Lil ol me’s gaming bread and butter was 2D Mario growing up. Being basically an overgrown baby playing the likes of Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World then playing the shit out of New Super Mario Bros for the DS and Wii. With this childhood experience, I have 2D Mario embedded into my DNA code. After 5 or something New Super Mario Bros games there definitely came a certain stiffness with this side of the series that made me subconsciously associate it with the equivalent of a gaming fast food chain except they don’t have spicy potato tacos or frostys.
Wonder does away with any stiffness the series had, everything having an absolute fluidity to the point that Mario himself is the most expressive and charming he’s ever been. His facial expressions squish into a cute smile or even cuter determined eyebrow furrow as he jumps and runs around the equally expressive and dynamic Flower Kingdom, the setting being overall gorgeous to look at. Even classic enemies like Goombas have bouncy animations that give a lot of personality to them. Their cute snoozing faces to their wide-eyed expressions that nonverbally express “AHHH SHIT” when Mario drops in for the kill. Every single new enemy has an interesting quirk to them that breathes life into the Flower Kingdom, and a gimmick that gives them a unique interactivity within the levels they are in. The visual style and animations have garnered praise since the game's first reveal for injecting life into the game but I want to praise the sound design for being just as good. All the sound effects are familiar but are filtered through a new font that captures a unique energy that encapsulates Mario Wonder.
There are pieces here and there that evoke memories of Mario 3 and World rather than New Super Mario Bros. The game is a return to form of sorts but Wonder effectively does its own thing with the familiar Mario formula. Besides the iconic Fire Flower and Star, every power-up here is unique to this game. Still, it is surprisingly used with restraint, not being thrown out every second but instead being given sparingly in levels where it makes sense for them to be. There is such an amazing sense of cohesion between the game mechanics and the environment in this game. There’s always some level of interactivity to be had between Mario (or whoever you are playing) and the world. If there’s a level where there are hot ass blocks that can be put out with water, throw in an Elephant power-up so the player can use the elephant's water-spraying technique to put out the fire blocks.
The biggest culprit of the game’s influx of bold creativity is the Wonder Flower, a mechanic that breaks the game’s base mechanics, thinking outside the box of what has been established but in an intuitive, organic way. Changing the level to be top-down instead of 2D. Playing a Goomba Stealth game. Bowser showing off his knowledge of music theory. Unforeseen cosmic horrors. Or a pop quiz.
I’m amazed at this game’s incredible pacing, no second is wasted as there are always fun engaging ideas for a level’s gimmick being thrown at you and then never overstaying its welcome. Some levels feel less than 2 minutes long because they have an idea, set it up, execute it, and then move on. Sometimes it gives you “Break time” levels that break the pace up for a little snippet for an easy, cozy wonder seed. The fact that no time in this game feels wasted is a testament to this game’s confidence to be a relatively smaller game than normal in the current AAA game climate but also the crew behind this game being given as much time as possible to experiment and work their imagination. It's a year where it’s apparent that the people who make art aren’t treated well from all the game industry layoffs to the staff of one of the year’s most popular anime working on a horrid production schedule that results in their vision being compromised. Nintendo creating a comfortable environment for their artists to be able to fully realize their vision is a breath of fresh air.
Wonder does away with any stiffness the series had, everything having an absolute fluidity to the point that Mario himself is the most expressive and charming he’s ever been. His facial expressions squish into a cute smile or even cuter determined eyebrow furrow as he jumps and runs around the equally expressive and dynamic Flower Kingdom, the setting being overall gorgeous to look at. Even classic enemies like Goombas have bouncy animations that give a lot of personality to them. Their cute snoozing faces to their wide-eyed expressions that nonverbally express “AHHH SHIT” when Mario drops in for the kill. Every single new enemy has an interesting quirk to them that breathes life into the Flower Kingdom, and a gimmick that gives them a unique interactivity within the levels they are in. The visual style and animations have garnered praise since the game's first reveal for injecting life into the game but I want to praise the sound design for being just as good. All the sound effects are familiar but are filtered through a new font that captures a unique energy that encapsulates Mario Wonder.
There are pieces here and there that evoke memories of Mario 3 and World rather than New Super Mario Bros. The game is a return to form of sorts but Wonder effectively does its own thing with the familiar Mario formula. Besides the iconic Fire Flower and Star, every power-up here is unique to this game. Still, it is surprisingly used with restraint, not being thrown out every second but instead being given sparingly in levels where it makes sense for them to be. There is such an amazing sense of cohesion between the game mechanics and the environment in this game. There’s always some level of interactivity to be had between Mario (or whoever you are playing) and the world. If there’s a level where there are hot ass blocks that can be put out with water, throw in an Elephant power-up so the player can use the elephant's water-spraying technique to put out the fire blocks.
The biggest culprit of the game’s influx of bold creativity is the Wonder Flower, a mechanic that breaks the game’s base mechanics, thinking outside the box of what has been established but in an intuitive, organic way. Changing the level to be top-down instead of 2D. Playing a Goomba Stealth game. Bowser showing off his knowledge of music theory. Unforeseen cosmic horrors. Or a pop quiz.
I’m amazed at this game’s incredible pacing, no second is wasted as there are always fun engaging ideas for a level’s gimmick being thrown at you and then never overstaying its welcome. Some levels feel less than 2 minutes long because they have an idea, set it up, execute it, and then move on. Sometimes it gives you “Break time” levels that break the pace up for a little snippet for an easy, cozy wonder seed. The fact that no time in this game feels wasted is a testament to this game’s confidence to be a relatively smaller game than normal in the current AAA game climate but also the crew behind this game being given as much time as possible to experiment and work their imagination. It's a year where it’s apparent that the people who make art aren’t treated well from all the game industry layoffs to the staff of one of the year’s most popular anime working on a horrid production schedule that results in their vision being compromised. Nintendo creating a comfortable environment for their artists to be able to fully realize their vision is a breath of fresh air.
This review contains spoilers
I too would risk the existence of an entire city just to get a chance at a gamer goth gf.