The Mario Odyssey of 2D platformers, encompassing its strengths and weaknesses. The marketing was real coy, pretending that "filler seeds" didn’t exist, Bowser Jr. wasn’t virtually the only boss, and every world even had a boss. But it was honest about the short length, the limited power-up roster and Yoshi’s god mode.
I was playing Mushroom Kingdom Fusion in preparation, and guess what? That game is better. It too evokes discovery with its volume of content, while also being more difficult.