I finished the game today. Took right at 20 hours, though at least a couple of hours of that was “pause and go do something” time.
I’m kind of glad it wasn’t any longer, since I was becoming moderately obsessed. Of course, I haven’t tackled the Pit of 100 Trials yet…
Uh-huh, nice try, you’re not that good – the game doesn’t count time on the pause menu (unlike the previous games in the series) 
I’ve delved to level 40 of that.
There are ninjas!
Really? I hadn’t noticed. In that case, it took me just over 20 hours. 
(I know it still ticks away for Twilight Princess, which is one reason why I’m at about 55 hours and the Twilight Princess Progress Calculator says I’ve completed 50.208666666667% of the game. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. )
I played 40 levels of that, go bored, and left up the pipe. Now when I go back, it starts at level 0. Does this mean I have to play through all 100 levels straight, or is there another way to get back where you left off?
My understanding is that you have to play it straight through. That’s why I haven’t tackled it yet.
There are a lot of stretches toward the end of the game that I thought went on far too long without a save block. Still, minor criticism of a great game.
I broke down and bought it this weekend. I love it so far; the action is fun, and the 3D effect is full of so many weird twists and turns that it’s not a gimmick at all but something that truly adds another dimension to the gameplay. I disagree that there’s too much dialogue; if you think of the game as an RPG rather than a platformer, it’s a normal amount of dialogue.
I love how heady and druggy the game’s sensibility is; there’s a real Sid and Marty Kroft sensibility to Nintendo’s latest offerings (like WarioWare) that’s like a gigantic wink-wink nudge-nudge to all of the adults playing the games. I was cracking up at that part where you free the guy that somehow got trapped in 3D mode and he goes, “That third dimension was FREAKING ME OUT, man!”
Unfortunately, I haven’t played it much since the weekend because I inexplicably got back into “Twilight Princess” and am playing that nonstop (I had gotten stuck on that irritating wagon escort mission and put the game down for about a month).