I enjoyed this game, but wish it went further as a remake. I haven't played the original but it felt mostly unchanged, which I think is to its detriment. Although Bowser and Peach are quite similar to their current incarnations, Mario feels weirdly mischaracterized (he seems more angry and aggressive than his normally jovial, goofy self), and Mallow barely has a story arc while Geno has nothing, despite being such an important character to the plot. The premise of the story doesn't really have any relevance until the end, but at the very least the otherwise meandering story has some fun vignettes that keep things enjoyable. The gameplay is fine for the most part, save for the awkward platforming sequences which I feel like could have used more work - depth perception is weird and Mario drops like a rock as soon as he reaches the edge of a platform. The combat works very well and it feels good when you time your A presses just right. The game also looks gorgeous and runs well, and Yoko Shimomura's score is superb as always.

It's a good game and I recommend it freely, but I think it has a lot more potential than what it reaches here.