This game came with my hand-me-down DMG I got for my birthday back in 2001. Thankfully I never made it to the final level back then, pretty sure I would've tossed the game out the window after losing 50+ lives. Looking for what I should play next, recommendations welcome :)
I think it's a combination of nostalgia and the fact that SML1 had levels, enemies and music that were super unique compared to other Mario games before or after.
SML2 is a better game on the technical side of things but nothing in it blew me away or was memorable enough for me to recall with super clarity like I do with 1.