One of my earliest memories of this was renting it, loading up a save file at the last boss and letting the music loop. It's interesting - "Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming", is arguably a sped-up techno-influenced song (try slowing it to 75% speed), in the way that Kirby Super Star's Cocoa Cave is. I feel like that kind of stylized experimentation is getting rarer amongst game music nowadays, sadly... but that aside!

I replayed a lot of this last year. There's nothing really to the battle system, and it does feel dull after a while, but overlooking that, the pacing of the game's dungeons and scenarios feels breezy despite the 10+ hour playtime.

The story is serviceable, the subversion on Bowser's character is amusing, as is Mallow's arc. Mario's gestures are humorous, making great use of the limited visual vocabulary they had. But depth isn't really the point... it's just a very chill, cozy game to hang out in with some great art direction. The small details with the hotel, bizarre minigames that lead you to new areas, those details all work great here without feeling like they slow the pacing.

You can see a lot of this design thinking in future paper mario games - Origami King comes to mind. But I feel like those games are hampered by slower pacing, and some kind of restrain on creative control (endless Toads).

The influence of future love-de-lic (and alphadream) members is noticeable here in the game's eccentricities. I think it's a great testament to how letting AAA games be a little weird can actually lead to other interesting games down the line!