Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a pretty neat surprise back when it was first announced in June 21 of 2023's Nintendo Direct, a lot of people including myself kind of gave up the idea of a 2D Mario platformer that would have new concepts, be way more stylized, and for it to come in this very same generation before the Switch would be phased out. And for a while it seemed impossible, since the last interest in putting something out like this ended with New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe all the way back in early 2019, but lo and behold we had a new, and seemingly completely original 2D Mario platformer in the horizon... And man, I just couldn't be happier.
Having followed the New Super Mario Bros. series of games for a while, and experiencing the downfall of it in real time as each entry felt more stale and lackluster, I think I was one of the few people who still kind of longed Nintendo would go back to the formula just once more, and then determining if it would be over for it or not. Now, the absence of a game or hearing anything about it being even made was pretty well worth it because Wonder managed to achieve everyone's expectations as to where to go next, and turning a page from the same old same old.
I remember that as a kid and even now up until the release of this game I've always thought than an easy way to make something more unique out of any New Super Mario Bros. game would imply something like an adventure bringing back something like Sarasaland, a realm that has only really appeared once, left us with Daisy and nothing else, but that at the same time had featured a lot of alternate versions to things we already knew were common in the Mushroom Kingdom, such as exploding Koopas or the Superball Flowers being an alternate version of the Fire Flowers we were already so accustomed to. And, well, I still do like an idea of expanding where Super Mario Land left off to an extent, but for Super Mario Bros. Wonder they practically did all of that and more.
Wonder, instead of easily just being in the Mushroom Kingdom like always, introduced a whole new Kingdom, the Flower Kingdom, a never-seen before refreshing new place with a whole flora and fauna of its own, with so many new concepts and twists on the classic Mario underground or sky worlds, everything in here is so new and refreshing yet so familiar and classic feeling enough for it to not feel like it's too different from other games in the New series, kind of proving that the core of those games was fine but it just needed more innovation when it came to a setting, power-ups and levels, and that is one of Wonder's main strengths besides taking a little bit from every Mario game.
The level design is on top in this one, there is so much in these levels it's insane. New enemies everywhere (and pretty much a new one every few levels), very well hidden and rewarding secrets, fun collectibles and a lot of the feature a striking balance of horizontality and verticality in pretty much all of them coming in play with sometimes playing in the foreground and other gimmicks. Speaking of gimmick, this game practically revolves around them as every level features a Wonder Flower which practically turns the stage on its head and introduces a special gimmick to it. I'm pretty sure every single Wonder found in these is in some regards unique (there only being "types" of Wonder per se) so whenever you find a Wonder Flower it's pretty much guaranteed to be something new or something you haven't seen in a while, which keeps it fresh and is effective with its resources.
There are many types of stages, ones are normal levels where your objective is to go to the flagpole, then there's a mix of pretty much anything; short stages where it's only one screen and it's mostly to give you a little challenge while making a Wonder Seed easily available, races with a Wiggler, search parties where it's a rather big screen and its search quest for many hidden collectibles in a seemingly empty place, and then of course, the Badge Challenge stages, which brings me to the badge system.
The newly introduced Badge system is your usual perk system but for Wonder, it pretty much is just a way to change up the gameplay, either drastically or just an aid to get to more hidden places in the stages themselves, the selection is fine and I'm sure people made better use of it than me as I usually have the same problem of having one perk always and never switching it off, if it wasn't because the Parachute Cap one they give you at first is pretty much one of the best ones because it offers infinite verticality and can save you from dying many times, so in that regard I wish they made you be able to equip many or make them more like side-grades rather than straight up making it easier to play, but I won't deny that it is a step in the right direction in every way.
I particularly like how the new power-ups actually feel straight out of those early 2010's videos where they showcased a bunch of crazy ass power-ups that seem so farfetched and non doable in a normal Mario game, but this is not a normal Mario game. They were quick to add in an Elephant power-up where you become bulky, and can destroy and deflect every enemy and block in the way besides being able to spray everything with water, or the Bubble Flower which is pretty much an alternative to the Ice Flower that makes bubbles that are able to encapsule enemies and make them be able to be jumped on from mid-air, or even the Drill Mushroom which is reminiscent of the Spin Drill all the way back to Super Mario Galaxy 2. All of these in a 2D Mario game make for an excellent cast of powers and stuff to choose from, besides some of these being necessary for some of the secrets or just to get away from situations easier.
The Online mode makes the feeling of loneliness from playing a game that's probably meant to be for more than singleplayer go away as you can instantly connect and see other people seamlessly playing the same levels as you, being able to make an emote or offer a standee so if they get defeated in a more difficult part of the level they can go right back without going through a game over, and being able to aide others in things like search parties or by giving them an item. Is a very cute feature that while isn't straight up online multiplayer, makes the feeling of playing through the game a collective one more than just straight up loneliness, I like that they kept it semi-canon too by not having other people who play as your character and not having more than 4 people on the stage at all times, things would've gotten really messy then so I'm glad it is how it is right now.
And I guess for the bad part would be the duration of the game. 2D Mario has never been that long, and don't get me wrong the game isn't super short like New Super Mario Bros. 2 is, but in some regards it feels like you have too much fun binging it so it runs out very quickly, at least for the more avid players. But there's also an argument to be had that some of the worlds weren't as realized as one could've thought, knowing that at least two of them didn't even even have a final boss fight and were more of an overall quest you took on and then moved on to another world with an annoyingly confusing or big layout. And then the bosses themselves weren't really all that good since it's all just Bowser Jr. with a new yet very easy to figure and beat Wonder effect, for once the Koopalings would've been nice to have in some regard so it wouldn't just be the same over and over again, or hell, make it like 2006's New Super Mario Bros. where every boss would be a big bad powerful version of a more common enemy. Something like that would've been more nice and refreshing than what we got.
But for what it is, it's not bad at all. This was actually one of the few releases I was able to catch onto when it came out thanks to my girlfriend, and I've never been too psyched about awaiting a Nintendo game then playing it as soon as it's out the oven, but for a mainline entry in one of the series that's been part of my childhood for so long, I knew I had to. And I have no regrets, I'm glad 2D Mario is making a resurgence and while I feel like this one is the stepping point from the New series to something completely new, I feel like it's a great transition into possibly making something even more wilder and different for a possible next entry, I just wish this had come out sooner in the Switch's lifespan so I could have been filled with hope from much, much earlier.
Having followed the New Super Mario Bros. series of games for a while, and experiencing the downfall of it in real time as each entry felt more stale and lackluster, I think I was one of the few people who still kind of longed Nintendo would go back to the formula just once more, and then determining if it would be over for it or not. Now, the absence of a game or hearing anything about it being even made was pretty well worth it because Wonder managed to achieve everyone's expectations as to where to go next, and turning a page from the same old same old.
I remember that as a kid and even now up until the release of this game I've always thought than an easy way to make something more unique out of any New Super Mario Bros. game would imply something like an adventure bringing back something like Sarasaland, a realm that has only really appeared once, left us with Daisy and nothing else, but that at the same time had featured a lot of alternate versions to things we already knew were common in the Mushroom Kingdom, such as exploding Koopas or the Superball Flowers being an alternate version of the Fire Flowers we were already so accustomed to. And, well, I still do like an idea of expanding where Super Mario Land left off to an extent, but for Super Mario Bros. Wonder they practically did all of that and more.
Wonder, instead of easily just being in the Mushroom Kingdom like always, introduced a whole new Kingdom, the Flower Kingdom, a never-seen before refreshing new place with a whole flora and fauna of its own, with so many new concepts and twists on the classic Mario underground or sky worlds, everything in here is so new and refreshing yet so familiar and classic feeling enough for it to not feel like it's too different from other games in the New series, kind of proving that the core of those games was fine but it just needed more innovation when it came to a setting, power-ups and levels, and that is one of Wonder's main strengths besides taking a little bit from every Mario game.
The level design is on top in this one, there is so much in these levels it's insane. New enemies everywhere (and pretty much a new one every few levels), very well hidden and rewarding secrets, fun collectibles and a lot of the feature a striking balance of horizontality and verticality in pretty much all of them coming in play with sometimes playing in the foreground and other gimmicks. Speaking of gimmick, this game practically revolves around them as every level features a Wonder Flower which practically turns the stage on its head and introduces a special gimmick to it. I'm pretty sure every single Wonder found in these is in some regards unique (there only being "types" of Wonder per se) so whenever you find a Wonder Flower it's pretty much guaranteed to be something new or something you haven't seen in a while, which keeps it fresh and is effective with its resources.
There are many types of stages, ones are normal levels where your objective is to go to the flagpole, then there's a mix of pretty much anything; short stages where it's only one screen and it's mostly to give you a little challenge while making a Wonder Seed easily available, races with a Wiggler, search parties where it's a rather big screen and its search quest for many hidden collectibles in a seemingly empty place, and then of course, the Badge Challenge stages, which brings me to the badge system.
The newly introduced Badge system is your usual perk system but for Wonder, it pretty much is just a way to change up the gameplay, either drastically or just an aid to get to more hidden places in the stages themselves, the selection is fine and I'm sure people made better use of it than me as I usually have the same problem of having one perk always and never switching it off, if it wasn't because the Parachute Cap one they give you at first is pretty much one of the best ones because it offers infinite verticality and can save you from dying many times, so in that regard I wish they made you be able to equip many or make them more like side-grades rather than straight up making it easier to play, but I won't deny that it is a step in the right direction in every way.
I particularly like how the new power-ups actually feel straight out of those early 2010's videos where they showcased a bunch of crazy ass power-ups that seem so farfetched and non doable in a normal Mario game, but this is not a normal Mario game. They were quick to add in an Elephant power-up where you become bulky, and can destroy and deflect every enemy and block in the way besides being able to spray everything with water, or the Bubble Flower which is pretty much an alternative to the Ice Flower that makes bubbles that are able to encapsule enemies and make them be able to be jumped on from mid-air, or even the Drill Mushroom which is reminiscent of the Spin Drill all the way back to Super Mario Galaxy 2. All of these in a 2D Mario game make for an excellent cast of powers and stuff to choose from, besides some of these being necessary for some of the secrets or just to get away from situations easier.
The Online mode makes the feeling of loneliness from playing a game that's probably meant to be for more than singleplayer go away as you can instantly connect and see other people seamlessly playing the same levels as you, being able to make an emote or offer a standee so if they get defeated in a more difficult part of the level they can go right back without going through a game over, and being able to aide others in things like search parties or by giving them an item. Is a very cute feature that while isn't straight up online multiplayer, makes the feeling of playing through the game a collective one more than just straight up loneliness, I like that they kept it semi-canon too by not having other people who play as your character and not having more than 4 people on the stage at all times, things would've gotten really messy then so I'm glad it is how it is right now.
And I guess for the bad part would be the duration of the game. 2D Mario has never been that long, and don't get me wrong the game isn't super short like New Super Mario Bros. 2 is, but in some regards it feels like you have too much fun binging it so it runs out very quickly, at least for the more avid players. But there's also an argument to be had that some of the worlds weren't as realized as one could've thought, knowing that at least two of them didn't even even have a final boss fight and were more of an overall quest you took on and then moved on to another world with an annoyingly confusing or big layout. And then the bosses themselves weren't really all that good since it's all just Bowser Jr. with a new yet very easy to figure and beat Wonder effect, for once the Koopalings would've been nice to have in some regard so it wouldn't just be the same over and over again, or hell, make it like 2006's New Super Mario Bros. where every boss would be a big bad powerful version of a more common enemy. Something like that would've been more nice and refreshing than what we got.
But for what it is, it's not bad at all. This was actually one of the few releases I was able to catch onto when it came out thanks to my girlfriend, and I've never been too psyched about awaiting a Nintendo game then playing it as soon as it's out the oven, but for a mainline entry in one of the series that's been part of my childhood for so long, I knew I had to. And I have no regrets, I'm glad 2D Mario is making a resurgence and while I feel like this one is the stepping point from the New series to something completely new, I feel like it's a great transition into possibly making something even more wilder and different for a possible next entry, I just wish this had come out sooner in the Switch's lifespan so I could have been filled with hope from much, much earlier.