Hmm interesting, as I've always seen the Galaxy games as mainline Mario titles - between their grandiose nature and system of star collecting very similar to 64 and Sunshine. Mario 3D World/Land to me stands alone in that it tries to meet the classic 2D games half way by blending the more simple oldschool sidescrolling with the more epic nature of the 3D games. There is some grey area of course, as Galaxy games were more linear and had smaller environments, but I still feel like they were true 64/Sunshine sequels, moreso than 3D World.
On a side note, I should really give Sunshine another chance.. It's always been one of my least favorite, and least played Mario games, and so I pretty much ran through it once and put it on the shelf and moved on. But in hindsight, it is still a pretty damn good game it its own right.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident - All men and women created by the, go-you know - you know the thing!" - Joe Biden
