Review: Super Mario Bros Wonder Feels Fresh

It’s always fun when Nintendo tries something different with a Super Mario Bros game, and Super Mario Bros Wonder certainly dares to be different with its aesthetically pleasing environments and unconventional Wonder Effects in stages. The result is something that feels fresh and welcoming to anyone.

Super Mario Bros Wonder begins with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and their entourage at a Flower Kingdom ceremony. Right as Prince Florian, its ruler, shows off a Wonder Flower, Bowser and his crew show up and steal it. Bowser then becomes Castle Bowser due to merging with many elements of the kingdom and his own accompanying items, and goes on to change and terrorize the area with his minions. Players then pick a character of their choosing, with the Yoshis and Nabbit acting as easy mode options that don’t take damage from enemies or use power-ups, but have other abilities like being able to be ridden or turn power-ups into Star Coins. 

As usual, players will go through various worlds. They’ll complete stages filled with Bowser’s minions, getting Wonder Seeds for completing special Wonder Effect areas or getting to the end of the level and restoring the Poplin house when they do. Wonder Flowers can be found in most areas, and touching them can change the perspective of the level, its ambiance, or the form of the playable character to add new mechanics or methods of traversing the area via Wonder Effects. The Wonder Effects are almost always incredible and staggering, due to the new cinematic effects, enemy behaviors, and ability to sometimes turn characters into Goombas in peril or sticky blobs. Getting more Wonder Seeds is key to unlocking new stages, especially the Bowser Jr boss fights in each world. Beating Bowser Jr or performing an action to get a world’s Royal Seed brings you closer to reaching Castle Bowser.

A few new mechanics are littered throughout in addition to Wonder Effects. There are new power-ups like Bubble, Drill, and Elephant, which involve creating a bubble that can go through areas or trap enemies, a drill that lets you disappear into ceilings, floors, and platforms, or an elephant trunk that can smash things or dowse water. If you’re connected to the internet, you can place Standees to help revive other players or act as hints in certain Search Party or other stages or even rely on shadows of other players to revive if you fall. 

But the biggest new mechanic is the Badge system. As you go through the game, you’ll happen upon side stages or vendors that sell these items. Prince Florian, who is always on the player avatar’s soldier, can equip one at a time. These fall into certain categories. Some involve actions and may give you a grappling vine, a higher jump if you crouch first, or a Parachute Cap that lets you float down instead of dropping drastically. Others offer an assist, like the Auto Super Mushroom that gives you a Super Mushroom when a stage begins or the Add ! Blocks that gives you extra blocks that can offer items or platforms. In general, it seems like these add something of a “forgiving” element, making things a little less complicated or situations easier.

Another part of the new aesthetic is the Talking Flowers. These are beings that actually talk, both with text boxes and voices. Sometimes they offer hints. Most of the time, they’re color commentary. I found them incredibly annoying! Fortunately, their audio can be turned off in the settings.

What really got to me about Super Mario Bros Wonder is that its campaign feels like the easiest one in the series. Granted, I know the 2D and 3D games never ended up being the most challenging platformers out there. But there is this strange disconnect from sometimes seeing a four or five-star difficulty rank, then going into an actual stage and finding it wasn’t really too rough. There were a few that did get to me. Jump! Jump! Jump!, Wavy Ride through the Magma Tube, and The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon all are ones that bothered me so much that I actually went out of my way to note their names for the review. But it generally isn’t too bad.

But I also have to admit that I didn’t find myself as enamored with the different badges once I really got into Super Mario Bros Wonder too. I initially only relied on the Parachute Cap you get as a tutorial. Then I ended up essentially sticking with Floating High Jump, which involved a Princess Peach Super Mario Bros 2-era float, for the entire game. Sure, I swapped in Dolphin Kick for underwater levels, for its extra speed and ability to smash blocks underwater, and occasionally used Safety Bounce for some Deep Magma Bog stages. Sensor was handy when I was trying to find certain items in stages while backtracking. But some of the action and boost badge options feel a little unnecessary or super situational. Once I did finish the game, I did have fun with some Expert class badges, like Spring Feet that only lets you hop and Jet Run that makes your character always run. 

Given the fun behind the aesthetic and creativity with Wonder Effect in stages, I feel like those are minor quibbles. Super Mario Bros Wonder is clearly designed to be a game for everyone, regardless of skill level. The relative ease of main campaign stages that aren’t hidden away and addition of badges and “easy mode” characters Yoshi and Nabbit absolutely feel welcoming. The plethora of secrets and variety in stages feel more suited for people familiar with the series, giving them something to dig into as they play. While the downside means a somewhat decreased challenge, it’s still a delight.

Super Mario Bros Wonder is available for the Nintendo Switch.