Mario in the Miiverse
the game looks nice, but it is in no way showing of the hardware's capabilities, nor has any Wii U launch game i think. if you're playing with friends you can use Wii-motes for controllers. the game doesn't support the classic controller or the new pro controller, sadly. one player can use the gamepad to create blocks on the screen to help the other players.
if you are playing on your own, like me, you can use the gamepad as a controller.
the gamepad shows you the game just as the television. now, i'm sitting like 2,5 meters away from this 38 inch 1080p screen with all those bright colors. after 20 minutes i decided to turn of the television and just play on the gamepad like it's a handheld. i felt i could focus on the game better. i didn't have that with black ops 2, but maybe that's because that is from a first person perspective.
the last 2d Mario-game i played was New Super Mario Bros on the DS. this Mario Bros reminded me more of the first Mario for the gameboy. There were these Easter Island statues, lots of timed jumps and Bullet Bills flying around.
A new feature to this game is that it asks you to post notes on Miiverse. You can also read other people's opinions on levels and such. it's a fun little feature in this game.
one last positive thing i want to mention is that this game is great for short gaming sessions. you can easily play a level or two, save your game and come back tomorrow or some other time. i think that's a positive because many other games just eat up the hours.