Review: SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Delivers All the Wonder
In October, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Nintendo Switch. Many believe this will be the final big game for the Nintendo Switch before its successor and the question arises: is it a worthy send off? Nintendo has been kind enough to provide me with a code for this review, but all the thoughts are my own. You can purchase your own copy of Super Mario Bros. Wonder from the eShop or your favorite retailers including GameStop (affiliate link).
Introducing the ultimate gaming adventure that will transport you to a world of pure joy and excitement! Get ready to embark on an epic journey with Super Mario Bros. Wonder for Nintendo Switch. This platformer masterpiece from Nintendo will captivate your senses with its stunning graphics, immersive gameplay, and nostalgic charm. Join Mario and his pals as they navigate through treacherous levels, defeat menacing enemies, and collect power-ups to save Princess Peach. With its innovative features and endless fun, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a must-have for every gaming enthusiast. Get ready to jump, stomp, and slide your way to victory!
Find wonder in the next evolution of Mario fun. Classic Mario side-scrolling gameplay is turned on its head with the addition of Wonder Flowers. These game-changing items trigger spectacular moments you have to see to believe…Witness pipes coming alive, wreak havoc as a giant spiky ball, and see even more unexpected events called Wonder Effects.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the first new 2D Mario game for the Nintendo Switch and it’s fantastic. It’s a side-scrolling platformer that allows you to play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, a couple of different Toads, Toadette, a few Yoshi, and Nabbit. You will work together with up to 3 friends to stop Bowser after he absorbs the Wonder power and becomes a giant magical castle. You’ll have to travel across the land gathering Wonder Seeds and Royal Seeds to weaken Bowser’s grasp. Players will find classic power ups like the Fire Flower alongside brand new ones such as the Elephant Fruit and the Bubble Flower to name a few. It’s been a lot of fun to play.
First, Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks absolutely incredible. The animation is so slick. The characters and backgrounds are gorgeous. Even the shadows are incredible! Digital Foundry has done a rundown of its performance and this game runs at a native 1080p on the Switch when docked and native 720p when in handheld mode. To make this more impressive is that the game runs at a solid 60fps outside of some moments in the world map. This really goes to show that while the Switch is underpowered, that doesn’t mean that games have to look bad on it. The little details are also greatly appreciated such as when Mario or Luigi have to reach back through a pipe to grab their hat or how the characters (including enemies) have eye tracking.
Next, let’s talk about sound. Once again, the music and sound effects are spot on. It’s also important to note that the voice cast has changed. I know that I was very wary of anyone taking over for Charles Martinet as Mario, but Kevin Afghani and all the other new cast members have done a great job. If you pay attention, you can hear a difference as you’d expect, but it’s not a bad difference in my opinion. Good job, casting team!
The gameplay for Super Mario Bros. Wonder is another fantastic part of the game. Everything feels nice and exactly as you’d expect. The team did not fall asleep on the job. One thing that threw me for a moment is that playable characters don’t seem to have any differences other than how they look with the exception of the Yoshis and Nabbit. Peach can’t hover, Luigi doesn’t jump higher, and Toad doesn’t run faster. This is nice because you can now pick whichever character is your favorite instead of worrying about which playstyle you prefer. Yoshi and Nabbit are the Easy Mode for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. They can’t use power ups but they don’t take damage and Yoshi has his flutter jump and other players can ride him. One more thing to mention when talking about characters is that levels will sometimes have special hidden blocks that can only be seen by certain characters. Anyone can use the block, but only that character can see it.
One aspect that I’ve greatly appreciated are the Wonder Flower segments of the levels. After the first one, I was worried that all the other ones would just be the same thing. Thankfully, in all my playing I haven’t experienced any duplicate Wonder Flower experiences. Sometimes it becomes a top-down experience, sometimes it becomes a stretchy black-and-white one, and the list goes on. I look forward to seeing what the next Wonder Flower will do.
Another really cool thing about Super Mario Bros. Wonder is that it seemingly unlocks a new feature of the Pro Controller. At certain points as you play, you may notice music playing from your controller. This threw me for a freaking loop when I first noticed it because the Pro Controller (I have not tested this with Joy Con) does not have a speaker! I’m not sure how Nintendo did this, but they somehow got it to play music. I freaking love stuff like this!
Now it’s time to briefly discuss online play. I was honestly very hesitant to play online. I didn’t want to get stuck with random players in a lobby-style gameplay. Thankfully, that’s not how it works. Essentially, other players show up as ghosts on your level and they don’t interact with your level. That being said, sometimes by watching the other players you can get hints about what to do. In addition, you can activate or even drop little standees that at first don’t seem to do much, but can be used for a couple things. First, they can be used to revive yourself when you become a ghost (that’s also an instance where you can interact with other players). Second, sometimes players will be kind and use standees to help indicate secrets and stuff. Overall, I’m pleased with the online experience.
I haven’t even talked about badges yet! Badges are special power ups you can unlock. They impact all players and can be changed when you start a level. This can include things like running faster, charging crouch jumps to go higher, using your hat as a parachute to slow your falls, and much more. These are a nice touch and if you’re feeling brave, you can even have it selected at random. It’s also fun because there are several levels designed as challenges for specific badges and they’re a nice break from the standard levels.
All of this praise is 100% earned, but there’s one aspect of the game that I’m not a fan of and it’s the only reason Super Mario Bros. Wonder cannot get a perfect score from me. The camera in multiplayer drives me insane! When you’re playing with more than one person, one of those people (typically the person doing the best, I think) will essentially be deemed the main character and the camera follows them. Unfortunately, there’s no camera stretch or anything. This makes it very easy for other characters to get stuck, not be able to see themselves, and just have a frustrating experience because the person with the camera following them goes too fast or doesn’t communicate that they’re backtracking or something. This is why I was wary of online play and thankfully it only happens in multiplayer mode. I really wish there was some stretch or something. Maybe I’m the only one that it bothers, but it bothers me a lot and has caused a lot of frustration.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a phenomenal video game. It looks fantastic, plays great, and sounds amazing. I highly recommend that you play it if you like platformers. The only bad thing I can say is that the multiplayer can be frustrating because of the camera. Other than that It’s been an absolute delight that was made with a lot of love and care.
