Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch, 2023)
The best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World.
Nostalgia Factor: Low.
Difficulty: Easy to Medium. The Special World levels bring some challenge.
Nintendo took a swing by doing something very different, and it’s paid off enormously. Aside from the skyrocketing sales numbers, this is just a fantastic Mario game. It feels very much like a love letter to Super Mario World.
Visually, this may be the best looking 2D game on the Switch. Nintendo always gets the most out of their own hardware. The character and enemy animations are soooo smooth — like, Disney Pixar smooth. The way elephant Mario moves, jumps, and squeezes into the warp pipes makes me chuckle every time. When fire Mario’s hand pops out of the warp pipe to grab his hat, I’m reminded of the animated classics of yore. There’s a ton of humor and charm pumped into this game. The worlds are stunning, the parallax backgrounds look great, and the new enemies are fascinating.
The gameplay is classic top-tier Nintendo. After many many 2D Mario releases through the years (some better than others), they are still finding ways to reinvent 2D platforming. The new powers are great. Elephant Mario is strong and hilarious to behold. Watering dry flowers with the trunk adds an extra element. The drill opens up certain maps for more exploration or sneaking past tricky sections. The bubble power is not as thrilling as fire flower when trying to blast enemies, but being able to jump off of the bubbles you create opens up even more possibilities.
The wonder flower “trips” are really the highlight here. There’s never been anything like this in a mainstream franchise. This was the massive injection of pure wonder and imagination that 2D Mario needed. I won’t spoil the many different wonder flower effects, because the joy comes from discovering it for yourself. I will say that this game’s creativity has completely captivated me. Controlling Mario and pals feels amazing. The characters are quick, agile, and responsive. It feels as good if not better than Super Mario World, and you can tell they looked to SMW for inspiration with this new release.
Mario games are always light on story, but there is a functional storyline here with Prince Florian and our introduction to the Flower Kingdom. Bowser’s up to no good again, Mario and his pals are here to save the day, and the story serves it’s purpose to set the scene for the fantastic gameplay. There are little bits and pieces of dialogue with the Flower Kingdom residents, the Poplins, which add a touch of immersion to the experience.
The soundtrack is excellent. Koji Kondo supervised the score’s creation and composed a few tracks himself. The team of Fujii, Doi, and Shimazu completed the bulk of the score. Shiho Fujii has a lot of experience and has composed for several Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon titles since 2007. Sayako Doi and Chisaki Shimazu are newcomers to Nintendo, but the Mario Wonder soundtrack speaks for itself. I look forward to hearing more from this team. It’s easy to miss, but you may notice that nearly all of the tracks have an alternate “elephant Mario” version featuring low pitch horns like trombone or tuba. It kicks in when the player gains the elephant power.
I have mixed feelings about the couch co-op multiplayer. They’ve remedied some notable issues from previous games — there’s no more player collision, and you can no longer intentionally or accidentally pick up and throw your allies into some abyss (cough, Super Mario 3D World). In place of “bubbling,” characters that fall too far behind turn into a ghost form, and they have 5 seconds to fly into the primary player.
The real hang up is how just one player receives priority. The game’s viewport follows this player. There’s no “zooming out” or stretching of the screen. All other players have to try their best to keep up. The “crown” is passed to another player if the controlling player dies or falls into a pit. This system works OK at times, but at other times, it can be an absolutely miserable experience for the non-controlling players. I love the fast pace of this game, but it can present a real challenge for four player co-op. I’m still glad to have the multiplayer option, but Mario Wonder definitely shines brightest as a single player experience.
I remember there was some concern about a new 2D Mario game before they released the gameplay trailer. The “New Super Mario Bros” games have had some ups and downs. Thankfully, they have hit the bullseye with Mario Wonder, and I strongly recommend that any and all Mario fans give this one a go.
