I've always been a huge Mario fan, so my opinion would be biased.
Mario games simply have this magic that you rarely find anywhere else. It's like the Disney/Pixar of video games. Sunshine, 64, Galaxy, 3d land/world, super mario world, mario kart- I always gain this childish excitement when I play Mario. Odyssey will probably continue this trend as we see him in a game which can be considered 64's "sequel".