Wonder is a game to be appreciated like a work of art.

It's not super difficult, save for some levels that let you know going into them (there's a star rating system!), but it is a game for children at the end of the day.

What it is, is pretty and whimsical.

(EDIT: I'd almost forgotten to mention how pretty the character animations are! They're so cartoony, I loved them. Incredible selling point for their whimsy.)

The Wonder Flower system aims at giving you a unique experience every level, taking a Mario level and putting a twist on it. Making you play a rhythm game with jumping, starting a mid-level boss fight, turning you into a goomba, or even just giving you a musical level with singing while you move through. It's ambitious in the way that it keeps levels fresh, and it's hard to think any of it isn't pretty. There's an overreliance on this mechanic to make levels interesting, but it never overstays its welcome by keeping it fresh. You'll rarely run into the same kind of Wonder Flower level, and they'll usually be different enough to be a test of what you learned last time rather than just the same thing.

The multiplayer, on the surface, is disappointing. You can't really directly interact with others, not in the way you could other games. What it does provide, however, encourages a much more cooperative experience. There are standees you can purchase with extra currency you're collecting anyways, which will only be used otherwise if you're 100%ing or low on lives. These portray whichever character you're currently playing in various states, like swimming or using the Bubble powerup. What's good about these, is that they serve the exact purpose you do. Reviving other players. You might be thinking, I don't need that! This game is for babies! And that's fine. You don't have to turn on the online and see randoms. But many times I found myself wanting to do a jump I'd messed up already and the level would've made me redo the whole thing for, and there was either someone waiting for me or a standee right where I wanted to go, letting me just find the nearest pit and jump in. You can just challenge yourself if you want, but the standees let you offer help! They're such a nice feature. I often found myself putting them over hidden blocks or putting specific powerup ones in areas where they were needed, and got smiles(you can press or hold a button to do one of 4 emotes!) in exchange. There were even special scavenger hunt levels where you were encouraged to play with people, where I'd often see someone running around helping everyone they saw!

So, while I might not think Wonder wasn't very hard, I never came into the game seeking that out and liked what I found. A pretty little game where I had a lot of positive human interactions. Levels were a joy to go through! I truly hope nintendo does more stuff like this, where I can enjoy it the journey more than the destination.