Super Mario Bros. Wonder Review – A Scintillating Switch Swansong

With over a decade since the last core 2D entry in the fabled franchise, fans have been left to wonder what might be next for traditional side-scrolling Mario games for some time. The New Super Mario Bros. games never quite measured up to the creativity of the plumber’s 3D outings, and frankly, Super Mario Maker largely made that series obsolete. Thankfully, fans no longer have to wonder about Nintendo’s next step because, well, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is almost here.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder sheds the “New” baggage, offering up a fresh visual style and the “Wonder Flower” mechanic that remixes courses in creative and unexpected ways. So, is this the power-up that the 2D Mario titles have been needing? Or will it leave you wondering where Nintendo went wrong? Button up those overalls; it’s time to jump in.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder opens with the full Mushroom Kingdom troupe, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Nabbit, and various Yoshis and Toads (all of which are playable) visiting the wormy Prince Florian of the Flower Kingdom. Keeping with tradition, Bowser shows up to ruin the party, because that’s just what he does. The Koopa king merges with Prince Florian’s castle, turning himself into a giant floating fortress, and as you’d expect, it’s up to Mario and pals to bring Castle Bowser back down to earth.

If you’re expecting a deep, emotionally complex story from Super Mario Wonder, you’ve picked up the wrong game, but much like Super Mario World’s relocation to Dinosaur Land, going to a new kingdom means Nintendo’s devs get to dream up a whole new roster of enemies for players to face (with plenty of classics reappearing as well). The Flower Kingdom is divided into several themed worlds, connected by a central hub. Your path through the worlds isn’t quite as linear as in past 2D Mario games, as you’ll often come to open sections on the world map where you can choose between several courses, and later on in the game, you get to decide the order you take on entire worlds. Packed with secrets and fun touches, Wonder’s overworld maps are probably the best in franchise history.

The first thing that will likely strike you when you hop into Super Mario Bros. Wonder is how gosh darn-pretty the whole thing looks. While the New Super Mario Bros. games sometimes had the cookie-cutter feel of something assembled in an editor, almost every course in Super Mario Wonder feels like a bespoke piece of art offering up lush backgrounds packed with fun details. From mountains made of rocky pipes to clouds mounded up like sundaes, cool snowy peaks lit up by glowing lights, and beyond, Mario’s world has rarely looked this good.

As nice as the backgrounds are, Mario himself is the real showstopper, as he and his friends have been given a subtle makeover and much-improved animations. Everything the plumber does, from gleefully grabbing a mushroom to wriggling into a pipe now has a unique animation. Add multiple playable characters and powerups that change the way you move and there’s a lot of charm to go around. It’s just a shame Charles Martinet is no longer around to further boost the game’s appeal – new Mario voice actor Kevin Afghani does a solid impersonation but lacks some of Martinet’s infectious enthusiasm.

After you get over what a looker Super Mario Bros. Wonder is, the next thing you’ll likely notice is how the game feels to play. Nintendo has definitely updated their 2D physics engine a bit — Mario feels weightier with his jumps being less floaty, although the feeling of momentum you get while dashing is stronger. The new feel may take a few minutes to get accustomed to, but hey, this is Mario, so the controls are perfectly responsive. The physics aren’t necessarily better or worse, they’re just different. As with the NSMB titles, the entire game can also be played co-op with up to three other players, although this time players don’t bounce off each other, which is, frankly, for the best. I wasn’t able to extensively test the game’s online features pre-launch, but you can allow strangers’ ghosts to appear in courses as you play or, alternatively, race against friends.

It wouldn’t be a Mario game without an assortment of powerups, and Super Mario Wonder delivers a handful, although they arguably aren’t the focus this time around. Good ol’ Fire Mario returns and Drill Mario, typically seen in the 3D games, makes a successful jump to 2D. Elephant Mario is an amusingly weird addition and takes a bit of getting used to, as it actually slows you down and limits your jumping ability. That said, there are also a lot of little nuances, like being able to fill your trunk with water in order to revitalize certain plants or being able to run over larger gaps, that make Elephant Mario feel worthwhile. Bubble Mario serves its purpose, allowing you to do things like reach inaccessible areas by bouncing on your own bubbles, but the powerup’s not that exciting to use.

In addition to the new powerups, players can collect various badges with various benefits, although you can only equip one per level. Some of these alter Mario’s abilities in more subtle ways, like giving him a vertical wall jump (great for reaching certain ledges), while others are a little more out there, like the piranha plant grappling hook or the badge that makes you invisible. Initially, I didn’t find the badges a super-compelling addition, but then I’m an old grump who doesn’t like change. Admittedly, as I delved into the post-game and started tackling harder challenges and looking more seriously into finding secrets, I started to see the utility of the badges. And hey, if they’re not for you, feel free to ignore them.

Of course, the way Mario plays only matters if he has interesting levels to use his abilities on, and thankfully, Super Mario Bros. Wonder delivers and then some. Any notion the 2D Mario team is complacent when it comes to level design is out the window as every course feels fresh, often serving up one-off mechanics you won’t encounter anywhere else in the game. Whether you’re dodging dive-bombing birds, scrambling over platforms you can only jump on a limited number of times, or chasing down nut-spewing groundhogs, every new course will test your skills in new ways.

But it doesn’t end there, as courses are now essentially two-in-ones thanks to the Wonder Flower mechanic. Every course has a Wonder Flower hidden somewhere, which will transform the level in often pretty radical ways. Some of these Wonder Effects will change the course in some way, causing pipes to come to life like squirming inchworms, or forcing a change in perspective, essentially turning the level into an old-school Zelda game. Others will transform Mario himself into a spike ball or some other form. The best Wonder Effects play on the base level in some clever way – in one course, you’ll encounter large-mouthed creatures that gobble up other enemies, which becomes a problem when the Wonder Flower turns you into a tasty goomba. Suddenly, you’re playing a stealth game, as you have to sneak by the big-mouthed baddies to reach the end of the level. I exclaimed “Ahhh, good one” aloud more than once while playing Super Mario Wonder as the effects I’ve described here are just the tip of the iceberg.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s courses aren’t just creative, they provide plenty of solid platforming fundamentals. While the proceedings begin on a relatively simple note, later stages will test your timing, reflexes, and awareness. The New Super Mario Bros. games were often criticized for their difficulty curves, specifically, that the games didn’t get hard at all until near the very end, but that’s not the case here. Every course has a difficulty rating and Nintendo mixes some tough levels into early worlds for those who want to challenge themselves early. Once you get to the game’s latter half, even wizened old Mario vets should find themselves engaged by the challenge.

And there’s a fair bit to challenge yourself with – while you can zip through Super Mario Bros. Wonder in around 7 to 8 hours, you’ll be missing out on a lot of content (I beat the game with only around two-thirds of its courses completed). There are a ton of secrets, hidden levels, and collectibles to uncover here, with perhaps some extra challenges for those who really pursue mastery of the game. Once you dive into this one, you’ll wonder where the bottom is.

This review was based on a copy of Super Mario Bros. Wonder provided by publisher Nintendo.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the plumber’s best platformer this generation. We haven’t been able to say that of a 2D Mario for a long time, but this game measures up to the best and most beloved side-scrollers Nintendo has ever made, delivering joyously-creative level design and rock-solid platforming in a gorgeous wrapper. Get ready to kick it old school, because 2D Mario is back on top of the flagpole.

Buy for $59.99 from Amazon

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