Looking back on this now is a little tough, even (or I guess especially?) as someone who's gotten 120 stars probably five times over since it came out. The wonder of this game was in discovering everything and exploring the levels for the first time, and then after that in mastering its gameplay and quirks. If you play it knowing where everything is and how to get every star, there's really no challenge and it feels a little bit like work.
It's unavoidably more showy than substantive at times -- like a tech demo. Some areas and stars seem a lot more like "look what we can do" rather than "this makes sense in this level and is a fun challenge".
But this was essentially the introduction to an entire new paradigm of video gaming. They were experimenting and figuring it out at the same time we were, so you've got to cut them some slack. Even saying that, this game works a lot better than many, many of the imitators that came after it. The controls and Mario's moveset are still impressive to this day. And a few of the levels (the Bowser worlds in particular) do manage to recapture some of the magic and challenge of playing the original SUPER MARIO BROS. and translate it to a 3D experience. Can't beat that.
It's unavoidably more showy than substantive at times -- like a tech demo. Some areas and stars seem a lot more like "look what we can do" rather than "this makes sense in this level and is a fun challenge".
But this was essentially the introduction to an entire new paradigm of video gaming. They were experimenting and figuring it out at the same time we were, so you've got to cut them some slack. Even saying that, this game works a lot better than many, many of the imitators that came after it. The controls and Mario's moveset are still impressive to this day. And a few of the levels (the Bowser worlds in particular) do manage to recapture some of the magic and challenge of playing the original SUPER MARIO BROS. and translate it to a 3D experience. Can't beat that.