This is pretty much what New Super Mario Bros. should have become after the Wii version.
To be honest more than even the wonder flowers I think my favourite part of this is just how many new enemies appeared. I swear it has the be the most amount a Mario game has introduced. And they're all so different that many levels are based entirely around how they behave.
But the wonder flower thing is great too. Providing all kinds of amusing, fun, challenging moments. Or even making things unchallenging and just letting you feel like a beast. While some ideas do show up more than once it never feels reptitive...except that one where you turn in to a slime. That's a weird one. It shows up in world 5, appears 3 times there (something no other wonder power does) and then appears AGAIN in world 6.
There's also a few times when a wonder flower activates and I just think "...this would have just been a basic level gimmick in an old game", but those are few and far between, and in general this whole focal point of the game is incredibly fun.
Like most Mario games going for 100% is almost essential for actually finding any meat in the game though. These levels feel super short when just running through them, more so than even normal. There were times when I missed a flower coin (replacement for star coins, but function the exact same) so I had to run through a level again and it took me less than a minute.
Lots of characters to play as, including mainstays like Mario, Luigi and Peach. Yellow Toad and Blue Toad return, but not regular Toad for whatever reason. Daisy is added as a playable character for the first time(?) in a mainline platformer. Then there's Yoshi (in 4 colours) and Nabbit, who act as easy mode since they can't use power ups, but don't take damage. Yoshi also has flutter jump and can swallow enemies (no eggs though) while Nabbit...actually I didn't play Nabbit to know what, if anything, his special ability was.
While I appreciate letting Yoshi act like Yoshi in exchange for not using power ups, despite no one else getting unique properties (like Luigi's higher jumping or Peach's floating), having this invincibility should have been a toggle for everyone. It makes no sense to lock certain characters behind what are basically difficulty modes.
Speaking of, badges are here to affect difficulty too! They can range from helpful like letting you float with your hat, or doing a double jump, to more mundane utility like being a coin magnet, to...actually making things harder for you? Like making you jump higher but you're ALWAYS jumping, or making you invisible. I can only assume the latter are for challenge runs. Especially being invisible. In fact there are badge stages specifically designed around what each badge can do, since obviously normal levels can't lock things with the assumption you're using a specific badge, and invisibility is literally just "Haha this platforming stuff is a lot harder when you can't see yourself".
Quick thoughts on the new power ups:
Elephant: Weird and doesn't really fit how Mario has used power-ups before, but pretty fun to use.
Bubble: Not a fan. Kind of bland.
Drill: Can be fun, provides nice protection from enemies above you, making it fairly unique, at least in this game.
There's no "easy-mode" power up like the Tanooki or Cape this time. I guess playing as Yoshi with his flutter jump and/or using certain badges does that.
I'm rambling without purpose now. The game is very fun and creative. Every level offers something new. It's just very short.
To be honest more than even the wonder flowers I think my favourite part of this is just how many new enemies appeared. I swear it has the be the most amount a Mario game has introduced. And they're all so different that many levels are based entirely around how they behave.
But the wonder flower thing is great too. Providing all kinds of amusing, fun, challenging moments. Or even making things unchallenging and just letting you feel like a beast. While some ideas do show up more than once it never feels reptitive...except that one where you turn in to a slime. That's a weird one. It shows up in world 5, appears 3 times there (something no other wonder power does) and then appears AGAIN in world 6.
There's also a few times when a wonder flower activates and I just think "...this would have just been a basic level gimmick in an old game", but those are few and far between, and in general this whole focal point of the game is incredibly fun.
Like most Mario games going for 100% is almost essential for actually finding any meat in the game though. These levels feel super short when just running through them, more so than even normal. There were times when I missed a flower coin (replacement for star coins, but function the exact same) so I had to run through a level again and it took me less than a minute.
Lots of characters to play as, including mainstays like Mario, Luigi and Peach. Yellow Toad and Blue Toad return, but not regular Toad for whatever reason. Daisy is added as a playable character for the first time(?) in a mainline platformer. Then there's Yoshi (in 4 colours) and Nabbit, who act as easy mode since they can't use power ups, but don't take damage. Yoshi also has flutter jump and can swallow enemies (no eggs though) while Nabbit...actually I didn't play Nabbit to know what, if anything, his special ability was.
While I appreciate letting Yoshi act like Yoshi in exchange for not using power ups, despite no one else getting unique properties (like Luigi's higher jumping or Peach's floating), having this invincibility should have been a toggle for everyone. It makes no sense to lock certain characters behind what are basically difficulty modes.
Speaking of, badges are here to affect difficulty too! They can range from helpful like letting you float with your hat, or doing a double jump, to more mundane utility like being a coin magnet, to...actually making things harder for you? Like making you jump higher but you're ALWAYS jumping, or making you invisible. I can only assume the latter are for challenge runs. Especially being invisible. In fact there are badge stages specifically designed around what each badge can do, since obviously normal levels can't lock things with the assumption you're using a specific badge, and invisibility is literally just "Haha this platforming stuff is a lot harder when you can't see yourself".
Quick thoughts on the new power ups:
Elephant: Weird and doesn't really fit how Mario has used power-ups before, but pretty fun to use.
Bubble: Not a fan. Kind of bland.
Drill: Can be fun, provides nice protection from enemies above you, making it fairly unique, at least in this game.
There's no "easy-mode" power up like the Tanooki or Cape this time. I guess playing as Yoshi with his flutter jump and/or using certain badges does that.
I'm rambling without purpose now. The game is very fun and creative. Every level offers something new. It's just very short.