Is anyone actually keeping a list of all the references to past Mario titles in this game? I'm only 26 stars in and it's reaching almost Smash Brothers levels of random nostalgia. What I've noticed so far:

• Mario 1 underground and underwater themes as note trails
• Mario 1 8-bit background in one of the side areas
• Mario 3 airships and accompanying theme
• The wrench throwing dudes from said Mario 3 airships
• Mario 64 Bowser level music, virtually unchanged
• Mario 64 penguins
• Mario 64's big eel, and his.. new friend?
• Mario 64's underwater clams, now with eyes because absolutely nothing in Mario's universe can go without eyes. When Mario goes to the can it watches him crap.
• Mario 3 letters from Peach with gifts
• Kamek from Yoshi's Island
• FLUDD nozzles from Sunshine shooting anything from bubbles to flames
• Mario 1 flame lines
• A couple of background music themes from Mario 3
• The spinning nuts (um) previously seen on airships in Mario 3

I'm probably forgetting some. I'm sure I'll add more as I go along. I just want to see how much they managed to cram in.

P.S. If you're not playing this game you're retarded. This is everything I wanted Sunshine to be and the closest thing I've seen to a real Mario 64 sequel.

P.P.S. Your footprints stay on the beach a really long time. Finally developers are harnessing the true power of the Wii.