Never been a fan of the 2D Mario games, found the old ones too hard as a kid, and the endless "New" ones uninteresting. This is the first complete innovation in 17 years, and it really pays off. While it's on the easier end, it's just a pure fun platformer with a lot of cool ideas. Soundtrack wasn't as strong as most Mario games but it really picks up near the end (there are a good half-dozen that I really like).

Update: I have now played every single level, and out of all of them, only one level (the Special World Goomba one) annoyed me to any extent, which I think has to be a new record for any videogame I have played.