Every single Mario platformer game, 2D or 3D, seems to gleefully reinvent itself to some degree, doubling down on the unique delights that they bring me. Continuing that trend, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is very aptly named because, quite simply, it is full of wonder. Literally wonderful! Every frame oozes joy, from its bright colors to the Flower Kingdom’s ubiquitous talking flower, who’s never lacking in words of encouragement as you run and jump through dozens upon dozens of stages that are altered by unpredictable and often grin-inducing Wonder effects and, more often than not, the antics of Mario himself. Whether you enjoy it solo or with up to three friends, there’s a lot to love about Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Wonder catches the eye immediately. It dazzles due to its typical and welcome use of a wide variety of colors, with a particular emphasis on vivid blues, reds, greens, and yellows. But it’s particularly impressive in motion. With apologies to Yoshi’s Island, it looks like what you’d imagine a proper Super Mario World sequel should be if it were made in 2023 instead of 1995.
Animations are the undeniable standout here: Mario reaches back for his hat when he dashes into pipes, critters’ eyes bulge in fear as they run in terror from a pursuing plumber, Goombas have snot bubbles on their nostrils as they nap, Elephant Mario squeezes his giant, round body into warp pipes and – awkwardly – tries to make himself as small as he can when crouching under a low row of blocks. There are so many more! Those touches go a long way toward bringing Mario’s first trip to the Flower Kingdom to life.
What is the Flower Kingdom? It’s a neighbor to the familiar Mushroom Kingdom, and it proved to be a refreshing setting mostly because it brought so many new and unique enemies for Mario to stomp on. Story-wise, you can already guess: A visiting Mario finds himself caught up in another Bowser caper, of course, as the reptile uses the land’s Wonder powers to fuse himself with the kingdom’s primary castle, making life miserable for its inhabitants. As always, the story is paper (Mario) thin, and you know you’re going to fight Bowsers Junior along the way.
Flower Power
But it leaves no cloud hanging over the Flower Kingdom, because the dozens of stages across six main worlds – along with the Petal Isles hub that contains stages of its own – offer so many different looks and wild hooks that the typically forgettable story simply didn’t matter. Most levels include at least two Wonder Seeds, with one of them at the end and another hidden somewhere within it. Getting access to that hidden seed usually involves finding a Wonder Flower – sometimes hidden in blocks, bad guys, or in secret areas – that makes something unexpected happen. Sadly I’m not allowed to show you most of the best ones, but Mario might transform into a rolling spiky ball, or the camera might shift to a top-down perspective, or Mario and his enemies alike might morph into stretchy ink silhouettes, or he might turn into a Goomba who can’t jump or attack, or there might be a dance party. You just never know what will happen next. As such, I looked forward to the Wonder effects on every stage. They’re so much fun to experience that if I missed one in a level, I had plenty of motivation to run back in to find it. In short, the Wonders make the game.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that each world packs entirely different groups of enemies that include mostly new foes, but with some callbacks to both staple classics like the cloud-riding Lakitus and deeper cuts like the Pokeys from Super Mario Bros. 2. Among the newbies, the Bulrushes come rushing at you and cannot be defeated by traditional stomping. But they can be ridden, which Wonder takes clever advantage of. The derpy looking Maw-Maws, meanwhile, look sweet, chill, and innocent – until they spot you, at which point their gaping maws open wide and will swallow you whole if you don’t jump very high very quickly. The Mumsies, on the other hand, pose little threat aside from their difficult-to-leap-over height, and I never got tired of grabbing onto their loose piece of cloth and unraveling them into oblivion. I hope we get to see the Flower Kingdom again someday because I don’t want this to be the only appearance for this fresh group of interesting new enemies.
Actually, We Need the Stinkin’ Badges
Another wrinkle in the 2D Mario formula comes in the form of Badges, a group of roughly two dozen unlockable active or passive effects you can choose to take into each level. Boosting Spin Jump lets you tap the right shoulder button to effectively double jump. Grappling Vine means even Mario games have grappling hooks now, Safety Bounce will let you survive a fall into lava, and Sensor pings more frequently as you get closer to key objects like large purple coins and (crucially) Wonder Flowers. These Badges give you some welcome control over how you tackle stages in a way that best suits your playstyle, not to mention offering a bit of replayability as a cherry on top.
Some Badges can be purchased at shops, while others are earned when you complete Badge Challenge stages designed around that particular powerup. By comparison, buying a Badge with purple coins was unsatisfying, especially considering I was never short on them – I wish each of them had a fun challenge associated with it instead of just some of them.
Speaking of new additions, Super Mario Bros. Wonder offers familiar four-player local and brand-new online multiplayer, with the online component being surprisingly seamlessly integrated. I don’t see it as appointment multiplayer gaming – couch co-op is still where it’s at in any multiplayer Mario game – but it works, and the friend races you can initiate on most stages can be a fun distraction from the primary platforming action. And whether you play on the same screen together or online, it is nice to see Nintendo put forth a more concerted effort to make multiplayer feel like a more organic part of the platforming, rather than a tacked-on afterthought, through things like Standees – which let you leave respawn points for your friends – and turning your pals into Ghosts that won’t physically get in your way during a precise jump or maneuver.
Smart Like an Elephant
But let me circle back to Elephant Mario for a second. Is he explained? Does he make any sense at all? Does it matter? No. Is he awesome? Yes. He is a dominant, Shaq-like force in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, complete with absolutely hilarious animations. A tap of the Y button sends smaller foes flying away when he swipes at them with his trunk. He can hold water in said trunk, too, dousing hot blocks and watering thirsty plants where needed. His sheer bulk even allows him to smash bricks with his trunk. He’s just a blast.
Drill Mario is also a welcome addition. With a drill bit on his hat, he can burrow into the ground – or the ceiling! – to access hidden areas and spring up from below on unsuspecting bad guys.
I can’t quite say the same for Bubble Mario. He blows large bubbles that can snag coins, slightly home in on and ensnare enemies, and be used as jumping pads, which is all useful enough. But when given the choice of which Mario form I wanted to take (just like in past Mario games, you can keep a powerup in reserve to switch back and forth as needed), I typically opted for Elephant Mario or good ol’ Fire Mario.
Despite the joy radiating from most of the 2D Super Mario Bros. Wonder, it’s not quite up to par with the last mainline 3D Mario masterpiece, Super Mario Odyssey. The music, while not at all bad, is surprisingly forgettable this time around, and while there are some five-star difficulty stages – including an entire group of them I won’t spoil here – Wonder is a bit light on the challenge side of things, so there’s not as much here for seasoned series veterans as its predecessor has. Though in fairness, Mario is for everyone, and my daughter appreciated the inclusion of Nabbit as a playable character – when we played together, enemies couldn’t hurt her and we had more fun progressing through many of the stages. I nevertheless remain hungry for Mario’s next 3D adventure, especially as I watch the calendar surpass six years since Odyssey.