2D Mario games to me always feel like the blandest platformers on the market. They never have anything specific to them like other 2D platformers do that set them apart. The closest thing is powerups to go through levels quickly, but you need to know the levels well enough to use them without losing them fast. Which means you liked the game enough to memorize the maps. And most of the time the enemies and the map design in this game specifically don't even seem to be designed around the player using them.

Other platformer characters have their gimmick that always stays. And the levels are designed around that most of the time. Such as Sonic and the maps being designed around him going fast for instance. 2D Mario has the basic formula all platformers do and nothing else.