The thing about Balan Wonderworld that stands out from MN9 and Shenmue to me is that it's the one that seems to have everything figured out BUT the gameplay.
Like, if these three were sinking to the bottom of the ocean, MN9 and Shenmue would sink because of the weight of their entire body. Balan Wonderworld feels like it's sinking because of a ball-and-chain labeled "Gameplay."

It's really a damn shame. If they didn't underestimate children's abilities so much and could rein in the costumes a bit, perhaps they could have made a good game. You want to see what the difficulty of Babby's First Game should look like? Just look at Super Lucky's Tale.