Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)

It's a Mario game. But it's not mindblowing. It's just fine.

The fact that every single level has its own gimmick makes it extremely unfocused, with no real chance to "git gud" at anything. It's cute. But that's about it.

And Elephant Mario is just weird.

I basically had to force myself to finally beat this game and get it off my backlog, after a year of collecting dust.

From start to finish, Super Mario Wonder is consistently fun. The platforming is as tight and polished as ever, the overworld map is charming (and surprisingly non-linear), the Wonder Seeds inject a healthy dose of surprise into the levels, the badges are fun to experiment with, and the character animation is a lot more expressive than in previous entries.

The game does undercut its sense of "wonder" in a few small ways. The talking flowers are pretty irritating: I'm grateful for the menu option to silence their saccharine jabber. The Florians are way more generic (and chattier!) than other denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. The game looks better than its predecessors, but its presentation still lacks the distinctiveness of a Rayman Origins/Legends or the dimension of a Donkey Kong Country Returns or a Sonic Generations/Superstars.

These are all quibbles, of course: I wanted a new 2D Mario to romp through, and Super Mario Wonder delivers! It's just a bit more iterative than I'd have expected from its title and marketing.

Technically, I haven't "beaten" Super Mario Wonder yet, as I have the final cap challenge stage to beat. That aside, I feel that I am comfortable to write a review on the rest of the content of the game other than a secret stage that literally comes at the very end of the game.

Hot take, this is nearly the best 2D Mario game ever made hands down. Super Mario World edges it out only slightly, based on the fact that Mario Wonder has the badge system that changes the dynamics and gameplay significantly, either making the game easier or able to be cheesed. This isn't an argument to say that if you don't beat a Mario game as small Mario you aren't a "real gamer" or anything, but more of a commentary on the fact that SMW self contains ALL the mechanics within itself while Mario Wonder has a feature to add mechanics. This is proven out in SMW with the existence of Kaizo hacks and utilizing vanilla SMW mechanics to beat them. SMW truly is the best Mario game (2D) ever concieved. However, this review is about Mario Wonder and how amazing it is!

I was totally skeptical when I saw the original trailers of Mario wonder with the flower coins, and wonder seeds changing the environment, the elephant power up. I was honestly expecting a huge swing and a miss from Nintendo on this one and boy I couldn't be more wrong. This checks every Mario box and then some for 2D games. Amazing, engaging level design. Fantastic sound effects and music. Incredible art design. New and interesting powerups. There is secrets, there is long levels, there is short levels. THERE IS MULTIPLAYER. The list goes on. You can pick from a variety of Mario characters, and swap them out at any time during your play from the world map. You want to play with a friend? Slap on another controller and play together, its fun, not a competition.

About that world map. You unlock new areas and levels by collecting Wonder Seeds. Wonder seeds dynamically change each level with a gimmick, usually about half way through. Each level contains two seeds (generally), one of which you get after completing the challenge mid level and one at the very end. Get enough, and you unlock different areas of the map. But then you decide where and when you want to play each area. You can swap between worlds, and within levels of worlds, its totally open.

About those badges I mentioned too. You can equip one of your choice that gives you different powers within the levels. They are unlocked by purchasing at a shop, or beating a challenge in the game. Ranging from starting with a mushroom in each level to a springy jump, some help you get though tricky parts of a level, or just make it more fun to play.

About the difficulty. This game has something for everyone. Mario fans, children, adults who haven't played in years. Many of the levels are incredibly accessible, and made more accessible by the features within the game. Don't fret however Mario veterans, there is plenty of ways to make your life more miserable (I mean fun..) by not using badges, or trying to get 100% of all the items much like yours truly. The difficulty does ramp up significantly, however there are ways to make it easier. For example, if you play as Yoshi, you can't die unless you fall in a hole. That's right, hit an enemy and you keep on going. Fantastic accessibility for kids and new comers alike, or those just wanting a casual experience.

I can't say enough about this game. If you love Mario you have to play it. If you are a casual Switch owner, I highly recommend it. If you are somewhere in between, you should play it. This game is a must play.

Whenever I play a Super Mario Bros. game, I'm always in awe of this franchise. Not only has it lasted decades, and become the forefront of both 2D and 3D platforming (not to mention how many other types of games Mario has been a part of), but Nintendo always finds new ways to innovate and improve upon what always made these games so great. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the latest example of how brilliantly Nintendo can continue to push this franchise nearly 40 years after the first Super Mario Bros. game.

I love how Nintendo expands on Mario's 2D history with Super Mario Bros. Wonder. For example, there's one level in Super Mario Bros. Wonder that is directly playing off of World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros., and I found myself taken aback by how even this first level is something Nintendo returns to, but it never feels like the same thing twice. I also love how this game is at times extremely difficult, as though Nintendo saw how people used Super Mario Maker and decided to make this a bit harder for the people who want to play this game that way. It's such a smart evolution that praises where Mario has been, while bringing him wholly into the next generation.

There are so many aspects to Super Mario Bros. Wonder that we've seen before, but again, Nintendo is evolving these ideas to make it into something greater. The overall world map has been done since Super Mario Bros. 3, but it still feels as full of life as ever. This is classic 2D gaming the way some of us know in our bones, but the addition of new hats that grant Mario different powers allows each of these worlds to be played in entirely different ways. The fact that Nintendo could introduce all these new tools, without ever breaking the game, is also a tremendous accomplishment.

But I'm also always so impressed with how Nintendo makes Mario games that are for everyone. If you want to just play basic, easy levels, you can beat the game that way. If you want to really challenge yourself, that's always something you can do. I've played Super Mario Bros. Wonder for several weeks now, and even though I've finished every stage, with new characters and power-ups, I still feel like I haven't scratched the surface. I think it's sort of ingenious how so many of the major Nintendo games that were released on the Switch just feel so gargantuan in the amount of stuff you can do and things you can try out in the game.

After almost 40 years, Mario and Nintendo still find ways to make this plumber interesting and innovative, with games that are challenging that I want to start over right after finishing them.

Released in 2023, Super Mario Wonder is the first non-New 2D Mario since Super Mario Land 2 (unless you count Super Mario Maker, which I don't).

So the expectations were high, and I must say... Nintendo didn't disappoint. The game looks and plays beautifully, with many new enemies, worlds to explore, and mechanics you won't find in any other Mario game. The highlights are the elephant transformation and the wonder effects, which transform the entire level into something different, usually with a gimmick to add variety to the gameplay.

There is also the addition of "normal" and "easy" modes that depend on the character that you use (Yoshi and Nabbit being the easy ones), and the ability to use badges, which give you different movements and can be changed anytime you want. So they added more than you would expect from a 2D Mario in 2023.

However, not everything here is perfect. The badges are severely underutilized and unbalanced, so you will probably use the same badge during most of the game because the others are gimmicky or useless for you, the secret exit levels can be cryptic and absurd at times, and some of the levels feel like filler, especially the search party ones, which are better if you look up the solution in Google.

Also, the bosses are awful, just Bowser Jr. without anything interesting to add, so they are a worse version of the boss battles from New Super Mario Bros Wii. And the special world is lacking too, only the final level is hard, which is disappointing, because they are usually the best part of the game for me.

But even with all these problems, I had lots of fun playing it. I love Mario, and this one is addictive, doing the 100% was a great time, the final world was amazing, and even the worst parts weren't that bad, just disappointing, because you feel like this could have been one of the best Mario games ever if it was more polished. Especially when you are in the latter levels, which feel more standard and dull than the vibrant and charming levels of the first and second world.

In conclusion, if you consider yourself a Mario or platformer fan I'm sure you'll love Super Mario Wonder, especially if you are tired of the "New" brand, just don't expect a perfect product.

I mostly play old games. If I play a new game, it's either some weird online game like Battlebit Remastered or an indie. I purchased my first ever modern TV on black friday (48" OLED") and played my Switch on a good tv for the first time with this game. WOW, no wonder you guys like modern games so much! They're really fun and look good on a nice big tv!

Loved this game. It's charming, almost too charming, like the Trader Joes cashiers... I beat most of the game, 100% shouldn't take much longer but I'm trying to wrap up 2023 with 30 completed games under my belt.

Next is Turok Remastered for Switch which I accidentally got myself sucked into while testing out my modded switch on the new TV, and Revelations: The Demon Slayer for GBC which I have been battling since childhood.

13th Game Completed In 2023

My personal trainer, who's not a big gamer and just got a Switch this year, said to me of Mario Wonder, "It's good, but it's missing the soul." And that's really stuck with me.

Mario Wonder has incredibly tight controls, is a game where every facet is polished to a mirror sheen, and where lots of cool moments happen... But it also kinda feels like a corporate product. It's the Marvel movie or Taylor Swift album of gaming. Sadly, that's when Nintendo as a whole has mostly been since the WiiU flopped - a big corporation. They make high-quality games for the whole family... Utterly lacking in soul, creativity, or any real desire to push the envelope.

Mario Wonder can be described relative to its own series: It's better than New Super Mario Bros, not as good as Super Mario World, and borrows heavily from design elements popular in Mario Maker levels. It feels like fan creativity run through an algorithm to create a homogenous experience where you like the game enough to play it through, but you just kinda have a 😐 face the whole time.

And it's weird for me to say that, because when I first started this game I was like, "Wow, this is the best Mario game I've ever played!" But then you realize the new powers are never used in creative ways. Levels have gimmicks, but not design elements that are learned and iterated upon. Enemies are there, but rarely integrated in smart ways into the level design, outside of a handful of brief Wonder segments. There's a few levels with secret exits, but only on a very superficial level, and not nearly as in depth as previous games.

Wonder is a carnival ride through a slideshow of absurdist art. You'll buy your ticket, you'll see the cool paintings, you'll have a good time, and you'll forget about it the next day.

People complain Mario Wonder is "too easy," but I don't think that's true at all... It's more that it's flat. You do the levels, you rarely have to think, you do the yahoo okie-dokie Mario Time like he says in the ads and the game is over.

The characterization in this game, and a lot of recent Mario games, is pretty cringe. It feels aimed at very young children with the exaggerated expressions and bouncy animations. The boss fight with Bowser made me consciously aware of the fact I'm a 33 year old man playing a children's video game desperately trying to find cause to justify to myself why I spent hours of my life on this game. And that's not something I'm emotionally ready to confront right now.

This all sounds very cynical, and I admit that it kinda is. I should be clear - the game is good, it has some cool stuff, you'll enjoy it. But watching Nintendo turn into the Disney of video games has been hard to watch. I'm tired of Pokemon games being released in a beta state and being charged extra for DLC. I'm tired of seeing a Zelda series I used to love turned into an open world crafting game, whose fans defend against the same poor game design conceits they lambast other games for having. I'm tored of seeing Switch iterations of long-running franchises ship with a higher price tag and less content than previous entires.

Seeing the cracks, and seeing this game nominated for Game of the Year, seeing this game with a high aggregate rating, while a game that I absolutely think is superior and tremendously more interesting in Sonic Superstars get 70s and receive a pretty mid reception from "the gamers"... I don't get it. I don't. I don't know why Nintendo gets a free pass and a pat on the ass.

I'm tired. I'm depressed. Mario didn't make me depressed, I just am. I have a fleeting few years left on this Earth in the relative timescale of human history, and I'm being conned into buying cynical corporate products to keep the shareholders happy.

Fuck.

When rumors of a new 2D Mario game started to pop up, I can't stress how little excitement I got from the news. New Super Mario Bros. on the DS was a promising revisitation of our favorite plumber's classic 2D platforming format, but its sequels felt like an exercise in diminishing returns. That's not to say the games in the New series are bad per se; New Super Mario Bros. U is filled with competent mechanics and often solid level design. However, a merely "OK" Mario game is quite a forgettable thing in a series with highs as legendary as Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.

Hell, I almost skipped this new game. I'm really glad I didn't, though, because Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an impressive return to form. Like the New Super Mario Bros. games, it closely revisits the mechanics of the classic 2D Mario games. But for the first time in a long time, it also throws in a much needed dose of creativity in its level design and mechanics. The end result is a joyful platforming delight, that despite not being groundbreaking, feels special enough to earn its place among the classics.

First, let's get the obvious out of the way: Wonder is a looker. I've seen a fair amount of 2.5D games in my day, and I can very easily say that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the best-looking one I've ever played. The characters are extremely expressive, the environments are unique and visually splendorous, and even the menus brim with pizzazz. When you put it side-by-side to its New Super Mario Bros. predecessors, it truly is night and day. It's the little details that make the difference here, like how Mario reaches out to grab his hat when entering a pipe, or how getting a power up makes your character exclaim in ecstatic celebration. Hell, I even liked the dumb talking flowers, who have plenty of hilarious moments. To put it plainly, Mario Wonder has a distinct personality to it, something which was sorely missing from the series for a long time.

The graphics are a noteworthy achievement, but it's not where Wonder ends. The gameplay sees some departures from past Mario titles--The removal of Mario's long-standing timer, for instance, is a notable change. I didn't miss it one bit, especially given Wonder's greater emphasis on exploring stages to collect purple coins and Wonder Seeds. The game still features multiplayer, but the long-standing character-specific mechanics that have existed since the classic games are gone, now replaced by Wonder's biggest new feature: badges.

Badges are collectibles that give you a helpful skill. These include super powerful ones such as the Parachute Cap, which lets you glide, and the Floating High Jump, which replicates Luigi's old high-jump. Some are more situational, such as the Dolphin Kick, which makes swimming much easier, or the Sensor, which points out the location of some of the trickier collectibles. While over time you will find that some badges are way more useful than others, I truly enjoyed this mechanic and the experimentation that it unlocks. I also enjoyed the new power ups in the game, with the Bubble Flower being a particular standout.

Wonder's structure is familiar to past games: you traverse a world map, taking on levels that are divvied up into distinct worlds. You'll find plenty of the standard level archetypes that you've seen in Mario before, such as grass, water, snow and desert levels. That said, they are much more visually distinct, and mixed in with a bunch of unique ones that I find hard to even describe. There's a world full of angular Minecraft-cube-shaped mountains, and even a Halloween level, for instance.

What's more, most levels will have a Wonder Flower for you to locate, which will usually transform the level in some way. This can vary as much as making enemies break out in song, transforming Mario into a Goomba, changing the game to a top-down perspective, and so much more. My only complaint is that the game does start to run out of ideas before it ends, and the recycling of previously seen effects takes away some of the excitement of finding Wonder Flowers.

Alongside the traditional Mario stages are also a variety of challenge levels, which will usually test your skill with a specific badge. These are fine, though at times I felt like there were too many of them padding things out. Also, I don't think I love Wonder's approach to difficulty. There is a point in the game where you can play worlds out of order. It's cool in theory, but in reality it results in levels being presented as a scattershot mix of easy and difficult levels. This makes the flow of the game feel a bit uneven, and it might be a contributing factor to Wonder feeling like one of the least challenging Mario games I've played. And while I'm at it, I should also mention that the game's soundtrack is one element that feels like it's stuck in the New Super Mario Bros. era, definitely not getting the same glow-up that the visuals got. Though I will say, the new voice actors did a terrific job, and it was very awesome to hear new takes on these established characters.

Finally, let me touch on the game's online mode. With online enabled, other players will randomly show up as you play. You can't really interact, except in one helpful way: in situations where you would get a game over, you instead turn into a ghost, and being touched by another player (Or one of the standees that can be dropped) brings you back into the game. It does make Wonder even easier, but I enjoyed the communal nature of the online mode, especially with some stages that feel custom-built for you to collaborate with other players to find secrets.

Wonder was a true delight that lives up to its name, and I'm happy to see that Nintendo finally found a way to make 2D Mario distinct and creative again. Sure, there are still a few small spots that could be refined, and it might be way too trivial in difficulty for someone who enjoyed the challenge of the classic Mario games. I still think Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a huge return to form for a sub-series that was at one point the poster child for Nintendo's over-reliance on recycled tropes and mechanics.

I was thinking about it, and I'm kind of amazed by the Mario series. This series has been around since 80s and it kind of set the standard for platformers, and it still kind of does. But it's also been extremely successful in other genres, too! Turn based RPGs with Legend of the Seven Stars and awesome Mario and Luigi games of my youth. Mario Kart is basically everyone's favorite racing game series, and it's weird how much I enjoyed Mario Tennis on the N64.

What I'm saying is, Mario's ability to change itself, but stay good is kind of phenomenal, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder is another step forward in that regard. The general feel of Mario games is here. The delightful movement, and silly monsters are here and it just makes me happy. Running around and jumping is good enough, but then you add the Wonder Flowers to the mix.

I don't know why, but I thought that the Wonder Flowers would be in the big levels of the worlds, but I was pelasantly surprised that there is a Wonder Flower on every level! And they're pretty much always awesome! Gameplay gets switched up pretty considerably, like playing as a blob that can stick to walls, riding on a dragon, or playing as a stealthy Goomba. If I ever didn't find a Wonder Flower, I would always go back and look around until I found it. That's how much I liked the Wonder Flower sections.

I know some people really didn't like the boss fights in this game, and yeah, it's not great fighting Bowser Jr. over and over again, but I like beating Bowser Jr., that little shit. Mario isn't really the series where I'm excited for the boss fights, either. This isn't Mario Galaxy, after all.

I also like how the later levels don't just become "death mazes" like some of the later levels of other Mario games. The levels all have fun gimmicks, and aren't just dodging endless Bullet Bills and cannonballs.

I think Mario Wonder might be my favorite 2D Mario game. Play this for just a great time.

It's a 5/5. You should play it. I'm just going to nitpick for a little bit because its my God-given right as one of Their beloved children to moan about Mario.

The music is weak. Not bad by any means, but there isn't a ton of it, and almost none of it "wow"Ed me. There is no Jump Up Super Star. There is no Gusty Garden or Dire Dire Docks. Heck, I woulda settled for a Delfino Plaza. The score is serviceable- just lacking in bops.

The game is just lacking in the difficulty department. I crushed this game like an empty sodie-pop can. No sweats broken. No swearing this game under my breath. I described this game to a co-worker (who I was recommending it to) as "Baby's First Mario". Insultingly easy. I get it Nintendo. You gotta do some of them for the newbies, but I've been playing Mario games for 30 years. What do you got for me?

The Wonders are cool. I overall enjoy them. But I realized about half way through that DKC Tropical Freeze frequently would flip a level on its head and would do so surprisingly, contextually, and delightfully. Mario Wonder sets an expectation for a wonder every level (which by the game's definition of "level" and "wonder", it does succeed at that) so there is no sense of surprise at the Wonder. You instead ask what will this Wonder be.

And the answer may surprise you because it might not have a ton to do with what the level has been setting up. I don't think the Wonders are "sOoOo RaNdOM", but I often don't find them as a release of the mechanical tension building throughout the level.

Finally, there are a lot of levels in this game. And most every level has a completely fresh Wonder. "Most" being the word in that previous sentence I want to complain about. There are some, probably less than ten to be fair, reused Wonders. And man, basically every time it is a let down. That's not to say that those parts are bad, but they are a let down.

Also you can give me more bosses than Bowser Jr. I don't even want to fight Bowser Jr. once!

I used to spend so much time complaining about Star Wars but it was because I loved Star Wars. I complain to you about Mario Wonder because I love Mario and I love Mario Wonder. I love the locomotion of it. I love the levels. I love hearing someone scream "Wowwie Zowwie". I love the new enemies- just exquisitely designed". Heck, I love the whole look of this game- some extremely pretty levels. I like the new mechanics. There are so many gorgeous menus in this game. The world map is the best in any Mario game. You can play as Daisy. All of my kids are playing this in several different formations. I like the talking Flowers (they beat Jar Jar Binks). The game has good secrets! Better secrets than Mario 3 or World? Eh that's questionable. But I don't think someone is crazy if they start mentioning this in the same breath as 3 or World. That's valid! I think this is in the top 3 Super Mario Bros 2D platformers. That's how good it is.

When my wife and I are alone, we'll discuss our children openly. I love my kids. They're my favorite people in the whole world. When it is just me and my wife, we speak about the kids honestly.

I love Mario Wonder. But it's just me and you, someone I can speak honestly with. Super Mario Bros Wonder has a fair amount of I'd change about it. It isn't perfect. The new Mario voice is kinda off. But I love Mario Wonder anyway.

Say goodbye to that "new" subtitle, baby, because we finally got a 2D Mario game with stuff that is actually new. After nearly 20 years of what feels like the same assets, same routine, same types of worlds, same music, Super Mario Bros. Wonder feels more new than the sequels to New Super Mario Bros. that call themselves "new".

With the NSMB series, it felt like we've been doing the same song and dance. With NSMB2 and NSMBU, 2D Mario started to feel too sterile compared to the 3D Mario games. Before 2012's 2D Mario games, we had Galaxy 1, 2, and 3D Land. 2 of the best Mario games, possibly best games of all time. The term I would define the latest 2D mario games before Wonder were soulless. Competent games, but not much personality. If you wanted a 2D platformer around that time, Rayman Legends is leagues better than NSMBU. With Wonder, a lesson the developers took when making this game was that music was power to the soul, and I think that they took it quite literally here because that is what they did with a few levels here. In the 2nd level, the developers want you to know that they're not following the NSMB route, they're getting out of their comfort zone this time. These levels that incorporate music aren't on the same level as Rayman Legends, which is a really high bar, for sure, but some of them were the highlights of the game as they have an infectious energy to them.

The 2 games that I was reminded of when playing were 3D World and Rayman Legends. These games had level design that introduced mechanics, remixed them, and then raised the stakes. There was one smart design decision that I really liked that introduces this mechanic by using the mushroom's mechanic of moving right. I'm not gonna explain it because I'm not good at explaining this with words. You just gotta see it for yourself. Like 3D World, not every level is perfect, but there are so many good levels to run through. And unlike 3D World and the NSMB games, Mario Bros. Wonder actually looks visually inspired; the uses of 2D and changed angles of characters to provide more expression, the much more varied backdrops with creative visuals such as waves of sand instead of same old, sterilized backgrounds.

I'm sorry. I really didn't want to make the obvious pun, but not everything is wonderful. Some mechanics were clunky to use such as the vine badge, using the hoppos on harder levels was frustrating, and the final part of the last level was my least favorite part of the game. It did follow 1 tradition from the original NSMB: 1 character was reused as the main boss up until the last boss. Post-game went back to basis with one world instead of 3D World's post-game. But a lot of these were minor in my eyes.

After nearly 7 years of the Switch's lifetime, it finally gets it's own 2D Mario game. I'm glad this was made as a way to spite people who were skeptical that Mario Maker 2 or NSMBU Deluxe replaces Nintendo making 2D platformers. I find it quite odd that they took inspiration from the Mario movie to make the characters expressive and more animated. I never saw any animation quirks that really charmed me in that movie, but I'll always get an impression from Wonder's animation and its many little details. Just like how the whole game left me on a really good note.

9/10