I'm kind of getting a Sonic Colors vibe from this, making a 3D series get back to its linear 2D roots rather than trying to be a dramatically different genre like its predecessors. The difference, of course, being that Mario didn't really need it, because, while Mario 64 and Sonic Adventure were both just a bunch of random stuff they tried out to see what worked, Mario 64 was inherently fun to play, and actually had some surprisingly good design decisions considering how early it was made.
Anyway, I would really like to see a more Banjo-Kazooie-esque 3D Mario again, but a smaller, more linear one like this seems much better suited for a handheld.