I don't agree with any of your points.
1. I remember LOTS of variety.
2. It wasn't too hard. It was so that you could play it for months. Which was wonderful.
3. The Map was an important evolutionary step in the Mario series. It completely changed the feel of the game: Whenever a new map opened up, I felt like I entered a new country. You could anticipate what was awaiting you, there was a unique theme to every world. You could take different routes.
But I agree that SMB3 is not the best Mario game there ever was. I think it doesn't feel quite as "groovy" as SMW or Yoshi's Island. Whenever I replay it today, I always have to adjust to the somewhat slower handling of Mario. Flying with the cape was more fun than the racoon tail, too.
But still, one of my fondest childhood memories :)
Currently playing: NSMB (Wii)
