I never played the original SNES version of the game, but I did enjoy this game. The only reason why it might not be rated as high as you might expect is because I was disappointed by the strictly linear gameplay. Unlike it's pseudo-predecessor Super Mario World, you proceed through the game in a strictly linear fashion. This makes exploration much less of a factor. Sure there are special coins and icons to collect throughout the level, but you don't really get that much for finding them. If you manage to collect every single item in each level to a world, you're awarded a special bonus level, but this all-or-nothing scheme actually discouraged me from exploring each level. I would find myself just blowing through a level so I could proceed to the next one without doing much exploration. Despite this, I had a genuinely good time playing this game. It shows why the Mario name is synonymous with great platforming games.
