Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the newest Mario game for the Nintendo Switch. This iteration moves the franchise back to 2D sidescrolling comparable back to the series roots. It's a bit shorter than the last few 2D Mario games, but the most fun I've had in a long time. The big catch this time around are the Wonder Seeds. These are items you can pick up that will have various effects to the level, anything from shifting your perspective, to completely changing up who you are currently playing as. I found these Wonder Seeds surprising and impressive early on, but even more so when you realize every individual level has a Wonder Seed to mix up the level! It feels like the developers were just given free reign to make the game however they wanted, without studio interference. The different effects, animations just ooze originality and passion.

A few worlds were a little disappointing with a lackluster boss at the end, or even no boss, which I found odd. It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game though. Similar to all recent Mario games, it's relatively easy until you aim for the 100%. Going for this, you will eventually unlock a few additional levels which really ramp up the difficulty. The final level ended up taking me a few hours to complete, and well over 100 lives.

While a bit shorter, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a really fun time that you can tell the devs enjoyed making. If you have any interest at all in Mario or side scrolling platformers, absolutely pick this one up!

Game #39/200 Sometimes you just can't beat the classics.....and sometimes you can? I played Wonder about 3 months after beating Super Mario World, so that game is still fairly fresh in my memory, and I have to say, I think I pretty clearly prefer this game. The "Wonder" mechanic won me over, as it did something I've never seen in a video game before, which is transform the level in a split second to something completely different. Many times an entirely new mechanic would be introduced or something else visually interesting and new would happen, such as with the camera or some character animation, and that would captivate me. The gorgeous visuals are super colorful, creative, fun, and varied, and really capture the spirit of Super Mario World even if their art styles are rather different. Collecting Wonder Seeds was a lot of fun and the game keeps track very nicely for completists, so it's very convenient to select levels and go back to get what you need. I didn't go crazy for purple coins, flags, Wonder Seeds, etc. but I would estimate that I probably grabbed about 80% or so of everything in the game. There were some stages I missed and I opted to not attempt the final two "hardest" levels -- just not at that point in my life anymore where I'm completing every little thing. I did play one of the "hardest" levels (the "Semifinal") and beat it in about 10 or so minutes, so I just didn't feel motivated to seek out the harder levels after having such a smooth and complete experience with the other stages.

I also loved the overworld map, which contained mini side quests and little goodies. It was a pleasure navigating, beating levels, and unlocking new pathways. I had a lot of fun with the mini levels too -- the badge challenges, races, break times, etc. (not the search party levels, fuck those). This game succeeds over New Super Mario Bros 1/2, for example (only mentioning them because I also beat those games recently), because not only is the Wonder mechanic something completely new and not just a gimmick, the level design is top notch. So many times throughout the game, I remarked to myself how I had never seen a mechanic before. And I do tend to play many 2D platformers. I didn't care tremendously for the badges. I stuck with 2 or 3 of the same badges for the whole game. A whole 1/3 of them are designed for beginner players to have a huge advantage while the other 1/3 change the gameplay in weird/not fun ways (like one where you constantly bounce). The other 1/3 are just OK. Many modify your jump in some way. The idea is cool and I like how it's RPG-ish, but they need to refine this mechanic somehow in the future. Overall, the game is rather easy. I beat it in a few days with very little difficulty, but there are a few tough stages (I will mention that the final boss is a joke, but I don't think Mario games ever had that much of an emphasis on boss difficulty). And like I mentioned, I didn't play the hardest 2 stages, but I'm not fiending for that kind of gameplay either (I played Celeste this summer as well and made a lot of progress on that game's harder worlds, so I am not averse to challenging levels whatsoever).

So I do think this ranks as my favorite 2D Mario title. I could probably spend another 8 hours running back through levels to get 100% with no complaints at all if I was willing to commit the time. It's a very creative game with cool new twists on the Mario formula, which has proven to stand the test of time. In a way, considering Super Mario World is 33 years old, it's quite amazing how little the core experience of Mario is. You're essentially doing the same things and controlling him very similarly. Yet everything -- from the extremely crisp and dopamine releasing sound effects to the big, bright, varied backdrops -- creates such a new and stunning experience that you want to keep jumping in for more.

What works

• Endless charm
• Huge variety in the Wonder Seed effects and almost all of them are delightful
• So many clever level designs, finding secrets is very rewarding

What doesn’t

• Removing the timer really just made me question what the point was in keeping lives. Most levels aren’t difficult enough for limited lives to be a challenge, apart from a small handful (Special World) which are hard enough that sitting through Prince Whatshisname’s little speech gets a bit annoying
• Bubble Mario is a little meh, though I imagine in the right hands you can do some crazy stuff

Verdict

They really knocked it out of the park with this one. I hope the team that made it is proud of themselves, because they’ve made something fantastic here. The New Super Mario Bros series could feel a little manufactured at times, but this is full of so much creativity and goofiness, even beyond where Odyssey took things on the silly scale. It even has playable credits!

I finished Super Mario Wonder today, and overall I'm pleased. This was a refreshing take on 2D Mario, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for the franchise in regards to 2D. The colors were vibrant, the wonder flowers were a fun experience, and the levels were well designed. I do have a few gripes with the game, but at the end of the day I do believe Super Mario Wonder is a solid game.

My gripes with the game aren't major, nonetheless they are gripes. First off, the game feels a tab bit short. I 100% this game, and my switch recorded my time as "20 hours or more." I'm inclined to believe that this time is closer to the 20 hour mark. I did play through the game relatively fast, but even then it felt like the game was short. The third world (waterfall world) felt very short compared to other levels in the game. I'm not sure why this is. The levels aren't the most complex or challenging, but the visual presentation and wonder flower gimmick was fun to experience throughout each level. I do think this is one of the more easier Mario games, but that shouldn't be taken as a negative. I like the way the world map is designed, and I really enjoyed how the petal isles connected all the different worlds; I saw it to serve as a sort of hub for the game. I would've enjoyed some more challenging platforming from time to time is all. There are definitely harder levels within the game, mainly in the secret world, but taken as a whole I'd say the game was pretty easy. I won't even mention the boss fights because they were trivial. Even the final boss fight was too easy. I liked the gimmick for the final boss fight, and the visuals/music, but from a gameplay stance the fight was easy. The final final test where you have to prove your skill with all the action badges was an insane challenge. It took me a couple hours to get through it, and that final invisibility section was unbridled hell. I did feel a sense of accomplishment once I finally got through the level, but man that level was tough from beginning to end. I enjoyed 100%ing the game, and most of the medals rewarded to the player's profile make sense. I did not enjoy grinding out flower coins to purchase every standee however. There were multiple times throughout my playthrough where I reached the max 999 limit for flower coins, but never spent them. I was really only spending these coins when I needed a wonder seed or extra lives. At no point in the game does it tell you that you need to purchase every standee for 100% completion. I didn't realize this until near the end of the game, so I had to grind out flower coins for a couple hours to purchase every standee. Not the most grindy task I've ever done in a game, but it would've been a hell of a lot easier if I had known I needed standees for 100% completion.

I enjoyed Super Mario Wonder. It feels like a step in the right direction for the series compared to the recycled NSMB series we've been getting for the last 15 years. The game isn't perfect, but it provides a solid foundation for future titles to build off of.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder on väkevä uusi tuleminen 2D-Marioille. Pyörää ei ole välttämättä keksitty kokonaan uudelleen vaikka innovaatioitakin mahtuu mukaan, mutta pyörä ei kyllä ikinä ole pyörinyt näin hyvin.

Peli on pääosin hyvin perus tasoloikkaa. Valkkaat kentän kartasta, pelaat tämän läpi ja saat Wonder Seed -tähdenkorvikkeen. Wonder Seedeillä saa uusia kenttiä auki, ja alueen päädyssä olevista lopparikentistä saa Royal Seed -plöttejä, jonka avulla pääsee askeleen lähemmäksi vikaa maailmaa ja Mario-pelille shokeeraavan yllättävää pääpahisvalintaa, Bowseria. Välillä seassa on minipelikenttiä, jututettavia NPC-hahmoja, kauppiaita ja kartalta etsittäviä salaisuuksia. Toimivaa tavaraa. Ja pelin loppuvastus on tutusta vihulaisestaan huolimatta todella viihdyttävä spektaakkeli.

Uutuutena pelissä ovat kentistä löytyvät happoiset Wonder Flowerit, jotka poimiessa muuttavat joko pelattavaa hahmoa, kenttää tai kumpaakin harvinaisen yllättävillä tavoilla. Pelissä voi pelata limalöntti-mariona, nähdä vihollisten musiikkiesityksiä, joutua yllättäen vastaamaan tietovisaan tai hyppäämään fossiilista henkiin heräävän lohikäärmeen selkään. Vaikutus pelin hauskuuskertoimeen ja luovuuteen on valtava. Ja ei haittaa, että jokainen kenttä Wonder Flower-sekoituksineen on ensiluokkaisesti suunniteltu.

Pelin toinen uutuus ovat equipattavat badget, joita voi joko ostaa NPC-kauppiailta tai joita saa palkinnoksi tietyistä kentistä. Pelaaja voi laittaa hahmolleen kerrallaan yhden joko passiivisia tai aktiivisia kykyjä antavan badgen. Näitä ovat esimerkiksi SMB2-tyylinen kyykyssä ladattava superhyppy, ylöspäin suuntautuva seinähyppy, seiniin tarttuva grappling hook tai vaikka juoksunopeutta nostava "buffi". Badget tuovat mukavaa vaihtelua ja kustomoitavaa muuten tuttuun 2D-Mario-pelattavuuteen. Monesti badgen vaihtamisella oli myös ihan selkeää hyötyä kentän läpipääsyn kannalta.

Ja viimeisenä uutuutena pelissä on nettipeliominaisuudet. Mikäli pelaaja kytkee nettipelin päälle, hän näkee muita samaa kenttää tahkoavia pelaajia. Muut pelaajat voivat viestiä muutamalla emotella, antaa power-uppeja tai auttaa pysymään hengissä parillakin eri tavalla. Pelissä voi tiputtaa kenttiin Standee-nimisiä checkpointteja haluamiinsa paikkoihin. Jos pelaaja esim. putoaa rotkoon ja lähellä on toisen pelaajan jättämä Standee, hän voi kummituksena lentää tämän luo ja päästä takaisin elävien kirjoihin. Samaten, mikäli pelaaja kummituksena pääsee ihmispelaajan luo, ylösnousemus tapahtuu. Moninpeliominaisuudet ovat simppeleitä ja ihan hauskoja lisiä tuttuun formaattiin. Ne voi myös kytkeä kokonaan pois, mikäli haluaa ehdotonta omaa rauhaa.

Kuten yleensä Nintendon isojen 1st party -pelien kanssa, on Super Mario Bros. Wonderin ulosanti hyvin laadukasta tavara. Peli on erittäin nätti ja äärimmäisen värikäs. Alueiden visuissa on hienoa vaihtelua, pelattavien hahmojen animaatiot ovat ilmeikkäitä ja pelistä lyötyy isot määrät uusiakin vihollishahmoja, jotka ovat designiensa puolesta omiin silmiini ihan klassikkotavaraa. Myös pelin valikot ja UI-elementit ovat kerrankin tyylikkäät ja eivät näytä Wii Sportsilta tai konsolin järjestelmäasetuksilta. Mario on liian usein hyvinkin "vaniljaa" ja kaavamaista tyylinsä puolesta, joten on erityisen virkistävää nähdä uutta virtaa. Musiikkikin pelissä on pääosin ensiluokkaista kattavalla genreskaalalla. Paikoin musiikki on kuitenkin "vain" perus-Mariota, eli ei siis huonoa, mutta muun pelin sekopäisestä luovuudesta ja karismasta irrallaan.

Uudistuksista huolimatta, peli tuntuu edelleen tutulta 2D-Mariolta – ja se ei ole suoranaisesti huono asia. Pikemminkin Super Mario Bros. Wonderissa on onnistuttu tuomaan toimivia uusia juttuja muuttamatta liikaa hyvinkin perinteisen pelin tuntumaa ja pelattavuutta. Tosin, jos etsii jotain ihan muuta kuin 2D-Mariota, ei sitä tästäkään 2D-Mariosta kannata etsiä.

Peli on niin huolella ja rakkaudella tehty, että sen parissa on jatkuvasti hauskaa ja kaikki palaset tuntuu aina olevan kohdillaan. Toivottavasti 2D-Mariot jatkavat tästä eteenpäin yhtä omaperäisinä ja yllätyksellisinä kuin tämä.

P.S. Tämä oli sadas arvosteluni täällä.

There are so many improvements to the 2D Mario formula with this game! Best part was not bumping into friends like in the New Super games. But here's what brought down this game for me:

1. The amount of content is not worth full retail price. It feels too short! Solution? They had so many great level gimmicks, using them once or twice only through the entire game. They could use each gimmick again or mix them together, giving us a few more levels!

2. It's also the easiest 2D Mario. I feel like I did with Mario Galaxy. The game is not challenging, only in a select few levels with most of those being at the very very end. Maybe those extra levels I suggested could be harder levels?

3. The final boss of each area is awful, and some areas have no final boss!! This feel extremely lazy design-wise. And when there is a boss they're repetitive not fun to play.

4. The secrets are few and they're not very secret. It seems like the only good secrets are in old video games (no, I'm not talking about impossible to figure out secrets). Mario World had hidden switches that revealed new boxes/platforms that led to new exits that led to new areas/shortcuts. Or the colour of the level told you if there was another exit that would lead you down a new path. The older games didn't have 3 special coins to find or a goal to collect. Just a fun level to beat and it is still fun to go back to.

Anyway, that's enough complaining. I did have a good time over all, I just expect more from a name like Nintendo. There are so many fantastic indie games and ROM hacks that maybe one day I'll not feel like paying money to Nintendo and instead support something else with that money.

This is like a 4.75 out of 5. It is not a perfect game, but it is pretty close to a 5/5 - it is a good and enjoyable game.

It's a 2D Mario game, so yes, you know what it is. Side-scrolling platformer with some enemies, coins, and power-ups. And this hits all of the beats. The game is a lot of fun, the power-ups are inventive and fun, the badges add a nice twist. The music is cool, playing with some beats from old games but with a lot of new stuff.

The thing that puts this really up high is all of the really subtle things that just show love. From the whacky things like roller-skating Koopa Troopas to sleeping or angry Goombas, to all of the flowers' and their dialogue, you can just see there is a lot of love and attention to detail in this game. Even things like the backgrounds and, occasionally, foreground shadows, you see they paid a lot of attention to detail and put so many little details in. And it is really brilliant because it pays off.

I am not fully done, but it feels like the platforming is not super hard to beat the game. The difficulty ramps up with some of the things you need to do to 100% it, though. Some of the hidden/secret levels are hard, and I expect the badge challenges will get much harder as well. And also finding the secrets themselves is clearly a big challenge as well.