New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a mixed bag. While it excels in many areas, its lack of innovation and occasional emptiness hold it back from reaching its full potential. The game boasts impeccable mechanics and introduces fresh gameplay elements at every turn. Playing co-op with my mom was an absolute blast, and the seamless multiplayer experience added to the fun. However, some levels feel strangely empty, perhaps due to accommodating up to four players on screen simultaneously. Sacrificing level depth for the sake of multiplayer compatibility feels like a missed opportunity, especially when considering the option to play solo. Additionally, the New Super Mario formula, while tried-and-true, feels a bit stale.
Overall, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a good game, but it falls short of greatness due to its lack of innovation and occasional shortcomings.

It's a streamlined mario with a few mechanics that are interesting, but it's one main goal, attempting to join mario together with 4 player simultaneous co-operation, falls flat. On the one hand, it's confusing and chaotic to play with others. Still fun, but you could have more fun playing any other number of co-op games that feel right for the type of gameplay. And then if you go at it solo, it feels a bit bare-bones for a mario game. Too simplified to enjoy greatly since it doesn't have any of the really white-knuckled sections some other mario games can deliver while still being fairly accessible to all parties. It fed a strange mario maker 2 void before that was released, but felt worse as an overall 2D mario title than any other.