First off, jumping is now mapped to a button, so you won't have to aimlessly shake the Wii Remote to try to control your hero.
The second change is that there are 2D sections that are reminiscent of Super Mario Galaxy 2's 2D sections. It's definitely a welcome change of pace, as the first game was a series of levels that were all quite similar.
There's still a lot of time to kill before the game comes out, though, as it is set for a spring 2011 release.
2D stages, multiplayer co-op, new moves, improved control, higher difficulty, more complex...
This sounds like much more than simply more of the same to me.
