It's like if Banjo-Tooie's level structure was actually good and sane. Does the thing that game does where a level is like one big puzzle with multiple smaller ones to solve within it, but its not designed maliciously. Appreciate the way it really doesn't play like what has been standardized as the "good 3d platformer moveset", but still feels really good to nail. Has fall damage because its not cowardly. In general it feels like what Rare was going for with its harder platformer moments like Rusty Bucket Bay or all of Conker's Bad Fur Day but just not nearly as mean, but mean enough to be satisfying to beat. I think a lot of 3D platformer people have turned on Rare's n64 platformers for several reasons, but games like this show that there's still plenty of right lessons to take from those games besides "have a joke about balls" or "have more collectibles than God"

The truth is the 2D Mario series still has not successfully shaken off the New Super Mario Bros stink. In those games, the structure and formula to The Perfect Mario Stage was found and hammered into every single level over and over again, for several games straight, and I can still feel that formula looming over all of this game: Introduce the level gimmick, iterate on the gimmick and make it slightly harder, then combine it with another gimmick for an Unexpected Third Act Twist. An appealing fresh coat of paint and cute animations ultimately can't hide that. It's not like it's a bad way to make a game, but it's nothing compared to how far games like SMB3 and SMW would go to shake up the formula.

The Wonder Flower gimmicks go a long way for mitigating this feeling, as they often do just interrupt the level completely for something genuinely spontaneous. This goes a long way in making levels much more memorable than anything in the NSMB series, that and the new enemies introduced. Every new enemy, from what I remember, compliments the platforming and introduces a new challenge in navigating the levels, and that's really cool. These games definitely need more of that, more weird guys that do cool shit.

Obviously the animations on Mario and Co. look great, as well as their models in general. Mario in particular is the best he's looked in a long while. But I have to say, something is lost in this game's decision to remove unique attributes from each character. As big as this cast is, all the characters feel much flatter than they did in SMB2 or 3D World because of this choice. Badges are a neat system but they're not a substitute for this, as it removes that little bit of charm from each character. While many of the badge powers are neat, I feel like they could have gone farther in allowing you to just totally change how the game is played, rather than being either "here's a neat bonus" or "this is a joke one don't pick it".

I say all this negative stuff but I still would say I like the game! It's still a fun 2D platformer, I like those when they're done well, which isn't often these days. Also, thought it was neat how this game clearly took a couple lessons from games like the DKC series and Rayman Origins/Legends, I like it when Nintendo isn't just completely insular.