Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Voices of: Kevin Afghani, Kenny James, Giselle Fernandez, Samantha Kelly, Mick Wingert
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Directed by: Shiro Mouri
Rating: E
Genre: Platformer
System: Switch
2023

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Mario and friends venture into the Flower Kingdom where they meet Prince Florian. Bowser seizes a Wonder Flower and transforms into a gigantic castle to wreck havoc on the land.

Review:
Tim: At this point, I'm a grizzled veteran of the Super Mario franchise. I've completed nearly every single game (one to go!). There were a bunch of things I loved about Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and while it might not be my favorite game of the franchise, I had a total blast playing it with my family and was challenged by the final levels. It's another booming success for Nintendo and further proof Mario is the GOAT when it comes to video game characters.

What I loved most about this game was for the first time, the action shifted away from the Mushroom Kingdom to the Flower Kingdom. The franchise has existed for nearly four decades and this felt like a radical (but needed) shift. We get to meet Prince Florian, the Poplins, and see a whole new kingdom, including the powerful Wonder Seeds. Of course, Bowser uses one and becomes (of all things), a giant evil floating castle. Mario & friends jump into action to save the day. This is all presented with gorgeous graphics (for the Switch), incredible controls, and a ton of innovation to keep things interesting. The game features these talking flowers in the background that were humorous and enjoyable.

It was nice to get another 2D side-scrolling platform game. As much as I love the 3D worlds of games like Galaxy and Odyssey, this gets back to Mario's roots. It was a ton of fun. I loved the 4-player option. I played the game with my wife, my 8 year-old, and often, my 5 year-old daughter. The game is brilliantly set up for families- those who choose a Yoshi or Nabbit can't get hurt by regular bad guys. This was perfect for my daughter when she wanted to play with us. Four players definitely becomes insane at times and at a few points, much harder. However, it gave our family a chance to do something together and we had a lot of fun (as long as I was able to contain my frustration- the curse of expertise makes jerks of us all, at times). The game provides some new power-ups- the Elephant Power-Up is excellent. I never expected being Elephant Mario would be so fun. The Drill is super handy. I loved when Mario & friends turned into sticky goo. The Bubble power was innovative and fun as well.

The game itself features many familiar features. You go through each level to completion, needing to collect 3 purple "10" coins in each level, collect the various Wonder Seeds, and reach the top of the flagpole. The levels aren't especially hard, so even when you miss something, it doesn't feel like a major chore to go back and play through again to get them. You also need to buy Standees, which felt less exciting to me. I never used a single one and at the end of the game, I had to replay a level dozens of times to get enough purple coins to round out the collection. The Badges were a cool addition. We didn't use most of them, unless the level specifically called for them. It's a great innovation, though. The game doesn't feel especially long- 6 Main Worlds, a Hub World, and the dreaded Special World. The game took some level of commitment to see it through, but we breezed through most of the levels. It's fun. The climactic battle with Bowser is great- a wonderfully designed level that threw a few challenges at us, but was so well done that my daughter could play with us and help to complete the game. I so very much love the family focus of Nintendo.

I do need to talk about the Special World. These are all 5-star challenge courses. My family struggled mightily with some of them. They were absolutely challenging- if I hadn't completed nearly everything in this franchise already, I'd have struggled too. That was the only part of the game where I really had to do the lion's share. And then, we get to the final challenges. The first two weren't too bad- my wife and son and I were able to finish them with relative ease (my daughter opted out, seeing the insanity of them). That brings us to The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon. Nintendo always does this. It presents a beautifully designed game terrific for families, and then throws one last challenge in there that will absolutely destroy your life. This final level is as difficult as anything I've done in a Mario game. My goodness. It took me about 2 days and easily 200+ lives to see this thing through to completion. Every time I needed to pause, I'd shut down the Switch and desperately remind my family not to play any other games. There's only a few flags in that final level and I did not want to go back and do the levels over unnecessarily. Like any truly challenging level, it demands repetition. You play the levels over and over again, each using a different badge, until you master them. There's something so amazing about this- to play a level where you died 50 times and then be able to do it nearly flawlessly, over and over. The repetition is annoying, but you learn how to perfect the level. That's pretty cool. The bouncing level was miserable- the timing was rough and you have to replay two stages before just to get there. I only completed it once and it's the level that drove me to focus on the remainder- I did not want to attempt it again. The final leg of the marathon is brutal. Each level is tough until you master them. When you finally do, that brings you to the last leg, the seemingly impossible Invisibility Badge level. You have to guide Mario through a bouncing level without being able to see where your character is. Utterly ridiculous. I got pretty far just eyeballing it, but ultimately, I had to use a popular hack. I tied a piece of string from the top of the TV to the bottom, about where Mario would be, running full speed as the level progresses. This rough guide helped me as I bounced on moving balloons, not being able to see where I was. Even with the string guide, it took me many attempts. I remember saying to my son, "I'm not sure I can do this," and then two tries later, made it to the end. This started one of the scariest moments of any video game- while invisible (and unable to use the string), I had to jump from the top of stairs, bounce on a blue triangle, and hit the top of the flagpole. If I missed (and I read online of many people who did), I'd have to REDO THE ENTIRE LEVEL AGAIN. My hands were almost shaking as I tried to take deep breaths. It took me a while to muster the courage before I jumped, bounced, and hit somewhere near the top. Agonizing seconds seem to float by before WONDERFUL popped up and I (and my family) screamed in celebration. I'd finished the level (forgot to mention I did it solo) and we were completed with the game. Insane, Nintendo. Just insane.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a great game. It's not my favorite in the franchise, but it was a total blast. It brought huge levels of innovation to the decades-old franchise, allowed my family to play and collaborate together. It threw one of the hardest levels I've ever seen. Nintendo is still the king of video games, in my mind. Their ability to deliver innovative, family-friendly, challenging games is unparalleled.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. U