I lightened up on this game, and now I really do like it! :)
The learning curve is like 10-15 minutes (or less if you've played Mario games before). You also learn more on the way as you find out what new items do.
OK. The good.
The graphics are probably this game's best asset. The models are very nice and the environments are pretty decent.
The sound is borderline good but it's kind of minimal (even with headphones).
Now onto the bad.
-it's too easy
-levels are too short
-bosses are a joke (made even worse if you have fire power at the time)
I'd recommend this to kids and some younger fans, teens and die hard fans alike.
In the first 3 days of owning it, I was already on world 5 (yet hadn't had access to any of the newer, unlocked worlds).
If you have a DS and Wii and are deciding on whether to get this or the Wii version, I'd say the Wii version is a bit superior. However, you can't lose with either.
Graphics: 9/10
Controls: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay & Fun: 8/10
Overall rating -------> 8/10
Little note - For those that don't know, you can be Luigi in the one-player mode. Just hold L + R and then pick the save file you want.