Super Mario Bros. Wonder Review: The 2D Mario We Needed

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Super Mario Bros. Wonder is one of those games that puts a smile on your face. It grabs you within five minutes and doesn't let go until you turn off the console. It's not just the absolute mastery of 2D platforming that sets it apart, but the way it dares to turn everything we thought we knew about the series on its head. Nintendo promised that we should "expect the unexpected"... and, for once, the slogan doesn't fall short: every stage, every flower, every animation seems designed to surprise you again and again.

Behind that facade of a “classic” game lies a tremendously modern development: Levels designed with obsessive precision, mechanics that reset on every screen, a badge system that remixes the gameplay and an audiovisual section that has been updated like few times before in the saga (you can see the Switch 2 Edition and all its new featuresAll of this is encapsulated in an adventure that can be enjoyed solo, in local co-op, and with a curious (though debatable) online mode that attempts to give a community feel to the experience.

A new impetus for 2D Mario games

After almost four decades of jumps, pipes and mushroomsThe 2D Mario formula was crying out for a breath of fresh air. The New Super Mario Bros. games worked well in terms of gameplay, but it was clear that fans were craving something different, a twist that wouldn't betray the essence but would dare to experiment. Wonder is precisely that jolt: it blends madness, imagination, and freshness without sacrificing the classic precision.

The basic structure remains the same as always: Advance from left to right, overcome levels and face BowserThis time, it merges with a castle to become a kind of floating fortress that dominates the Flower Kingdom. The worlds are linked by a world map full of paths, shortcuts, semi-open areas, and secrets, but the real fun isn't in the map, but in what happens within each screen.

From the first world it is clear that the team's objective was to constantly surprise. Each phase introduces an idea, develops it, twists it, and finishes it. With a mastery worthy of the saga's best days, Nintendo's famous design approach—setup, development, twist, and resolution—is very much in evidence. Only here, in the midst of that well-known structure, an element slips in that shatters any predictability.

That element is the Wonder Flowers, the true heart of the game. Once you understand how they work, your priority at every level becomes finding them.Because you know that the moment you touch them, everything can change radically: the rhythm, the rules, even the genre of the level itself. It's precisely then that Wonder stops being "just another 2D Mario" and becomes something much more special.

Simple story, unforgettable world

The plot is once again merely a pretext for jumping from level to level.As is typical in the series, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Yoshi, Nabbit, and company travel to the Flower Kingdom at the invitation of Prince Florian. There, they discover a mysterious power: the Wonder Flowers, capable of altering reality. Naturally, Bowser appears, gets hold of one of them, and merges with the castle to conquer the entire kingdom.

From there, you have to travel through a good number of worlds, full of stages, challenges, pastimes and secrets, to collect Wonder Seeds and reverse the chaos. There are no big dramatic scenes or plot twistsEverything is at the service of the journey, giving you excuses to see new things, unlock more levels, and face castles and fortresses with considerable visual personality.

One interesting fact is that The worlds combine classic linear routes with areas of freer exploration.In some parts you move along fixed paths, tile by tile, while in others you can wander through open areas, enter levels in any order you like, or discover hidden shortcuts. It's a mix that breaks the monotony of the typical "one-way street" and reinforces the feeling of exploring a kingdom with its own unique identity.

In addition, the map hides Poplin stores, mini-challenges, and secret access points to extra stages that are not unlocked simply by progressing. In many cases you will need to obtain a specific number of Wonder Seeds or find alternative solutions to see everything the game has to offer. It's not a "metroidvania," not by a long shot, but there is a layer of exploration and discovery that suits the format perfectly.

The story can be completed in a few hours if you rush through it, but the map always leaves something unseen: hidden rooms, secret exits, pastimes, hidden badges…and a good handful of extra levels that are only revealed when you thought you were finished.

Flor Maravilla: the twist that changes everything

The Wonder Flower is the true "game changer" of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.In almost every level there's a hidden object (sometimes in plain sight, sometimes very well camouflaged), and when you touch it, the stage enters a kind of controlled frenzy. What happens next is unpredictable: each stage has its own unique effect, custom-designed to surprise.

On some screens, the pipes come to life and move like giant worms; on others, A stampede of enemies sweeps across the stage, forcing you to run to the flag.The world might start tilting as if you were on a boat, gravity might be deactivated and you might have to float among enemies, you might control Mario in free fall, it might all turn into a kind of digging minigame in the style of Mr. Driller, or the jumps might simply disappear and the level's genre might change completely.

There are moments when the camera changes perspective, others when you transform into a Goomba to overcome stealth sections, and sections where The stage-ending flag itself flies off and you have to chase it.Nintendo has used these sections to experiment fearlessly: musical rhythms, puzzles, time trials, crazy visual ideas... Almost anything goes as long as it's fun and doesn't break the level's readability.

The duration of these effects is usually short, one or two minutes on average, always leaving you with the feeling of "I wish it lasted a little longer". Paradoxically, that's a big part of its charm.That fleeting quality makes you want to repeat the levels, revisit the transformations, try alternative routes, or search for the Wonder Seeds and giant coins hidden in these sections.

Furthermore, not all Wonder Flowers are required to reach the end of the level, but Ignoring them means missing out on some of the game's most brutal surprises.Many extra Wonder Seeds only appear if you activate these effects, and in some stages there are even small extra challenges within the wonder section.

The best thing is that, despite the number of different ideas, it almost never feels repetitive. It is true that some effects share a family (variants of the same madness)But overall, the team's creativity is so high that it's difficult to anticipate what you'll find in the next flower. It's precisely this feeling of constant intrigue that makes Wonder so addictive.

Badges: a brilliant system that falls short

The other major new gameplay feature is the BadgesThese are medals you can equip to alter abilities or add passive effects. There are three main types: Action Badges (which modify your moves), Item Badges (which add automatic aids or power-ups), and Pro Badges (designed for those seeking more of a challenge or drastic changes).

Among the Action Badges we find things like The parachute cap for gliding, the climber jump for scaling walls after a leap, the dolphin boost for swimming like a shot or a powerful charged jump that requires crouching before taking off. Some of these abilities evoke those of previous installments: for example, gliding is reminiscent of Peach, and the charged jump recalls the Western Super Mario Bros. 2.

Item Badges are more focused on making the player's life easier: safety rebound to save you from a fall, sensor that vibrates when secrets are nearby, coin attractor that makes coins come to you or medals that give you a super mushroom at the start of each stage. They're ideal for those who want to reduce frustration or go for 100% completion with less trial and error.

The Pro Badges hold the most eye-catching features: total invisibility (you don't see your character, only its effects) or special impulses to move much more aggressivelyAmong others. These are modifications designed for those who already have good control and want a significant change in the feel of the game.

The only important "but" is that You can only equip one Badge at a timeAnd the same applies to all players if you're playing cooperatively. Since it's an optional system, the levels are designed to be completed without any of them, so many players end up finding one or two they like and forgetting about the rest. The high jump skill, for example, ends up being a regular companion for many people.

It's a shame, because the special levels to unlock Badges show how far they could have gone. These are small tests focused on maximizing the movement associated with each medal.with its precise platforming and exhilarating acrobatics. If the game's design had required the use of certain Badges in specific stages, it could have created even more incredible replayability.

Power-ups and transformations: the elephant in the room

Regarding power-up items, Wonder prioritizes quality over quantity.Beyond classics like the Mushroom or the Fire Flower, we have three great additions: the Elephant Apple, the Bubble Flower, and the Mushroom Drill. There aren't many, but each one plays a significant role and there are levels designed to make the most of them.

The Elephant-Banana is the media star. When you pick it up, Mario, Peach, Toad, or whoever else, transforms into an adorable anthropomorphic elephantIt can smash through blocks, hit enemies with its trunk, and store water to later water plants or put out fires. Its movement also changes: it becomes heavier and wider, with hilarious animations like when it tries to get into a pipe and gets stuck.

The Bubble Flower allows you to shoot floating bubbles that trap enemies and turn them into coins, even through walls. These bubbles also serve as makeshift platformsYou can jump on them for a moment to gain height and reach seemingly inaccessible areas or find alternative routes.

The Champitaladro is the most technical of the three. When using it, A drill appears on your head that protects you from attacks from above and, above all, allows you to dig.You can go under the floor or into the ceiling and move through otherwise blocked spaces, knocking down blocks and enemies, even armored or spiked ones.

All these power-ups are cleverly integrated into the level design. There are secrets, coins, hidden areas, and puzzles that can only be solved using the correct transformation.The game doesn't rely on lengthy tutorials: it introduces the skill and immediately throws you into situations that encourage you to experiment, in the classic style of the series.

A multiplayer game designed for cooperation, not fighting.

One of Wonder's biggest draws is, once again, its local cooperative mode for up to four playersSharing the sofa and the world with friends or family multiplies the laughs, and Nintendo has made several important changes compared to releases like New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Super Mario 3D World.

The most radical change is that There are no longer physical collisions between playersYou can literally walk right through your teammates, without pushing or bumping into each other on narrow platforms. This completely eliminates that fun yet frustrating "chaotic-competitive" feel of previous installments, where one wrong step from your friend could send you plummeting into the abyss.

This decision makes the games less tense and much more accessible to all types of players, but it is also true that Some of the mischievous charm of those shouting sessions is lost.Now the main interaction is reduced to resurrecting your friends: when someone dies, they become a ghost and have a few seconds to touch another player and come back to life. Lives, by the way, are shared by the entire group.

Seeing some of the effects of the Wonder Flowers and the number of moving elements on screen, the decision becomes clear: With collisions, many levels would be absolute chaosEven so, a simple option to activate or deactivate those collisions at will would have been nice, thus pleasing those who enjoy making things difficult for their friends.

The cast of characters is also designed to appeal to everyone. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and the Toads are controlled identically to each other.This unifies the level design but makes it lose that distinctive touch (Luigi's quirky jump, for example). In return, the multicolored Yoshis and Nabbit act as an easy mode: they don't take damage from enemies, although they do die if they fall into the void, and in Yoshi's case, he can even glide a little to make jumps easier.

Online peculiar: ghosts, panels and community

Super Mario Bros. Wonder's online mode doesn't focus on classic cooperative gameplay. in which four people play together in real time on the same level (although there is something close to that with private rooms), but by a more subtle and asynchronous system reminiscent of what has been seen in sagas like Dark Souls.

If you play online in single-player mode, you'll see shadows or ghosts of other players roaming the world map and levels in parallel to your gameYou can't bump into them or coordinate them like in local co-op, but their presence has several effects: they can revive you if you touch them in ghost form after dying, and they can also leave behind clues to the secrets they have found.

In addition, there is a very curious panel system. These are signs that you can place anywhere on the levelsThese panels will also appear in other players' games. If a player dies nearby and is in ghost form, they can revive by touching one of these panels. The game keeps track of how many times your panels have saved others and rewards you with a small cooperative heart system.

On paper it's a very good idea, designed to encourage mutual support and create an invisible community that helps each other out without needing to be online in real timeIn practice, it has its drawbacks: constantly seeing shadows of other players can be distracting and break concentration, and the possibility of reviving so many times makes the game somewhat easier than it perhaps should be.

There is also the option to create private rooms with friends. Each player plays from their own console, sees the others as ghosts, and can revive them or use their panels.But it's not exactly the same as local co-op: it feels more like playing alone with echoes of your friends. Many players would have preferred full online co-op, with everyone on screen as if you were in the same room.

Finally, one debatable detail: Each time you plant a panel, the game chooses one at random from among those you have.Many of these items are obtained by purchasing them with purple flower coins, and duplicates are possible. This artificially lengthens the task of collecting them all and reduces the player's control when leaving specific messages.

Difficulty and duration: for everyone, but with substance

Wonder does not allow you to choose the difficulty as such.Instead, each level is marked with a star system (from one to five) that roughly indicates the challenge you face. The overall feeling is that it's a fairly accessible game, designed so that anyone can reach the end credits without getting frustrated.

However, that doesn't mean it's a walk in the park. There are quite a few really challenging stages, especially towards the end and in some secret levels.which will test even veterans of the saga. The combination of precise platforming, Marvelous effects, and advanced use of Badges can lead to some very serious challenges.

If you rush through, focusing only on reaching the end of each stage, it's easy to finish the adventure in just a few afternoons. But Completing the game 100% is another storyGetting all the Wonder Seeds, the three big coins in each level, discovering all the secret exits, overcoming the Badge challenges and reaching the tip of the flag in all stages can take about 10-15 hours or considerably more, depending on your skill and your obsession with completing everything.

The fact that the levels have no time limit It invites you to explore them calmly, to try things, to look for false walls, hidden pipes and areas that can only be accessed with the correct power-up or badge. And, once you finish the story, you may still have a good number of screens left to unlock if you weren't thorough during your first playthrough.

Furthermore, the existence of "easy" characters like Yoshi or Caco Gazapo makes it The game is perfect for sharing a console with kids or people with no experience in gaming platforms.However, this does not prevent the most seasoned players from gritting their teeth on the five-star levels and the toughest optional challenges.

An audiovisual spectacle: animations, color and dynamic sound

Where Wonder takes a clear leap forward compared to the New Super Mario Bros. games is in the audiovisual aspect.It is, without exaggeration, the most beautiful 2D Mario ever made. The character and enemy models are impeccable, the environments are full of detail without becoming visually overwhelming, and the art direction dares to use some truly wild ideas that perfectly complement the game's playful tone.

The animations deserve a separate chapter. Each character has tons of different moves depending on the situationHow they run, how they jump, how they crouch, how they enter a pipe, how they react to certain Marvel effects… Everything is meticulously crafted to give them an expressiveness never before seen in the series. Even the enemies convey personality: from the classic Goombas to new creatures like the Digaahs, who sweat profusely after a big meal.

Performance follows: The image sharpness is excellent in both TV and laptop modes.The scrolling is silky smooth, and there's no sign of slowdowns or obvious technical issues. It's clear Nintendo has pampered its icon and given it a presentation worthy of the Nintendo Switch's current lifecycle.

In terms of sound, the soundtrack features new, lively and very varied themes, with a clear improvement over what we heard in the New releasesIt doesn't rely too heavily on nostalgia, although there are nods and remixes of classic melodies. Furthermore, the music behaves dynamically: its instrumentation and tone change depending on what's happening on screen or the character's state (for example, during the Wonder Flower effects).

The sound effects are, if possible, even more important. There are countless effects that provide constant information about what's happening around you, coordinating with the visuals and gameplay in a very natural way. And, of course, there are the talking flowers: little characters that comment on the action, give clues, and crack jokes in perfect Spanish. If they overwhelm you, you can always lower the volume or change the language, but it's hard to deny that they bring the world to life.

Regarding the voices of the main characters, Charles Martinet steps down from his role as Mario and Luigi, passing the torch to Kevin Afghani.Their shouts and exclamations fit in very well and respect the classic expressions we've been hearing for decades, although the change is noticeable in longer sentences. It takes a little getting used to after so many years, but the result is more than respectable.

Taken as a whole, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a true visual and auditory spectacleIt updates the 2D Mario aesthetic without sacrificing any of its gameplay clarity. Everything serves the level design and gameplay, but with a level of care and detail that undoubtedly places it among the console's most polished projects.

Ultimately, what this game leaves you with is the feeling of being in front of a classic 2D platformer that has dared to reinvent itself without breaking anything: A title capable of dazzling you with every flower, inviting you to replay its levels again and again, and reminding you why Mario remains, so many years later, the king of the genre.It doesn't matter if you've spent half your life jumping on Goombas or if this is your first time in the Flower Kingdom: it's very difficult not to have a great time with it.