You can't keep up with non sense.

So the problem isn't actually that the Wii U doesn't have a must-have Mario game, because it does. The problem is that it doesn't fit your particular idea of what a 3D Mario game should be. All I can really say to that is tough luck.

A true step forward in what?

Indeed, in everything: controls, physics, maps size and detail, graphics (actually the last time Nintendo achieved state of the art).

Sunshine > 3D World

by far

Even if you truly believed this, the gen isn't over by far.

Super Mario 3D World is an amazing game. It doesn't bring the innovation Mario 64 or Mario Galaxy brought, but as what I would classify as a "refined" entry into the Mario series, it is arguably the best.

What I mean is that there are two types of Mario. There's the refined, and then there's the innovative.

The string of Super Mario Bros 1, 3, and Super Mario World were a string of refinements with some innovation (vertical screen scrolling). They took what came before and refined it into an even better experience. More powerups, more responsive controls, more game mechanics (flying then gliding anyone?). The trend continued with the New Super Mario Bros series.

Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy were innovative. Mario 64 crafted 3D movement and the camera for virtually every 3D game in existence today. Galaxy innovated on the platformer genre with spherical platforms and playing with gravity. There's only so much you can innovate though so these are a bit more rare, and their follow-ups are simply refinements upon them (64 to sunshine, galaxy to galaxy 2).

As a "refinement" entry Super Mario 3D world is the best Mario.

3D World is arguably the best "refined" entry, hugh? I would say most people think Galaxy 2 is. And critics also (Meta 97 vs 93).

Also, I don't agree that 64 was that revolutionary and sunshine was just a refinement. 64 was at the edge of a revolutionary era (the transition from 2D to 3D). But other games at that time "crafted 3D movement and the camera for virtually every 3D game in existence today" (Tomb Raider, for instance). Sunshine on the other hand, introduced new gameplay mechanics and environments. Also, like 64, was at the state-of-the-art in terms of technology: graphics, physics, etc. Since that time, no more Nintendo games did that. The Galaxies were inovative, yes, but also not more than Sunshine and not as impressive in tech for sure. This 3D World is the first step back in the main Mario series. It may be fun, it may be a solid title, but it's a more limited game.

Super Mario 3D World was heavily stigmatized before its release, so it was doomed to a lower score than galaxy 2 from the start.

Tomb Raider came out 4 months later, had tank controls, and had a camera you couldn't control nearly as much. Mario 64 used full 360 analog and a dynamic camera system. If you've ever played a game where the right stick controls the camera, you can thank Mario 64.

Sunshine added some mechanics but they were simply refinements. They added a few new jumps/powerups and made you wash things. The environments, when stripped of their sparkle are no different than Mario 64. That's not innovation. Especially when standing next to revolutionizing 3D gaming (Mario 64), or revolutionizing the platforming genre through spherical platforms and gravity mechanics (Mario Galaxy).

Super Mario 3D World is a successor to Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, not Mario 64/Sunchine/Galaxy. Quite frankly it should have been called Super Mario Bros. 4 and it would have sold better and avoided prerelease stigma, but we know Nintendo's track record on naming things these days. In light of that fact, Super Mario 3D World has all the best elements of Super Mario Bros 1-3 and Super Mario World (except the cape and awesome flight mechanic that came with it) combined into one package, refined to perfection, and placed into 3D world with the most responsive controls in the entire series.