Yeah, I can see that. Especially compared to Mario64's paintings, which means they could basically make the levels whatever. I do like how all of the levels all feel part of one big island in Sunshine, but it can get monotonous yeah.
I hope Nintendo makes a return to the less linear-style 3D Mario games. Galaxy is great, but I really liked how in Sunshine and 64 you could just kind of run around and find bonus stars and stuff.
I love tropical music and the romantic view of a tropical island/underwater scene, but too much of it is just stale, like watching 5 episodes of Max Heart.