Super Mario returns to his side-scrolling platforming roots in Super Mario Bros. Wonder for Nintendo Switch. It’s been a while since we could play a completely new platformer but boy was it worth the wait. Super Mario Bros. Wonder feels like the most modern and most fun platformer I’ve played in years and will definitely bring a smile to your face. Want to know why? Let’s-a-go!
Welcome to the Flower Kingdom
The game starts with an invitation to the Flower Kingdom, a Kingdom near the iconic Mushroom Kingdom. Prince Florian invited Mario and his friends but needless to say, things didn’t really go as planned. It all went wrong when Bowser decided to attack the festivities. A tale old as time for the Super Mario veterans but even in the opening minutes, you’ll notice the change in direction. Bowser invaded the Flower Kingdom to get hold of the mysterious Wonder Flower, a Flower capable of doing some wonderful things. In the case of Bowser, the Flower merged the King of Koopas with his Koopa Clown Car and Prince Florian’s castle to transform him into a giant flying fortress of evil, wreaking havoc across the Flower Kingdom and trapping the poor Poplins (inhabitants of the Flower Kingdom) in their homes. It’s up to Mario and his friends to stop Flying Castle Bowser and reclaim the gorgeous Flower Kingdom.
Trading the iconic Mushroom Kingdom for the Flower Kingdom feels like a breath of fresh air for the franchise. If you’ve played Super Mario games before, you already know what type of levels to expect, in Wonder, it’s all a bit different. The Flower Kingdom really feels like one connected world. You still travel from world to world and clear the levels in order to advance but those smaller worlds feel more connected than ever before. It helps that you can access the worlds and their levels through the menus but it’s more fun to use the map and travel between the worlds on foot. It feels like a modern take on the classic Super Mario World map and I love all the small details put into the creation of this wonderful world. Super Mario Bros. Wonder feels more alive and more welcoming and looks amazing on Nintendo Switch. It’s the best-looking Super Mario side-scroller out there, you’ll be sucked into the fun atmosphere immediately.
You never know what to expect
Talking about the levels themselves, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has lots of amazing levels that instantly transported me to the feelings I had way back in my childhood when I played my first Super Mario game on my original Game Boy. There’s something magical about Super Mario levels when it’s done right and I feel like Wonder finally succeeded in recapturing that magic for me. From the very first ‘Welcome to the Flower Kingdom’ level to the more complex levels in later worlds, it just clicked and that’s definitely thanks to the creative freedom the developers were given during the creation of the game. It feels like a new era for side-scrolling Super Mario games and I’m here for it. The main selling point? Probably the atmosphere and charm that oozes out of all the levels. You’ve all seen the new Talking Flower in the trailers and some of you were reassured that you could switch off the ‘annoying’ flower, well, let me ask you to not do that. The Talking Flowers bring a new vibe to the Super Mario games and their dumb dad-style humor really got the best of me, even in the very first level I was smiling from start to finish, that right there, that’s the Super Mario magic for me. It’s more than just clearing the levels, it’s about having fun and being amazed by unexpected things, it’s here where the Wonder Flower takes the stage.
The Wonder Flower is this game’s biggest gimmick if you want to call it that but it’s actually a lot more than just a gimmick, it’s part of the overall experience and without it, the game would only be half as fun to play. In the levels, you are tasked to collect Wonder Seeds, you’ll get one at the end of the level and you’ll get one after finding the Wonder Flower and surviving the madness it throws at you. When you grab a Wonder flower, the world around you will drastically change and the rules of classic Super Mario games no longer apply. Activating a Wonder Flower will result in unexpected segments that really alter the way enemies behave or will even impact the way your characters move. Without spoiling the experience for you, finding the Wonder Flower should be high on your priority list. Even after spending a lot of hours with the game, the Wonder Flower kept surprising me by throwing new magical moments my way. It’s not always that easy to locate the Wonder Flower in the levels but it’s definitely worth looking for. The crazy fun and unexpected moments feel right at home in the Super Mario franchise and I hope the developers will keep implementing Wonder Flowers in later games as well, it’s that good!
Characters and power-ups
Right from the start, you can select a couple of playable characters. Mario and Luigi make a return of course but are joined by Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, Toad & Toadette, a bunch of Yoshis and Nabbit. With a total of 12 characters, this is the biggest roster of playable characters in a side-scrolling Super Mario game. Unlike other Super Mario games, most characters play identically, the only main difference is that they can activate character-exclusive hidden blocks but besides that, there’s no real difference. Yoshi and Nabbit on the other hand, do come with some important changes. Both characters make it a lot easier to clear the levels since they can’t take damage from enemies, making them the go-to characters for younger or inexperienced gamers, or for the veterans who got stuck on a challenging level of course. Yoshi can still use his tongue and flutter jump and although have won’t take damage, he’ll flinch when he bumps into an enemy. Nabbit is the real powerhouse of the bunch and even doesn’t flinch from attacks. When Nabbit collects a power-up he’ll transform that into flower coins, which can be used to purchase some fun things or unlock secrets on the world map. When Yoshi or Nabbit grab a power-up, they can’t use it, which balances things out. Playing as Yoshi or Nabbit is the easiest way to clear a level but you’ll miss out on hidden routes that can only be unlocked by using a certain power-up. Completionists will want to stay away from these two characters because of that.
Aside from Yoshi and Nabbit, all the others can use the power-ups and Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces a couple of new power-ups to defeat classic and new enemies. The most iconic one is without a doubt the Elephant Fruit which transforms the characters into an elephant version of themselves. As an elephant, you’re strong and heavy and you can use your trunk to attack enemies or throw items high in the air. You can even suck up some water and spray it over enemies or objects to simply advance or reveal hidden secrets. The elephant form is also your most powerful form which you can use to your advantage to push around heavy blocks or other items, it’s an amazing new power-up that offers new and interesting ways of playing a Super Mario level! Besides that one, you can also use the new Bubble Flower which enables you to fire bubbles and make your enemies float into the air. Or what about the new Drill Mushroom which enables you to drill into the ground or the ceiling and surprise your enemies from underneath? Perfect to discover even more hidden paths too! The new power-ups feel right at home in the Super Mario universe but also bring new gameplay which of course is the perfect mix. A couple of classic power-ups are also returning to bring even more fun and opportunities! To improve the skills of your character even more, Wonder also introduces a completely new Badge system.
Pick your badge
Badges are another new element to the game and add a small tactical layer to the platformer. By completing special challenges or by trading in some Flower Coins, you’ll obtain a certain badge, which will give you a new move or other improvements on your traditional move set. You can select one badge before the start of the level, after that, Prince Florian will carry the badge for you and you can use its benefits. Need some examples? Here we go! The Wall-jump badge enables you to jump on walls, the Dolphin Kick badge makes you a lot faster in water, and the Crounching High Jump badge enables you to jump extremely high. These are just a couple of examples because it’s way more fun to discover the badges yourself and experiment with their unique powers. The badges also open up different ways of discovering secrets in levels and can even help you in collecting all collectibles. It’s a great addition to the overall gameplay and it really changes the way you tackle the challenges. Claiming the first couple of badges isn’t that hard but if you want to get to more expert badges, you’re better prepared for a true challenge. In order to unlock those, you’ll need to clear some extremely hard special challenges, buffing up the level of difficulty tremendously.
It’s good to have those harder challenges because the level of difficulty isn’t that high. If you’re a veteran Super Mario player, you won’t have a lot of trouble with the first couple of levels and even the later ones won’t be that hard. You can, of course, challenge yourself by trying to collect everything but, it’s not the hardest Super Mario game out there, at least that’s what you’ll think after the first levels. This makes sense, Super Mario never was and never will be one of those impossible platformers, Super Mario is all about having fun and Wonder really excels at that. By adding offline and online multiplayer options, Nintendo also made sure everyone can enjoy this game on every skill level, it’s a game for everyone and the veterans aren’t forgotten in this. I won’t spoil it for you but there certainly are very challenging segments that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Conclusion:
Super Mario Bros. Wonder brought back the Super Mario magic and is without a doubt the best modern side-scrolling platform game on the market. The developers put a lot of passion and energy into the gorgeously created world and all those small animations that make the characters come to life in ways unseen. The level of difficulty could have been a bit harder in the first couple of levels but the game manages to throw in some true challenges later on so there’s really something to discover and enjoy for everyone. It’s the best “classic” Super Mario game in decades and a must-have for Nintendo Switch owners.
