this came out the same year as Half-Life 2

I would have ended myself if I played this without save states....

I'm in love with this game's style and concept. Open world collectathon pinball Mario game? Sounds like game of the year material to me. Sadly this is one of the only examples of Nintendo putting out a straight up frustrating, unpolished experience who's mechanics needed some serious fine tuning. The flippers are just too small to have the level of control the game asks of you.
A form of pure torture, but in a somewhat based way.

I had beaten this one before as a kid, coming back to it I beat it again on my first try but bowser is pretty harsh. I don't think it's a bad game though. I like it even... muahahahahaha