To preface this, I want to start by saying that Super Mario World was always my favorite platformer hands down - due to a factors partially played by nostalgia, but also the good controls, level design and replay value, although of course that's what my actual review of it is for.
I mainly bring this up though because I kinda feel like part of what made Super Mario World stand out to me (in addition to just being a really great game) was that in recent years I've sort of come to the conclusion that 2D Mario never really felt like it 'evolved' further upon what I liked about Super Mario World. While the first New Super Mario Bros game on DS was a good return to form for 2D Mario, it was... kind of just that, a return to form rather than what I would consider as a true 'evolution' of SMW, and that only really became more apparent when that style was used in another three games following it without much really being added to separate them from each other beyond just new level designs and a new power-up (and even in the case of DS, it isn't really a game I find much desire to replay compared to the SMB1-3 and World).
So when a new 2D Mario game was announced with more of it's own unique style, I pretty much instantly became interested in the new title, and now that it's released and I've played through it... Super Mario Bros Wonder did not disappoint me at all. This game was just an absolute blast to play in general - honestly outright giving me a similar 'vibe' playing it for the first time as I did playing Super Mario World as a kid. While I don't know if it necessarily surpasses World for me (whether that's just nostalgia speaking is up to you), it really feels like the true 'evolution' of the series that I have been looking for.
This game is practically oozing with complete creative charm pretty much throughout the entire game. The art style, while similar to the 2.5D look of the NSMB games, is generally more 'defined' with a sort of 'dreamy' art style that fits well with the game's direction, on top of the character models feeling very 'animated' and full of life. The model for Mario pretty much instantly reminded me of the 2D cover art style of the NES/SNES games (and even has an animated that plays when he enters and exits pipes, providing some nice attention to detail), and the environments look very colorful and lively - especially with the little flowers sprinkled throughout that "talk" to the player as they pass them.
But this creative charm is especially prevalent in the levels themselves. Supposedly, the crew behind this game was given a lot more creative freedom than in previous Mario games and to say that it shows would be quite the understatement. The level design is very dynamic, and many of them have their own unique mechanics and "gimmicks" that add a good amount of variety while still fitting in well with the traditional Mario-style design. This is especially apparent with the "Wonder" flowers you can find while playing through each level which completely turns the levels on their head with a variety of different effects - including pipes and ground coming to life, more enemies spawning, perspective changes where the game temporarily becomes top-down... and hell, the second level alone turns into a parade of singing/humming Pirahna Plants, which alone should tell you quite a lot of what I mean by this game's creative charm.
And in terms of replay value... man this game is just chock full of it. There's a good amount of secret exits and alternate paths you can traverse throughout the game, different collectibles including both the aforementioned Wonder Flowers as well as the 10-Flower Coins, the 'Badge' system where you can experiment with different abilities (including higher jumps, a grapple, coin magnets, just to name a few), and even a 'Special' World you can unlock. Admittedly for this playthrough I just focused on beating the 'main' game, but this is certainly a game I'm looking to go back to and even potentially 'complete'.
There is also multiple playable characters here which is always nice, albeit they largely play the same as opposed to having different inherent abilities like in SMB2 or Super Mario 3D World. Not necessarily something I'm losing sleep over, but it is worth mentioning at least. The only characters that have notable differences from the rest are the Nabbits and Yoshis - which basically serve as the 'Easy' mode of the game, where the characters don't take damage but with the drawback of not being able to use any power-ups. It is slightly disappointing as a certified Yoshi fan as I would have liked to play as the character but with the Normal difficulty and power-ups, but again, not really something I'm losing any sleep over. It is at least pretty neat that other players can ride the Yoshis when playing in local multiplayer... including other Yoshis, which, I mean, amazing.
And I haven't even talked about the new power-ups yet. Obviously the basics return here - the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Star - but there are a few new ones that are all pretty unique. Most notable was definitely the Elephant power up which literally turns the characters into Elephants, which was definitely really fun as a concept and in gameplay albeit a bit situational, as well as the Drill Power-up that allows you to evade enemies and hazards by burying either underground or in the ceiling. My favorite from a gameplay perspective was oddly enough the Bubble flower though - it is a bit similar to the fire flower (just instead of burning enemies you're turning them into bubbles) but it also comes with the addition where you can create 'platforms' that you can jump off of which is really nice for making certain jumps and going for collectibles.
In conclusion, I mean, what else is there to say. This game's absolutely phenomenal with so much creative energy just throughout the entire package, and honestly a game I would consider to be a must buy if you own a Switch, especially if you enjoy the Super Mario series and/or 2D platformers in general to any degree.
I mainly bring this up though because I kinda feel like part of what made Super Mario World stand out to me (in addition to just being a really great game) was that in recent years I've sort of come to the conclusion that 2D Mario never really felt like it 'evolved' further upon what I liked about Super Mario World. While the first New Super Mario Bros game on DS was a good return to form for 2D Mario, it was... kind of just that, a return to form rather than what I would consider as a true 'evolution' of SMW, and that only really became more apparent when that style was used in another three games following it without much really being added to separate them from each other beyond just new level designs and a new power-up (and even in the case of DS, it isn't really a game I find much desire to replay compared to the SMB1-3 and World).
So when a new 2D Mario game was announced with more of it's own unique style, I pretty much instantly became interested in the new title, and now that it's released and I've played through it... Super Mario Bros Wonder did not disappoint me at all. This game was just an absolute blast to play in general - honestly outright giving me a similar 'vibe' playing it for the first time as I did playing Super Mario World as a kid. While I don't know if it necessarily surpasses World for me (whether that's just nostalgia speaking is up to you), it really feels like the true 'evolution' of the series that I have been looking for.
This game is practically oozing with complete creative charm pretty much throughout the entire game. The art style, while similar to the 2.5D look of the NSMB games, is generally more 'defined' with a sort of 'dreamy' art style that fits well with the game's direction, on top of the character models feeling very 'animated' and full of life. The model for Mario pretty much instantly reminded me of the 2D cover art style of the NES/SNES games (and even has an animated that plays when he enters and exits pipes, providing some nice attention to detail), and the environments look very colorful and lively - especially with the little flowers sprinkled throughout that "talk" to the player as they pass them.
But this creative charm is especially prevalent in the levels themselves. Supposedly, the crew behind this game was given a lot more creative freedom than in previous Mario games and to say that it shows would be quite the understatement. The level design is very dynamic, and many of them have their own unique mechanics and "gimmicks" that add a good amount of variety while still fitting in well with the traditional Mario-style design. This is especially apparent with the "Wonder" flowers you can find while playing through each level which completely turns the levels on their head with a variety of different effects - including pipes and ground coming to life, more enemies spawning, perspective changes where the game temporarily becomes top-down... and hell, the second level alone turns into a parade of singing/humming Pirahna Plants, which alone should tell you quite a lot of what I mean by this game's creative charm.
And in terms of replay value... man this game is just chock full of it. There's a good amount of secret exits and alternate paths you can traverse throughout the game, different collectibles including both the aforementioned Wonder Flowers as well as the 10-Flower Coins, the 'Badge' system where you can experiment with different abilities (including higher jumps, a grapple, coin magnets, just to name a few), and even a 'Special' World you can unlock. Admittedly for this playthrough I just focused on beating the 'main' game, but this is certainly a game I'm looking to go back to and even potentially 'complete'.
There is also multiple playable characters here which is always nice, albeit they largely play the same as opposed to having different inherent abilities like in SMB2 or Super Mario 3D World. Not necessarily something I'm losing sleep over, but it is worth mentioning at least. The only characters that have notable differences from the rest are the Nabbits and Yoshis - which basically serve as the 'Easy' mode of the game, where the characters don't take damage but with the drawback of not being able to use any power-ups. It is slightly disappointing as a certified Yoshi fan as I would have liked to play as the character but with the Normal difficulty and power-ups, but again, not really something I'm losing any sleep over. It is at least pretty neat that other players can ride the Yoshis when playing in local multiplayer... including other Yoshis, which, I mean, amazing.
And I haven't even talked about the new power-ups yet. Obviously the basics return here - the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Star - but there are a few new ones that are all pretty unique. Most notable was definitely the Elephant power up which literally turns the characters into Elephants, which was definitely really fun as a concept and in gameplay albeit a bit situational, as well as the Drill Power-up that allows you to evade enemies and hazards by burying either underground or in the ceiling. My favorite from a gameplay perspective was oddly enough the Bubble flower though - it is a bit similar to the fire flower (just instead of burning enemies you're turning them into bubbles) but it also comes with the addition where you can create 'platforms' that you can jump off of which is really nice for making certain jumps and going for collectibles.
In conclusion, I mean, what else is there to say. This game's absolutely phenomenal with so much creative energy just throughout the entire package, and honestly a game I would consider to be a must buy if you own a Switch, especially if you enjoy the Super Mario series and/or 2D platformers in general to any degree.