If you're a Mario fan that missed out on this the first time around, you owe it to yourself to play this game...
Gameplay - A nice twist on role playing. The world feels like a platformer, and your jumping on or hammering of an enemy in this part gives you the advantage in the fight. BUT BEWARE!!! The enemies will attack you and get the advantage in the same way! It's really a well thought out interface, and it's thouroughly enjoyable. Lots of platforming, lots of battles (none random; you always see it coming), lots of fun. You level up often enough, and the choice between HP, FP and BP really does make you think and plan ahead. It's far more cerebral than you expect out of a RPG/Platforming hybrid, if you play it that way. Or, just randomly choose stats. You'll get through alright. I played it for a couple of dozen hours before I finished, and didn't get 100% of the stuff, so there's lots to do here. Oh, there's some really frustratingly hard parts, but they're optional, so the difficulty is just about right. The final battle is a little drawn out, mostly because it's not particularly hard, and Bowzer keeps healing himself. Excellent overall, though.
Plot - Lots of reading. Nothing wrong with that for me, but if this pushes your buttons, just be aware of it. Bowzer kidnaps the Princess, and you go through the requisite forest, haunted mansion, fire, ice etc. levels to rescue the Stars. It works as well as it ever has, with lots of litte inside jokes you'll appreciate if you're a Mario afficionado. Well written with likable characters.
Graphics/sound - For some reason, they feel VERY dated. A lot of the backgrounds have this very smooth, mosaic texture that looks great, but the foreground textures can be really ugly. The character models are cute little 2D sprites, but they look a little rough around the edges. Not bad, but not great. The music is all synthesized, and isn't "bad" persay, but it's entirely unremarkable.
Overall, it's easily worth ten bucks if you haven't played it before. Hell, even if you have, it's probably worth going through again. I know I enjoyed revisiting this one.