Was Kingdom Hearts' Gummi Ship That Bad, Or Were We All 12?

In Kotaku's year-long Kingdom Hearts replay, the Gummi Ship sections of the first game come off as weightless and dull in combat, even though the ship-building mechanics run deeper than remembered. The Warp-G gummi block, earned after the initial worlds, cuts Gummi Ship levels by more than half so they only appear when traveling somewhere new. The author also notes that a dodge roll only unlocks after the Guard Armor boss fight in Traverse Town, and chalks some of this up to the game being nearly 25 years old.