I never hated it - it is an excellent game, and a solid 9 for me. Its also extremely hard (never finished it 100%, as I did Galaxy).
My gripes with the game were simple: it lacked polish. It felt inconsistent - some stars took forever to finish, then I would blow through 3 or 4 in 10 minutes.
And the entire setting pissed me off. It wasn't that it was new - it was that it didn't use enough of the "classic" Mario as reference (classic enemies, giant mushrooms, etc).
I felt that the game was "rushed" - which astounded me considering we had all waited 6(?) years for another Mario game.
I really enjoyed the water spray mechanic, and the "cleaning" mechanisms - excellent gameplay. But it did take away from the classic Mario platforming (which didn't help that much). The bonus levels were excellent, just too hard in places - the normal game was generally too easy.
Overall - still a 9, just not quite up to the standard set by Mario 64 (which was VERY high...).
Gesta Non Verba
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