Fantastic new entry into the 2D Mario Platform era series, a wonderful breath of fresh air from the New Soup series that finally reinvigorates the franchise for the first time since 2006.

Endlessly creative, it feels like all of Nintendo's built up ideas from the last 17 years packed into a single game. There are some smaller issues here and there, the boss fights are a main example, it seems with all their creativity and flair in the level design, Nintendo actually forgot to make good boss fights, hell some worlds don't even have a boss to begin with, it's the same repetitive fight with Bowser Jr. over and over again with mild variation. I get the complaints about the Koopalings in previous games but man, I actually prefer them to what we got here, they could have actually brought the Koopalings back again and done something really cool with the wonder mechanic and turned each of them into unique and challenging boss fights to remember and mark the end of each world, but sadly not, I think that's my main huge gripe with the game, bring back some unique fights like the first NSMB game did, maybe make the game a little more challenging (it's genuinely really easy for 99% of it, I would only call the final special world a real challenge) if they amped up the main game to like DKC levels of difficulty and actually went for the level of quality of the bosses that those games have, then I genuinely think this could be my favourite 2D platformer ever, but Tropical Freeze is still superior I'm afraid.

I love the online mechanic though, makes a lot of fun out of something really simple and it's enjoyable to see others bouncing around, there's a real sense of enjoyment and community in helping others reach the goal and I would love to see it return in future.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder does almost everything right, the amount of flair and detail in the animations alone are to die for, the levels are immaculately designed and and brimming with life and creativity, the wonder mechanic is a much needed shake up for the series and adds a lot of variation to each level, I'm glad they removed the timer too it helps to ease the flow of the game and we can actually appreciate each level at out own pace. The game is a hell of a lot of fun too and with that online function, this game is for sure a winner and one of my favourites of the year, as well as one of the best Mario games in general. If I could make a few suggestions in for the next game, I think I would like to see:

• More difficult main game - around the level of Tropical Freeze
• More creative and varied boss fights and at least one for every world - The Koopalings would have actually worked here if they'd used the Wonder concept right with them, heck Kamek appears in the game but we don't fight him? Ridiculous
• More online functions - I absolutely love the ghost mechanic implemented here, but another option for true online multiplayer would be game changing for the series, they did it for 3D World, so why not here?
• Extra modes for the post game - Seriously, NSMBU Deluxe had challenges at the least, so I'd like to see stuff like that here. The game would be incredibly fun to learn to speedrun, so a time trial mode, much like Tropical Freeze, would work wonders with this game.
• A longer game - it's criminally short, a wonderful time and I adored every second of it but 8 worlds would have been more appreciated I feel. Maybe go for less convoluted world design and implement more time into a greater number of levels, I think that would go over better in a future sequel
• More varied soundtrack - there are some bangers here and I love what they did with the music, but I mean why not go all out? Different music for each level would be a tough feat but would pay off phenomenally well, I hate to bring up Tropical Freeze again but that game NAILS every aspect, including the soundtrack
• More Badges - maybe just a few more that they could do that would really shake up the gameplay and allow for greater playing around, maybe be able to apply two different badges of two different types in the next game? A lot of them are pretty redundant here when put next to the better badges and I think if they just had a greater variety that were all different from each other or something, the mechanic could really reach its true potential for sure

Overall, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an absolute delight, it's brimming from head to toe with flair and creativity, the artstyle and minute attention to detail is gorgeous, I love the sound design too. It has a few flaws here and there that do hold it back from true perfection (Tropical Freeze) and there's a few improvements that they coild definitely implement in a future game, but it's a HUGE step in the right direction and it's definitely the shake up that the series truly needed, I hope to see this level of passion, creativity and variety in the series' future.

Oh and Bowser being a castle was cool, but his boss fight was pretty generic and genuinely really easy for a final fight, it reminded me a lot of Tiki Tong from DKCR, but that was 13 years ago now. Boss fights are my main gripe, honestly if they just fix that and maybe implement a few of the suggestions I made here and there, I think we'd be nearing a nigh perfect game. Loved Mario Wonder regardless though and I'd highly recommend it to anyone, purely just because it's so unique compared to so many other platformers, even with its flaws, it's hard not to love it.

9/10