As I understand it, each classic Super Mario platformer has these as their core themes:
SMB1: Alice in Wonderland
SMB2: Masks (from Fuji TV's Yume Koujou event)
SMB3: Japanese mythology
SMW: Dinosaurs
SML1: Ancient civilisations
SML2: Uhhhhhhh…… every wacky idea they had left??
I feel like all the sequels - 2, 3, and World - succeed at feeling like "a big adventure", but 3 and World both do so on a macro level, with the map screen and short one-note levels, whereas 2 is more "episodic", where each level is an adventure in miniature.
Big SMW pet peeve from childhoodean days: You can use the Star Road to advance to later worlds' entrances, but you can't get off and explore that world! The only destination you can exit at is Bowser's Castle! It's like if the Warp Zones only took you to 8-4. Yeesh!
