Yeah, I got the game last Friday (had to import a US N64 and everything) and I've been hooked on it since. It even drew my attention away from Pokémon Stadium 2 AND Conker's BFD. We're talking one awesome game here ^_^
And the style is original, but not that weird. When Mario flips over like a piece of paper now when he turns around I don't even notice... it's just like when he used to suddenly be facing right to left when you pressed left on the SNES pad or something.
The basic game itself is proving fairly short, as I'm already over halfway through (only two more to go), but it's lasted longer than most games I own that I've played solidly.
Frankly, I love it ^_^ And it's nice to see the Mario world expanded even more, but not so much that we can't recognise it. It's just as fun to explore new places as it is to explore places you've seen in other games (such as Peach's castle ^_^)
Let's hope future Mario titles keep this level of quality.
Pocket Monster Island -
http://fryguy64.tripod.comPokémon guides, downloads and info.