nah, i legit think it's one of the top tier mario games
i'd say a significant reason for the dislike is because it was the fourth game in the sub-series that all look very similar at first glance and (as i've mentioned a few times before on these board) nintendo's stupid ass decision to release...
that would make the 'omg nintendo made too many of these' claims (that really only arose because of their absolutely idiotic decision to launch new super mario bros 2 and then new super mario bros u within a few months of each other) something that was actually true by like game 2.