personally...

[Evil Yoshi Toes]

I just don't enjoy playing SM64 that much but I do enjoy playing SMRPG a lot. I'm not really sure exactly why, though. I guess I just like the wackiness of SMRPG and the interesting characters.

My problem with SMRPG is that it's too easy and short. Culex and Smithy aside (unless you're a cheater and using the Lazy Shell), every "chapter" of the game is pretty easy and can be completed in like 20-30 minutes, unless you skip lots of enemies to make things harder.

I know there's the hidden treasure chest search for replayability, but that isn't enough for me because the rest of the game really doesn't last long. I think the game could have been better had it had a hard mode/harder difficulty, bigger areas, or more optional things to do. Really, a game like this can be longer, and I don't think that's because the graphics take up too much space (look at the DKC games).

Also, some enemies, while cool, don't look very "mario" tbh, even though that's not a terrible thing and it's good to see a mario game that isn't generic sometimes. But really, please compare a normal goomba to a K-9, for example.

Another problem is that while some jokes in the game are good, sometimes they can be weird or hit-or-miss (especially with the psychopath thoughts).

I agree that Paper Mario has greatly improved upon what SMRPG did and also feels much more "Mario." I don't find any of the Paper Mario games much harder than SMRPG, though. SMRPG's stray from Mario conventions in terms of character design was pretty weird, but I think that's part of what makes it stand out so much though I can understand people not being too big on that. I also agree with you on the humor in SMRPG. It doesn't have quite as consistently good humor as the Paper Mario games. I think that's because the jokes in SMRPG were often nonsensical, which isn't a humor that will appeal to everyone, while Paper Mario's humor is safer and more universal.

I'm currently playing paper mario and I feel it's being far longer and less claustrophobic than that game. Characters are new and Mario-ish at the same time, which is good. I've heard bad stories about it's sequels though (Sticker Star, Color Splash, etc).

Color Splash and Sticker Star definitely ditched character designing for some reason. They use mostly recurring characters from the franchise with only a few new main characters. The first three Paper Mario games definitely did better in terms of character design (and in my opinion in terms of everything else, but I heard Color Splash is at least worth playing).

By the way, I'm definitely not one of these people that's obsessed with SMRPG that you talked about. I just think it's a good game that led to even better games. I feel the same way about SM64, but I just don't like playing it as much as I do SMRPG. They're completely different games though so it's hard to compare them.