I was really hoping for the best May-rio game yet, but all I did was get my hopes up. For those wanted a Mario 64, that's pretty much what you got with some minor improvements here and there.
To me Mario should be about pure platforming which is why I prefer Galaxy 2 and 3D World. Much like the 8 and 16 bit games, the main point is simply to get to the end of level and move on.
64, Sunshine and Odyssey focuses on doing a plethora medial tasks in sandbox environments in order to unlock the next area where you just do more of the same. You do have the occasional absract level floating in a void, but for the most part you're catching rabbits, ground-pounding glowy spots, and running to a star before time runs out.
This in my opinion this is just a copout. Instead of doing a bunch of creative levels, they make these large simple environments you just run around in completing meaningless tasks.
To me this just isn't as exciting or interesting as completing a multitude of well constructed levels. By having more levels the designers are able to experiment and in the end have more variety.
After explaining this I think you can understand why I find it funny when people bunch Super Mario 64 in with the rest of the original/main line of Super Mario games. It's fundimentally different in design and technology.
Even though some people straight up dismiss 3D World/Land as a part of the "main" line of games, I would argue they have more in common with the originals than 64 and Odessey do. Hell, they even brought back the flagpole for Pete sakes.
I agree with alot of this too 
. I found the moons to be a little too repetitive and in general the game could get mundane at times and over simplified. The moons repated in each level with catching the rabbit, the slots, the timed coins, racing the koopa. I loved the exploration and creativity with the outfits, how you spend your coins and the odyssey flying between worlds but it always felt like the boss battles which repeated twice were more of the same and lacked variety and all around it was very easy even for a Mario game. I wish their would have been less moons but more substance behind them maybe even plots behind each one like little story lines to go down like 64 and sunshine had. It's still a masterpiece imo for it's exploration and sheer depth of moons but it definitely has it's gripes. I'm hoping the intensity picks up with dark and darker side levels. Because the bosses and the game in general could be beaten by a blindfolded fetus fresh from the womb. 
. Even for a Mario game it lacks that challenge aspect that makes it rewarding. But the pros certainly outweigh the cons.
Mark me down for this opinion as well. The game is good, no question, but something about just left me a little cold. It was a little too easy, and a little too repetitive to become my favorite Mario game. It also generally cemented my opinion that Mario works best as a series of levels with set goals, rather than the open world experience.
