I would agree with everything you said if I thought I was getting a "real" Super Mario Bros game. I think if you go in the the mindset that you are buying a Mario themed Crossy Road / Temple Run, etc type game you won't be let down.
This is something very simple that non-gamers can play and compete with you. I have many friends who would never step in to a CSGO/Overwatch, SC2, or LoL/HoTS game with me but simple games like this can work. I personally don't find it rewarding alone, but I enjoy being able to compete with friends on something they feel comfortable playing.
Not everyone is a "true gamer". I look forward to exploring Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but a majority of the population won't. There will no doubt be more Mario games, perhaps even on phone, which has more depth. For now however, I see nothing wrong with trying to be more inclusive. In the days before 1 finger mobile games those kind of people really had little choice in what they could play, and more importantly for me, I could never compete with them :)
That's a fair point. I definitely had the wrong expectations going into the game, but that's part of the frustration. It looks, sounds, and moves so much like the Mario games I've enjoyed in the past that my mind naturally expects the gameplay to be similar. If it were themed any differently, I probably wouldn't be as critical - it'd just feel like another Geometry Dash-style game (not necessarily a bad thing, but not a favorite either).
This is something very simple that non-gamers can play and compete with you. I have many friends who would never step in to a CSGO/Overwatch, SC2, or LoL/HoTS game with me but simple games like this can work. I personally don't find it rewarding alone, but I enjoy being able to compete with friends on something they feel comfortable playing.
Not everyone is a "true gamer". I look forward to exploring Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but a majority of the population won't. There will no doubt be more Mario games, perhaps even on phone, which has more depth. For now however, I see nothing wrong with trying to be more inclusive. In the days before 1 finger mobile games those kind of people really had little choice in what they could play, and more importantly for me, I could never compete with them :)