Super Mario Bros. Wonder (NSW) Review

A Super Mario Bros. Wonder review on SuperPhillip Central more than a half year after the fact? ...For what reason? It certainly isn't to be timely, that's for sure. Sometimes, though, I just want to write about something that excites me, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder definitely is such a game to do that. It did it for me back when I originally played it at launch, and it does to this day. Here's my review.

A Sense of Wonder

For over a decade, the 2D Mario series has felt rather complacent, sterile, and lackluster with repeated trips to take water from the New Super Mario Bros. well. Perhaps Nintendo discovered there was nothing more to take from the well (and fans might argue that happened several entries ago), as now 2D Mario has been taken back to the drawing board. What has returned in the New Super Mario Bros. series' place is one of the most imaginative, well designed, and creative entries the 2D Mario platforming series has seen in, well, decades, with the--wait for it--wonderful Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before it, Super Mario Bros. Wonder takes conventions of its past games while turning them upside down on their head to make for a touch of unpredictability, imagination, and evolution not seen in the line of games for a looooong time.

Every adventure starts somewhere, and this one starts with Mario and company (including playable Luigi, Peach, Daisy [!!!], Toads, Yoshis, and Nabbit) being welcomed to the Flower Kingdom, a neighboring land adjacent to the Mushroom Kingdom. There, Prince Florian and his followers greet Mario and friends to their side of the world. Unfortunately, the welcoming party quickly turns sour when Bowser enters the fray, stealing the Wonder Flower that Prince Florian was to present to Mario and his friends. This merges Bowser with the Flower Kingdom's royal castle, transforming Bowser into a flying fortress, locking the Flower Kingdom's denizens in their homes. It's now up to Mario and friends (alongside Prince Florian in a non-playable capacity) to help liberate the Flower Kingdom from Bowser's shenanigans.

Bowser and causing chaos--name a more consistent Mario series pair.

The journey to battle Bowser begins within Pipe-Rock Plateau, where players are presented with pretty breezy platforming challenges to ease them into the action. Levels begin in a linear order, however, quickly into the world players discover one of the first new additions to make Super Mario Bros. Wonder more interesting. 

There are certain parts of each world map that are open, available to traverse at the player's leisure. Here, players can select which levels they'd like to tackle, or if one is generally deemed too challenging (all levels are ranked in difficulty by the number of stars they possess--one for easy, five for most difficult), they can skip it altogether. The main roadblock to progressing is having a required amount of Wonder Seeds, collected from levels in various ways. These Wonder Seeds serve as essentially the keys to unlock the way to progress in each world. 

Choose your level in these more exploratory sections of world map!

In standard levels, there are up to three Wonder Seeds. Most levels just have two, while ones with secret exits can have three. One Wonder Seed is available after finding and engaging with a Wonder Flower. These flowers are generally hidden in each level, though some are right out in the open. When players walk into them, these Wonder Flowers create all kinds of psychedelic and wacky effects to the world around them. Some cause pipes to start crawling along the ground, some inflate your character like a balloon as you guide them through the sky, some slow down or speed up enemies and obstacles in levels, while one early example summons a chorus of singing Piranha Plants who perform from in and out of their pipes. 

One of the earliest Wonder effects turn normal warp pipes into warp pipes that do the worm!

Wonder Flower aren't random in the sense that a given level will always have the same effect, but it's always a surprise on a first playthrough to stumble upon one and not know what you're going to get and what the game has in store for you. Many of the effects brought a great amount of delight and giddiness to me, never knowing what to expect and constantly being amazed at what I was witnessing. Sure, the effects aren't anywhere close to surprising on a second playthrough, but they seldom grow tiring still.

There are eight main "worlds" in Super Mario Bros. Wonder (seven story-related worlds, including one which serves as a hub world of sorts with its own series of levels, and one "special" world), and these tend to break away from the New Super Mario Bros. template rather well, as opposed to being traditional "grass world", "snow world", and "desert world" theming. Yes, while there are indeed grass worlds, snow worlds, and desert worlds Mario and friends embark in, these sort of flip the script and feel more than mere simple templates. 

This new species of Mario enemy kicks back whatever you throw at them.

Levels, as expected from the Mario series, constantly bring fresh platforming mechanics, enemy types, and obstacles into the fold, and that's not even including all of the previously mentioned Wonder Flower effects. The point here is that you're seldom, if ever, left wanting for new ideas or find yourself bored with what's being presented. From levels with completely new enemies like hippo-like, rolling, bouncing Hoppos, or Hoppycats, spiked foes that jump when players jump, to unique obstacles and theming, Super Mario Bros. Wonder certainly promotes freshness and newness in almost every facet of its package. Perhaps the irony here is that there feels a heck of a lot more "new" in Super Mario Bros. Wonder than there was in the entire New Super Mario Bros. series.

Fire Mario and Piranha Plants--a rivalry as old as time itself.

Speaking of, the Mario series is known for unique power-ups, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings some new ones into the fray. Apart from the Super Mushroom, Super Star, and Fire Flower, every other power-up in Wonder is brand-new. For instance, the Elephant Fruit turns players into a bipedal rotund elephant, able to use their trunk to swipe away enemies, smash otherwise indestructible blocks, and even carry water in it to splash dried flowers and other objects. Then, there's Bubble Flower, giving Mario and friends the ability to trap foes into tossed out bubbles, capture faraway items and coins, and even use them as a quick means to bounce off of them to reach new heights. Finally, there's the Drill Mushroom, which grants Mario and crew digging and drilling capabilities. Solid floors and ceilings can be drilled into, discovering new areas, and causing pain to unsuspecting enemies. Each of the new power-ups have their fantastic uses, and while Elephant Mario is no doubt my favorite of the bunch and the one I showed a preference to, I loved shooting bubbles and digging through floors all the same.

What do you get when you cross an Elephant Toad with a Pokey? Elephino! ...What.

Other than power-ups, there is another major component in mechanic form that is of Badges. These are items that can be equipped to give players a certain benefit in levels (or in some cases, a disadvantage). Only one Badge can be equipped at a given time, and their effects range from granting players a Super Mario Bros. 2-style crouching high jump, to virtually turning Mario into Spider-Plumber, giving him the ability to launch out vines from his hand to attach to just out-of-reach walls. There's a Badge that gives players a parachute to glide more safely downwards and across large distances, a Badge which causes players to perpetually dash, and one that even turns the entire cast invisible! Your mileage may vary on its usefulness, though!

Before most Badges are given to Mario and friends, players must complete a tutorial/trial level featuring the Badge as a means to practice and get acquainted with it. These short stages are terrific test grounds to learn and utilize each Badge's abilities, and the goal of collect all three purple 10-Flower Coins in each training level (these NSMB Star Coin-like collectibles are also in each standard SMB Wonder level), ensures you're getting the most out of each Badge. 

Adding to the newness of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the standard local multiplayer is here and accounted for--though this time around players can't directly interact with one another--but also there's online multiplayer, too. This allows you to create friend lobbies or more excitingly, enables you to play levels while seeing the live transparent characters of other players. It's a more community-driven experience, as if you jump into a pit or take damage as Small Mario, for example, you'll briefly turn into a ghost that frantically swim through the air, either becoming revived by another player or by reaching a standee placed by another player. This online aspect is almost a must for the Search Party levels, where you have to track down five Wonder Tokens deviously hidden within these special-themed scavenger hunt-style levels.

That Red Koopa Troopa looks like they're about to get their just deserts.

While there is indeed a lot of good and greatness in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, there are some aspects that could be improved. Continuing with a lot of the Super Mario series' history with difficulty, the main game isn't too daunting or challenging. It's not until the special world levels that things get truly tricky--including one of the most arduous platforming endurance runs in Mario series history! Furthermore, the boss battles apart from the game's final encounter, range from Bowser Jr. to... well, Bowser Jr. You fight him no less than four times in the entire adventure with no other boss in sight save for the big bad Bowser himself. 

The presentation of Super Mario Bros. Wonder goes above and beyond as well. No doubt listening to the feedback of New Super Mario Bros. being a bit sterile and bland in its visuals, Wonder goes the complete opposite direction. Perhaps the greatest standout and star of the presentation show here is that of the animations. Everything from the way Mario and Luigi will run into pipes and reach out for their missing hats, to the way characters display excitement upon bouncing off blocks and enemies, or even the way enemies express fear with eyes widening as Elephant Mario comes rampaging towards them--it all kicks up the presentation to new, seldom explored levels in 2D Mario history. Whether they're big touches or small, everything goes a long way to making this Flower Kingdom expedition more animated and exhilarating than ever before.

New and old haunts arrive in Super Mario Bros. Wonder by the truckload. You never know what to expect.

The soundtrack, while not the most memorable or catchiest in Mario series history, does hit some high notes here and there. The main overworld theme, used in promotional trailers and serving as level one's song, is one of my favorites, but even castle and airship themes (though the latter is a remix of Super Mario Maker 2's SMB1 airship theme) do wonderfully and set the tone for adventure well!

At the end of the day, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is indeed "another 2D Mario game", but it's definitely and decidedly more than just that. It's been injected and reinvigorated with so much freshness, inventiveness, and personality that it takes an established formula of more than 35 years and retools it to make it still feel (and actually be) creative and new. I marvel at how Nintendo can keep Mario as relevant today as he and the series proper were back in 1985, and with continued innovation, lack of playing it safe, and brilliantly conceived and executed ideas as seen in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, I can imagine Mario staying relevant for another 35 years at this rate.

[SPC Says: A]