Here in Germany the price is 40€ without discount, that used to be the new retail price of PC games without discount back when I still cared about retail (nowadays retail is just a Steam key in a box). And that's not taking into account that the manual is 10€ on top of that. Even the cheap jewel case re-releases put at least a PDF of the manual on the disc, you didn't have to pay premium for that.

I'm pretty sure he meant the 3D Mario games, which are very different from the 2D ones. Personally I consider 2D and 3D Mario to be two completely different types of games that just happen to share the same title. Kind of like Classicvania and Metroidvania.

Wait... they're selling the MANUAL separately? 'Manual' as in it-tells-you-how-to-play-the-game? Or is it some kinda strategy guide thingy?

Stick to those games :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeU1bSsLerM

Personally I never played Mario or Banjo but I very much like this game, and while the price may seem a bit high compared to other games, I think it's very well worth it.

Now about the game, it didn't launch very well, some issues were present, the camera was crap (and even with the patch partially still is), but if I spent over 5 hours in game already that must mean it's not so bad after all, Honestly I wouldn't play that long if it was terrible. The last patch fixed many problems and I can fully recommend buying this game.

As for the "manual", according to the devs it is labeled more of an Art book than a "how the game is played" and this is why it has a price tag. The way I see it, this pdf would be better off offered with the game, while leaving the soundtrack at the same selling price. Without any intention of disrespect, this makes the devs appear a bit cheap, just have a look at the comments in the Steam page.

Despite the shortcomings, this is still a very good game worth your money, it offers a nice balance between challenge and relaxing fun. The latest update fixed many things, I find it much more playable now than at release. A last personal thing to point out - This is one of the best looking and well optimized games built with the Unity engine.