Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Review

The wonders never cease!

Console: Nintendo Switch.

After nearly 2 decades of 'New Super Mario Bros.' titles many gamers were growing tired of this direction for the 2D Mario games. While well-made, they were also very bland. Same visual style, sound design, lack of any noteworthy gimmicks to set them apart, and the like. When you played one, you've played them all, basically. 

This made the surprise announcement of Super Mario Bros. Wonder earlier this year that much more surprising and welcoming. We would not only get a brand new 2D Mario since 2012´s Super Mario Bros U. but one that looked to put a spin on things again. A slightly different visual style with lots of new animation, effects, power-ups and above all: a big gimmick to bring it all together.

I played it to completion and now want to talk about my experience with the game. What I liked, some of the stuff that I didn't, and all that jazz. 

So, without further ado, let's dive into the surprise that is Super Mario Bros. Wonder!

Mario and the gang, consisting of his brother Luigi, princesses Peach and Daisy, two Toads, Toadette, four Yoshi's and the Nabbit the thieving rabbit, are visiting the Flower Kingdom at the invitation of its ruler, Prince Florian. Bowser, of course, follows the gang, stealing one of the mysterious magical Royal Seeds. He uses its power to merge with the Flower King Castle to become a flying fortress that terrorizes the Flower Kingdom.

To stop Bowser, Mario & the gang set out to free the Flower Kingdom and its various regions by finding the other Royal Seeds to use their power to stop 'Castle Bowser' and whatever nefarious plan he's cooking up. 

For once, I have something to say about the story of a Mario game. The game still doesn't have any deep narrative or anything like that but it does have some more story elements than any other 2D Mario title. Each region has its own micro-story. One region, for example, has a bunch of Poplin (the Toads of the Flower Kingdom) miners trapped underground and you have to free them. It doesn't amount to much, it's mostly just some flavour text, but for a Mario game, it is a noticeable addition that I find welcoming. 

The flower guys you encounter in each level talk a little, like commenting on their surroundings or giving you a hint at a secret. They cannot only be helpful but also give the game so much more charm. A greater sense of your surroundings and how Bowser's evil and your actions are affecting the Flower Kingdom and its citizens. 

The gameplay is largely your typical 2D Mario affair. You run and jump across the levels to the flagpole, all the while stomping on enemies, collecting coins and breaking question mark boxes to get powerups. There are, however, some changes. A small one that I don't see many talk about, but is nonetheless game-changing, is the removal of the timer. 

I can see people not liking its removal, it has been there since the beginning and helped birth the speedrunning scene, but I love it. I never the timer much. It pushed me, against my will, to be fast. It hindered exploration that, in this game especially, is pivotal to the experience. 

That exploration has all to do with the gameplay gimmick that the title is named after: the Wonder Flowers. Nearly every level has, aside from the seed you get at the end, one hidden somewhere. Sometimes in plain sight and other times in a most unexpected place. When you collect them the level around you changes. This simple gimmick gives rise to so much creativity, variety and fun. 

They are very imaginative sections. One time, you find yourself in the middle of a Piranha plant musical number. In another, you turn into a big rolling boulder and you roll down the level at high speed. They spice up the gameplay in a way power-ups could never do. You never know what you get and that's what makes experiencing these little breaks from the standard gameplay that more fun. 

One moment you're just running through the level as normal, the next, you're stuck in a musical brought to you by all the flora. 

The wonder seeds also make collecting, at least to me, more engaging. Instead of just collecting things for the sake of collecting, since most seeds are tied to the wonder gimmick, I want to get them all to experience all the 'wonder' sections. They have a meaningful purpose now. 

This extends to the purple coins too, you can buy things from the shops. From more wonder seeds to 1-ups to the other big gameplay changer: the badges. Think of them as equipable modifiers that come in 3 varieties. 

Action Badges, which give you an extra move like Galaxy's Spin, Boost Badges, which give you passive buffs like making you run faster, and Expert Badges which are designed to make things harder by giving you a handicap or a more 'out of control' power. This level of customizability is neat to have. You can tweak your playstyle a bit and come back to old levels with a different badge to find the best way to tackle an obstacle or get that purple coin. 

I do think some badges should've either been a part of Mario's standard moveset or just been normal powerups. Some of the extra moves feel too useful, a natural part of what Mario & Co. can do, for them to be only a temporary thing. It would've made for a better balance and would've made the powerups more useful. 

Speaking of powerups, I don't think the ones we have here are all that special. The usuals are, well, the usual but the new ones don't really tickle my fancy. The Elephant is too big and slow and its trunk lacks good range. The bubble powerup's main gimmick, the extra jumps, I never got to work properly. The only one I really like is the drill powerup, mostly because the tip of the drill on the hat damages enemies when you jump up at them. I will also say that you can keep a power-up in reserve and pull it up whenever you please is a very handy feature to have indeed!

Even without all these gimmicks, the levels are well-designed. From familiar but still solid themings to a great variety of old and new enemies, and many secrets to find. From the usual 'hidden collectables' to secret exits that can lead to new levels appearing on the map. As a quick side note: not all levels are run through in a linear fashion. There are sections in each world in which you get to roam free on the world map a bit and choose what level you want to play. 

Do you want to take it easy and play an easy, 1-star level, or do you feel like a challenge and want to tackle that 4-star stage? Do you even want to play a normal level or are you more in the mood for a challenge level, a puzzle level or a badge challenge? What is nice about the latter is that there are no lives. Really gives you the freedom to learn the badge without risking a game over. The game even gives you the choice of which world to tackle next at one point. 

That every level has a star rating to show its difficulty is such a nice quality of life feature. 

I do have to say that I think that while the levels themselves are really solid, the boss fights aren't. My problem with them is two-fold. The first is that they are all too similar to one another. They are all Bowser Jr. fights with the same core design but with a different wonder gimmick each time. If they had given each world a uniquely designed boss fight like in the 3D Mario games, these would've been more fun and memorable. 

The second issue is that not every level even has a boss fight. Some just don't have a run-in with Bowser Jr. in them. When that happens, the world just 'ends' without any real build. Without that final challenge that test your mettle. Anti-climactic, to say the least. 

And then there are all the different playable characters. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy and the 3 Toads all play the same. They might lack their distinctive traits, like Luigi's higher jump, but by making them uniform you can just have fun picking any character you're in the mood for. Still would've liked a badge perhaps that gave each character their unique traits back, and gave Daisy some while they were at it, but I digress. 

The Yoshi's and Nabbit are the easy mode. They can't use powerups but they also can't die from things other than pits and spikes. Perfect for the kids to play as. Either on their own or with an older sibling or parent in the local or online multiplayer. Together with the difficulty rating it makes this game oh so approachable. Of course, both are good ways to play the game with friends. 

Lastly, we have to talk about the graphics and sound. The game looks, and sounds, really nice. The music does a good job of establishing charm and atmosphere. Since it's no longer beholden to keeping up a certain rhythm, the tracks are more varied and thus unique as well. 

The slightly different visual style isn't what I would call 'Link's Awakening plastic-y' but everything certainly looks more toyish and vibrant. The characters are very expressive and lively. They have tons of expressions and little animations that give them so much more personality. 

A good example is Mario's and Luigi's hats hover in the air for a brief moment, and falling off their head, whenever they start falling. Coupled with the updated effects, like each powerup having its own little graphic pop-up around the character when you activate them, and the detailed and often times moving backgrounds you have the most 'fresh' visual Mario game in years. 

Conclusion

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a fresh, and above all else, 2D Mario experience. It breaks away from the 'New Super Mario Bros.' formula with a refreshing visual style and the wonderfully creative Wonder Flowers gimmick. The badge system gives the player a sense of customizability, the multiple playable characters give you some fun options and the difficulty and multiplayer options make it a very approachable game to people of all ages and skill levels. 

The game has its flaws, in particular with the disappointing boss fights and underused power-ups, but that's far from enough to weigh this title down. The game offers a fun and engaging experience that could easily become an all-time Mario classic.