I think the control issues are not that big as much people say. I did overcome them with a bit of practice (with the analog thumb). Instead moving from corporal memory, I focused on the character on screen, so I could make the exact movement I wanted to do. Since there´s no physical feedback to the thumb strap, this methid proved itself to be the best, and it worked fairly good in most situations. In fact the main problem I had with the controls were related to the arcaic camera setup. Every now and then it would turn and I wouldn´t react fast enough. But that´s something that happened in the original, but the better controls didn´t make it such a problem. However, this doesn´t happen that much often and once you know the scenarios and know when the camera is going to turn round, the problem won´t be there anymore.
Now, the controls are worse than in the original, and maybe the level of inmersion is too. But the extras added are quite sweet. You get to play with four different characters, and`playing with Yoshi or Wario feels totally different than paying with Mario. Luigi is much less entertaining though. But I had great fun playing those old scenarios that i love so much with other characters, making for a quite fresh experience. Then there´re the extra levels/stars, which add more freshness, although if you´ve not played the original, then you won´t know the difference...
Last but not least, there´re the minigames. I must admit, they are very simple, very repetitive, but some of them are a hell of fun. I spent lots of hours with them. Clashing shells, searching for the right face, the slingshot, they are perfect for short time. You´ve got to wait for dinner 10 minutes? pup in some minigame, time will fly. You´ve got to wait for the tube? pop in and the waiting will be shorter.
Although it doesn´t control like the original, I think the extras make for a very compelling experience, maybe as good as the original, but different. 15$ seem like a good price for such a game.