NSMB came at a time for me when I was on a Mario high. I was playing SMB3 on GBA quite a bit and I couldn't wait for a new game. Also, it was my second DS game with Mario Kart DS being my first and I had quite a lot of fun playing it alongside friends and trying to get all of the Star Coins.
That said, I share the sentiment of it being rather vanilla and by the books as far as 2D Mario goes.
Pixel Art can be fun.







