Must... not... try to defend game...
Argh what's the use. Fanboy mode engage.
Nintendo's Mario franchise, excluding the RPGs, have never been story intensive outside Mario rescues princess and/or Yoshis. I understand this irks people because of the nature of games as a storytelling medium. The thing is though this should not ruin a game wholesale, because even if the story's consistant at least it's good, or not bad at least. Keeping the story simple, Hero rescues Princess from Dragon in _________ setting with the help of __________, is fine by me so long as the controls are good, visuals charming, and experience gratifying. The Paper Mario and Mario RPG series have done a great job in the storytelling department, but I don't see that transitioning well to a Platforming Mario very easily without making a mistake or two, something I think they're playing safe with since this is their biggest IP.
Does this mean they shouldn't? No, because I would love to see a Mario Platformer written by "Intelligent Systems," the company behind Paper Mario.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm kind of in the mood for cake now.