'Super Mario Bros. Wonder' Review
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Super Mario Bros.Wonder is a return to form for the mustachioed plumber, and this isn't the first time he's returned to his 2D roots. However, what does this mean for the game itself? Let's find out!
Gameplay
The gameplay does not stray far from the likes of say Super Mario World. It's your typical 2D Mario side-scrolling adventure. You can play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, and Nabbit. Most of the characters play pretty much the same as each other and have access to the same power-ups. Speaking of which, there are some new ones for this game!
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The Elephant Fruit power-up turns the player into a large elephant and allows them to spray water from their trunk. The Bubble Flower power-up allows the player to shoot bubbles and trap enemies. Next, the Drill Mushroom turns the player’s hat into a drill, allowing them to drill into obstacles. Lastly, we have the Wonder Flower, which changes the world around the player and often leads them to a wonder seed, collectibles needed to progress in the game. Standard power-ups, such as the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, also return. In addition, the player has access to badges that give them certain abilities, such as using their hat to glide across gaps. Overall, the gameplay feels fresh yet familiar at the same time, innovating on the proven Super Mario formula.
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Graphics
Graphically, the game uses a similar 2.5D style to the New Super Mario Bros. series but with the flair of something like Yoshi’s Story or Super Mario World. The overall look of the game feels like it came out of a storybook, which adds to the “wonder” of the game. Rather than reuse the assets of say New Super Mario Bros. U, each asset appears to be newly created for the title to take advantage of the Switch’s graphical capabilities. The game also runs at a pretty smooth 60fps for the most part, with only a few dips here and there. Overall, Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks and plays beautifully.
Story
The game has a relatively simple story, which is par for the course for most Mario games. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and a crew of Toads and Yoshis are invited to the Flower Kingdom by its ruler, Prince Florian. However, during a demonstration of the reality-warping Wonder Flower, Bowser interrupts the ceremony and merges himself with the castle using the flower’s power, turning himself into a huge flying fortress and imprisoning the citizens of the Flower Kingdom. Now, Mario and company, along with the help of Prince Florian, must traverse the Flower Kingdom to free it from Bowser’s control. It’s a refreshing variation on the typical tale of “Princess Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser” and sets up the adventure rather nicely.
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Music And Sound
The music in this game is pretty much what you’d expect from a Mario game: a whimsical blend of jazz and funk that creates what we know as the Mario sound. However, there’s also a lot of variety in between this main style, including some fantastic musical storytelling in the prologue that blends a magical Disney film score feeling with even a more symphonic metal style towards the end. The music is a large blend of styles that come together to create a feeling that is distinctly “Mario.”
The other sound elements are also used well. Each sound effect retains a classic yet modern feel, including those used for the new power-ups. Notably, this is the first Mario game that does not feature Charles Martinet as Mario and Luigi, as the actor has decided to retire from recording new lines for the role. Stepping into his shoes is voice actor Kevin Afghani, and while it is clear that he still has some growing to do in the roles, this is a great start for the young actor, as he has already captured the essence of Martinet’s performance. However, the plumbers aren’t the only ones with new vocal folds. Princess Daisy also has a new voice talent at the helm: Giselle Fernandez, stepping in for Deanna Mustard, who has been voicing the tomboy princess for nearly 20 years. That factor of her character, “tomboy,” has certainly been emphasized in this new vocal direction, and it’s a refreshing change. Fernandez and Afghani seem to be fitting their new roles quite well. Other notable standouts include Mick Wingert as the talking flower, the only character in this game to consistently speak full sentences. He definitely gives a good performance in a small yet very noticeable role.
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Pros And Cons
Let’s start with the pros. The game captures the spirit of the classic 2D sidescrolling Mario games quite well while adding several new innovations to the formula. This results in a fun game that is honestly hard to put down. It has a huge amount of replayability whether you simply want to play the level again to master its mechanics or to collect a wonder seed you missed. The new voices for Mario, Luigi, and Daisy, while they might take some time to get used to, are also welcome additions to the Mario universe.
There are some cons, however. First, though it is nice to have a Mario character talk fully, the presence of the talking flower speaking full sentences is slightly jarring when this still isn’t the case for a majority of the cast during cutscenes, even when their text boxes display full sentences. At least having characters such as Prince Florian speak fully would have made this difference less jarring. Also, though the online connectivity is a nice touch, a true online co-op mode would have been nice rather than just the ghosts we see during levels. These gripes are rather minor, however.
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Verdict
Super Mario Bros.Wonder beautifully captures that classic Mario feeling while adding plenty of new additions to keep it from being yet another retro retread. It plays well, looks good, and sounds good too. It’s simply a “wonderful” experience for casual and hardcore fans alike.
Rating: 9.5/10
Developer: Nintendo EDP; Publisher: Nintendo; Players: Single-Player, local co-op, Online; Released: October 20th, 2023; ESRB: E for mild fantasy violence; MSRP: $59.99
Review played on Nintendo Switch
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