I wonder if the people who praised this game in this thread wholeheartedly actually played through its entirety in the last couple of years or if their memory is somehow... inked (sorry).
Around two years ago I played through it in one sitting with 100% (as a kid I only got 119 shines, because of some stupid missing blue coins) and although I really liked it - mostly because of its movement mechanics and the mostly beautiful and fun landscapes - it has some of the most obvious flaws I have witnessed in a Mario game.
The janky camera, 30 fps and blue coins collectathon already have been mentioned here enough. But if you dig deeper the levels goals and the level design really don't hold up. First of all, the level design is far too vertical most of the time. There are so many instances, where you have climb up in a level and where a fall is not a simple Game Over (which would have been far more forgiving), but simply tedious, because you end up in a place where you'll have some trouble reaching the point where you can start climbing up AGAIN. It's just frustrating in a lot of instances.
Also, the level goals are far too repetetive and really not interesting in terms of pure plattforming - sure you have the Flood-less levels which are great, but they make up only a small fraction of the game. I would have loved more shines like the rollercoaster ride, but instead when I think of the game there pop up dozens of level goals that are just not fun and play themselves very slowly.
I mean: the fish made out of red coins, the throwing challenge, escorting the water melon through the beach? Geez... even thinking of them makes me feel exhausted!
It's a good game for sure, but people praising it as some sort of masterpiece are insane!