist of accelerating, braking and shifting your rider’s weight on the bike — and outside of an occasionally used “bailout” maneuver, that’s it. This level of simplicity allows for dedicated focus on the obstacles standing between you and the completion of the course, which is something you’ll need as you advance.

Layouts don’t get much simpler with one button to jump (X) and another to emit a tone (O) — tap it for a soft sound and hold it down for a much louder one. You can maneuver the camera with the right analog stick or by rotating the SixAxis controller itself. Outside of some isolated moments where it’s a little tough to judge distance, when ascending you shouldn’t have any trouble here.

There’s a lot to keep track of on offense with three face buttons assigned to different types of passes and the final one reserved for shooting; all four of which generate a meter that determines the amount of force you’ll use. The triggers and bumpers serve as modifiers, allowing you to sprint, stop (for some fancy footwork), flick the ball up to start juggling and add a little pizzazz to your passes/shots.