The original game was such a remarkable use of a new ludic grammar to expand Mario's aesthetic and affective horizons that it's easy to lose sight of what an achievement in programming it also was. Now that Nintendo's got the Mario style guide down to a fine point and has long since conceded that they can't compete technologically anymore, what's left to iterate on with this material? The answer should be obvious - the nonsensically tuned combat at its center - but the only balance changes here are superfluous mechanics designed to make the game even easier and faster, as if Nintendo is embarrassed that this milestone for their flagship franchise arrived in RPG form. Far less a remake than a shiny $60 coat of paint.

They could also have gotten rid of the isometric platforming because it is doo doo but not even the Star Road would grant me that wish.