while it has the great gameplay of the 2D side scrolling Mario games, it's got a lot more
It has the story of pretty much all the Mario games, Peach is kidnapped, and You have to go rescue her, but you don't just continually go from level to level, you must jump into paintings in Peachs castle, and collect stars to open doors where more stars are kept. How you get the stars vary. You could get one through beating a boss, collecting so many red coins, doing something under a certain time and a whole lot more. the various ways to earn stars in each level gives not only the game great replay value, but each level itself. If you've already got the star, it will appear blue, and won't count as a new star, but at least you can do things again, unlike some other games. As is the case with most Mario Games, You must fight Bowser. Getting harder each time, these Battles are much more fun then when you verse him in 2D Mario, and are a great part of the game. Defeating Bowser earns you a key, which you must use to get into different part's of peaches castle, where you can find more stars.
Most Characters to have appeared in Mario Games make an appearence here. From Toad, to Turtles and Goomba's, to even a brief cameo by Yoshie. Someone is missing though, and that's luigi. The game doesn't suffer from his lack of presence, but it is noticable. The game does lack a multiplayer component, but in a way, that doesn't matter. Multiplayer on the Old Mario's was merely the 2nd player playing as Luigi, but not at the same time as Player 1 was playing Mario, so turn taking is just as good. Why Luigi didn't have even a cameo is a wonder though.
Moving on though, the graphics and sound are all good. There is no voice acting minus some at the start, but that's alright. The Sound FX and music ar all good. The camera is good too. You're supposodly being filmed by someone on a cloud, and you can switch between his view, and your own manually controlled view. The Camera does occasionally get frustrating, but for a launch title for a console, where the possibilities are still being explored, this is a well done camera.
A Fantastic edition to the Mario Series and a great game nonetheless. You should make sure this makes it's way into your collection, even if it is ten years old.