Everyone's been saying "Best 2D Mario since Super Mario World," which honestly isn't that high of a bar to cross (it pretty much just means... better than New Super Mario Bros. Wii?), but I will say this is the first 2D Mario in 3 decades to be able to COMPETE with World. This game is an absolutely magical experience that should be seen by everyone. It's so great to finally see Mario be able to set an example for the genre it created once again and see people finally give 2D platformers the respect they deserve.

The only complaint I can give is that the bosses aren't very good and there aren't many of them. but that's a drop in the bucket compared to the fantastic level design we see across the rest of the game.

I beat the game in a day, but I can't wait to start going for 100%.

Update: After 100%ing the game, I have a few more comments,

Postgame was kinda disappointing. Mostly just a special world with 1 stage for each world and a few final challenges. Better than the NSMB games, but nowhere near as good as 3D World's post game.

Not a fan of how small some worlds are. Worlds 1, 2, 4, and 6 are all incredible while Worlds 3 and 5 are basically half-worlds and they suck.

I really like how the wonder flowers are mostly optional. Some levels feel very different if you play them without touching the flower and it makes going back to collect the flower coins much more fun. I honestly kinda want to go back and do a no-wonder-flower playthrough just to see how it would go.

Overall, I wouldn't call it the best 2D Mario, but still a great game. It's probably neck-at-neck with Mario 3D World for me, and I love 3D World.