The line does get more blurred with SMB3 and SMW where the special stuff is a bit more integrated. Still, it's a big difference from, say, SMG. When was the last time there was a Mario game, or pretty much any game in general, where, without any actual cheating, you could get to the final boss from a new save file in fifteen minutes?
...
Actually, now that I do some research on it,
both of the
NSMBs can be beaten in about 25 minutes by warpcannonning from 1 to 5 to 8, which is only about twice the length of SMB2USA, 3, and W. You were right, BP.
Also, the Blue Shell in NSMBDS is good. Pretty dang close to being an SMB3-caliber powerup, I'd say. Follows nicely in the vein of Kuribo's Shoe and the Hammer and Frog Suit; not required for anything (except maybe some Star Coins? Iunno?), makes things tougher but also cooler and funner, and if you can get through a whole level staying in the shell the whole time, it feels great even though (and maybe a little bit because?) the game doesn't recognize it.
There will be situations in Super Mario Bros. 3 where you can swim while holding a shell: this makes Mario go exponentially faster. However, there’s always a risk: the koopa might awaken, pop out of its shell, and hurt you. In Super Mario Galaxy, there are parts where you must swim with a shell in your hands, and at these times, the shells are provided for free, from a dispenser-like meta-location, and there will never be a koopa inside to hurt you.
This is what I was getting at with the "mainstream" and "sterile" and "you have to do it" stuff, though it doesn't really apply to the Warp Cannons now that I look it up, and also this is not entirely accurate because I just checked and Koopa shells don't seem to make you swim any faster in SMB3, only SMW, where shells are empty, but still, the basic point is there. And it more applies to the 3D games than the NSMBs, though NSMBW's use of Yoshi falls under this. If the Blue Shell were in Galaxy, it would be because there were some stars that required it, and it wouldn't be anywhere else.
I still haven't played 3D Land, but from what I've heard, it does a good job of moving from the puzzle game type stuff of 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy back to the fun run around platforming of the sidescrollers.
Anyway, yeah, I'm still not sure what I was even saying, and this veered off topic a while ago.
Still, though, I'd love to see something in a modern Mario game that plays with our modern expectations of how games work as much as warps did in SMB1 and 3.
More on-topic: GTA6, FF16, and Uncharted 5 as Wii U exclusive launch titles.