Maybe there's something that I'm missing here, but this game feels kinda bad. I picked Luigi because usually, he trades preciseness of landing spot for height and agility, but Luigi feels like he's running in fucking mud and his jumps get mediocre height. If Mario is a worse jumper, I can't imagine playing through this game with him. I'm only in Acorn Plains, so maybe I just need some time to adjust.
I admit that I haven't liked a 2D Mario game since the pre-DS days, so maybe I just don't like 2D Mario in the modern age. I did spend maybe an hour with Super Mario Maker at a kiosk, and those pre-made levels were okay. I have heard so much praise about NSMBU, so despite my extreme dislike of NSMB DS and Wii, I thought that I'd play this and see if they've improved on this line of 2D Mario games.
So far, I'm not sure. I do appreciate the way the level design in the first couple of worlds on Acorn Plains are clearly meant to introduce new/young players to core Mario moves like the butt stomp and some of the level design signatures that the rest of us take for granted. It's thoughtful in that way. The gameplay just feels icky right now.
(Also, this art direction...woof, I dunno.)