Toki Tori 2 was delayed for many reasons, a point Two Tribes' Collin Van Ginkel summarizes by referring the state of the game before the decision as "ugly."

The Wii U eShop title was just two days away from submission, Van Ginkel recounts, when he decided to implement a new puzzle. The process left him uneasy about sending the game to Nintendo so early. Upon a full playthrough, he and the studio came to the conclusion that Toki Tori 2 was "ugly." The team had convinced themselves that shipping in late December was possible, when in reality the title was worse off for it.

As for the improvements, Van Ginkel says that the game's open-world systems are far more approachable to both expert and novice players, the visuals have been redone in areas so the environment can better explain to the player what needs to be done, and the frame rate now runs at 60 frames per second.

Van Ginkel explains that up to the point of the delay, he had been the only person to have played the game from beginning to end. Since then, the team has allowed more testers to get their hands on Toki Tori 2, allowing the studio to fine-tune the experience.