The thing about SMB2, which I guess is sort of a blessing and a curse depending on playstyle, is that it has so many stages that are situationally advantageous or disadvantageous for each character. No one is ever so utterly boned that a stage is impossible, and you can get through the entire game using literally only one character and no one else ever. (Hi, dedicated Toad main here.) Of course, I freely admit that Toad is not the best choice for certain stages (like, he's still fine, but maybe someone else could have handled this particular gap here a little more easily, etc.) and you can't really tell in advance where each cast member shines the brightest. I suppose the All-Stars per-life character select screen helps a lot--in theory, if you get utterly stomped by something, you can go back and try again with someone else. I was young and stubborn and that was just another "yes I still want Toad, I always want Toad" prompt to mash through to me, though.

"Ignoring the CDi games (and you should),"

*pout*