Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)

Information

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 2023 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the first traditional side-scrolling Super Mario game since New Super Mario Bros. U (2012). The player controls Mario, Luigi, and their friends as they attempt to stop Bowser, who has used the magical Wonder Flower to transform himself into a castle and take over a new land known as the Flower Kingdom.

Development for Super Mario Bros. Wonder began in 2019, with director Shiro Mouri taking inspiration from the original Super Mario Bros. and producer Takashi Tezuka seeking to reinvent the 2D Mario experience and introduce a new location.

The game sold 4.3 million units in its first two weeks, making it the fastest-selling Super Mario game. The game also received critical acclaim, with praise for its level design, art style, and gameplay variety.

Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a side-scrolling platform game. As one of eight player characters—Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Toad, Toadette, Nabbit and Yoshi—the player completes levels across the Flower Kingdom with assistance from its flower-like denizens. Similarly to previous Super Mario games, players guide their character to the end of a level while avoiding enemies, such as Goombas and Piranha Plants, and transporting through Warp Pipes. Each stage contains multiple collectible “Wonder Seeds”.

New power-ups include a fruit that transforms the player into an elephant, a flower that allows the player to create bubbles that capture enemies, and a mushroom that gives the player a drill hat that allows them to burrow into the ground or ceiling to evade enemies or bypass obstacles.

Wonder introduces the Wonder Flower, which triggers bizarre effects such as pipes coming to life, hordes of enemies spawning, and character appearances and abilities changing. The effects end when a player collects a Wonder Seed or leaves the area of effect.

A new feature allows players to equip badges, which are unlocked throughout the game and give different advantages to the player. They are divided into three different categories: Action Badges, which grant the player character an additional ability, Boost Badges, which give the player character an additional passive ability, and Expert Badges, which grant the player character an advanced skill. Only one badge can be activated at a time per level. They are usually optional and can be shut off for higher difficulty.

The game supports local multiplayer for up to twelve players in a room with a limit of four players active in a level. It also has some online multiplayer functionality. When playing through a level while playing online, translucent versions up to three other players playing through the same level may be present. When other online players are present nearby, defeated players become ghosts and are given a short window of time to revive themselves by flying toward another player or a standee placed by another player.

Plot
Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy and an entourage of Toads and Yoshis are invited to the neighboring Flower Kingdom by its ruler, Prince Florian, to see a demonstration of a Wonder Flower; great treasures of the Flower Kingdom that can warp reality. Bowser interrupts the ceremony and seizes the Wonder Flower, using its power to merge with Prince Florian’s castle, turning himself into a giant flying fortress and imprisoning the citizens of the Flower Kingdom. Mario volunteers to help Prince Florian defeat Bowser and restore order to the land, with his friends following suit. Prince Florian accompanies the party, wearing badges that enhance the group’s abilities. As Mario, Prince Florian, and the gang work to collect the Wonder Seeds and save the captured Poplins, they realize that by gathering six Royal Seeds, which are considered precious treasures in the Flower Kingdom, they will grant access to Castle Bowser, as each time a Royal Seed is collected, it destroys one of the six Cloud Piranhas protecting Castle Bowser. While setting out to find the Seeds, the gang goes through Kamek’s battleships and battles Bowser Jr. in the palaces.

After freeing the various regions of the Flower Kingdom from the control of Bowser Jr. and removing Bowser’s defenses, Mario and friends confront Bowser on his flying castle, where he reveals his plan to use the Wonder Flowers’ power to enslave the universe with rhythm. The party defeats Bowser and returns the Flower Kingdom to normal, with Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Kamek fleeing.

Development and release
Veteran Super Mario developer and producer Takashi Tezuka returns as a producer for Wonder. Shiro Mouri, who previously directed New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, returns as director. Wonder started development in 2019 after the release of Deluxe, and the development team was not given a deadline to produce a prototype, which resulted in extra time to develop gameplay ideas.

During the initial planning of Wonder, Mouri desired to recreate the sense of “secrets and mystery” that had been present in the original Super Mario Bros. for a modern audience. The focus was placed on updating the traditional idea of transporting Mario to different areas of the level using Warp Pipes, vines, or other means. Tezuka suggested to instead change up the current physical location, and the Wonder Flower, which dramatically alters the current level, was born. In order for all levels in the game to uniquely implement this item, up to 2000 ideas for Wonder effects were solicited from the development team. The most viable were prototyped and implemented in the final game.

Wonder was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on June 21, 2023, and was released on October 20, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch. It is the first traditional 2D side-scrolling Super Mario game since New Super Mario Bros. U (2012). Wonder is the first game to feature Kevin Afghani as the new voice of Mario and Luigi, following the announcement of previous actor Charles Martinet’s departure from the roles in August 2023. Sonic Superstars, a similar 2D side-scrolling platform game by Sega, was released three days prior. Tezuka and Sonic Superstars producer Takashi Iizuka stated that this was a coincidence, despite how long it had been since either franchise had had a 2D entry. It was the first time a Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog game had been released close to one another since the 1990s Nintendo–Sega console war.

Reception

Sales
The game sold 4.3 million units in its first two weeks of release and became the fastest-selling Super Mario game.

Critical reception
Super Mario Bros. Wonder received “universal acclaim” from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. On OpenCritic, 98% of reviews recommended the game.

Critics widely praised the gameplay, noting the creative innovations and variety brought to it. PJ O’Reilly of Nintendo Life wrote that the game is “quite simply, the best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World” and “the slickest, sharpest, and smartest that two-dimensional Mario has felt since 1991.”