I don’t think there is any other Mario game where you control a vehicle and it’s becoming a sidescrolling shooter so that is the unique element that made me like the game. There is nothing like this any other Mario game.

I am playing this in the context of Nintendo Switch Online which is a subscription service with the switch that includes classic games for the NES/SNES/N64 plus online play rather than buying this game outright. I guess I could just play the game for free on the PC with ROM/Emulator but I need the portable feature of the switch to play as I don’t have enough time to sitting on the PC playing a game.

Closest in other Mario game is Mario Odyssey where you can capture a tank and it becames a tank shooter and capturing an octopus which allows it to use water to float/fly in the air.
There is a probably a missed opportunity with the cappy capture mechanic to do a throwback of Mario Land of capturing a submarine and you can start using missiles to destroy enemies in a 3D open world and be able to move in X/Y/Z axis and have a boss battle with a giant seahorse at the end.