[Review] Super Mario Bros. Wonder

 

A nearly, fully wonderful experience

source: www.nintendo.co.uk

~ Intro ~

Super Mario Bros Wonder is Nintendo's newest take on Mario's 2D platforming games. It is quite a change from the New Super Mario Bros series, bringing in many new features and mechanics as well as overhaling the visuals. This game launched worldwide on October 20th 2023 and I have been playing it since release. I have manged to complete the main game and gather 4 of the completion medals, with only the final level left to do. With that being the case, I am more than confident to give my opinions on this game now. 

~ Positives ~

To start off the positives lets talk about the gameplay. The game takes Mario across several worlds filled with levels to eventually get to Bowser. This is your typical 2D Mario fare however the mechanics and additions that have been made are what make it stand out. As well as standard levels you can play badge challenges. These give Mario badges which grant him an ability used on the badge. These challenges are short and provide a nice little break from the main levels. You can also find other smaller levels like KO arenas and searching quests. These all add up to create a nice variety which I think previous 2D games had lacked. Going back to the badges though these are really cool, many of them make playing a lot more fun, like the dolphin badge for underwater levels allowing you to go faster. During levels you can encounter the games main gimmick, wonder flowers. These shake the levels up in really interesting and fun ways, they add further to the games variety and creativity. Some of my favourites are the wonder flowers that change the perspective or transform your character. These all add up to make a very fun and engaging gameplay experience.

Next, let's go into the level design of this game. The world map itself is no longer quite linear with only a few branching paths, there are now open areas you can find in the game, which allow you to choose between several levels. Sometimes you may even find secrets when walking around these sections, giving the game a good sense of exploration too. The actual levels themselves are quite well designed offering solid platforming and some good variation. All the levels feel quite different from each other and are quite memorable. This game also has foreground and background elements. Having these allowed for some interesting puzzles in the game as it was used quite well. The level design was really well thought through, so many cool decisions were made here.

The visuals are what I will move on to now. Gone are the days of super stiff and inexpressive characters, now all characters including enemies are really well animated, with tons of life in their movements and actions. Even the smaller details like a goomba physically chomping Mario when it hits him is present. The amount of care put into the animation just makes it flow so nicely. The other aspects such as level visuals look great too. Environments are much more interesting and not generic like the New Super Mario Bros games. The game just frankly looks stunning. 

Sound is something that I didn't think I would be talking about for a 2D Mario game after the recent games. However, the music for the game is by far the best it has been for a 2D Mario since earlier 2D titles. Tracks are much more memorable now and there is a decent amount of variety. While the bop bop vocals of the New Super Mario Bros games were charming, it got a little annoying after a while, nothing ever comes close to becoming annoying in this ost. The small details in sound design like how when you are elephant Mario the current bgm slightly changes adding in an extra element, is a really nice touch. The flowers were a great addition too, they are quite charming and are quite well timed with what they say, sometimes even being used to aid the player. The sound design is really nice in this game and I find myself listening to some of the soundtrack even out of the game.

To finish, the online experience for this game is absolutely amazing. The sense of community I felt while playing this game was so good. Players helping each other find secrets and discover alternate exists has been so wholesome. I actually like the change in player to player interaction too, it makes it much better to play when you aren't bumping into others all the time. There are also races you can do if you still want that competitive feel as well. This is how online should be done for 2D Mario games from now on. I will say though it can make the game even easier than it is due to the standees and people being able tor revive you, so I would recommend saving online play for when you are going back and collecting stuff like I did. 

~ Negatives ~

Their are two things that I didn't like about this game, let's start off  by talking about the narrative of the game. This game suffers from having an extremely basic plot but that isn't my main issue as basically every Mario game is like this. Being in a completely new kingdom made me want to learn about it, which sadly didn't really happen. Some residents of this new kingdom give you some details about life there, but they really don't tell you much about this brand new kingdom in the grand scheme of things. It would have been nice to have had some of the interactable characters tell you facts about the land, instead you get ones that just give you one ups and ask for money. 

The other thing I will talk about is the bosses. Other than the final boss, these were quite a disappointment for me. Not only were there not many standard bosses in the game but the ones that were there were all Bowser Jr, just with a few different environmental changes. So this game has neither quantity or quality. Airships not having a boss was very surprising too, instead they have push the button mini sections. This is kind of like how you would get past Bowser and push a button to lower the bridge on him in other Mario games. At first I thought it was a cool idea, but when they never got longer or harder it was just so disappointing. 

~ Conclusion ~

Overall, Super Mario Bros Wonder is exactly as the title suggests, full of wonder. While, there are two gripes I have with the game they don't impact it too much. This is easily the best 2D Mario we have gotten since the original New Super Mario Bros, I would probably even say it is my favourite one. I am really glad I decided to pick up this game as I wasn't 100% sure at first. I really look forward to what comes next for Mario's 2D ventures in the future and I will most likely be there day one like I was for this game. 

Rating: 4/5 (85/100)

Hours played: ??

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