I enjoyed what I played of it, but yeah, the controls are horrible. It's also the kind of game that would work far better on Wii, or even better, on PC, but I don't think Fifth Cell knows how to develop on anything except DS (and not even very well there - I don't know why Drawn to Life was so popular).
What's wrong with the controls? I think if they used the D-pad it would have made it complicated to control the overall game, though the touch screen is kind of wonky, too.
My only real complaints with the game are that there are tons of death-causing-glitches and the physics aren't very good.
I think 5th Cell is a really creative bunch and should keep making games.