Super Mario Wonder shocked us all

Guest Blog post by Adam Foster @AngelicWiganer / @snoopfozziefozz

Mario and crew are here to stay in Super Mario Bros Wonder

Hi all, I’m back with another review. I decided that I needed a new Nintendo Switch game to play as I was going away for a week to Wales for a holiday with the wife and kids. Switch games are perfect as I can play something on the go. I also wanted something which I could easily pick up and play for 20-30 minute bursts, as I am usually interrupted by my kids.

I decided to go with Super Mario Wonder. I must admit I was a bit sceptical of getting this game at first, mainly as I had felt that the 2D Mario games had become very stale with all the “New” Super Mario incarnations we had seen on Wii U, Wii and 3DS.

Our adventure takes to the Flower Kingdom where Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy are invited to see a demonstration of a wonder flower by its ruler Prince Florian. As usual our big baddie Bowser crashes the party and steals powers to transform himself into a flying fortress to kidnap many citizens of the kingdom. Of course our band of baddies decide to help Florian to save his kingdom.

In terms of the actual gameplay model, nothing has really changed. It’s the usual 2D fodder. Get from the start to the finish avoiding the usual enemies. At the end of the stage you will receive a wonder seed, which you need to collect a certain amount to progress through the worlds. The kicker here is what has changed to make the game feel different.

Wonder Flowers!!!! When you find a wonder flower in each stage it changes the course or the tasks that you need to do, whether that’s find a new exit or use a different ability to get a second wonder seed in the stage. It really adds a new dimension to the gameplay and I really welcomed this. In addition to this there are a number of characters you can pick, again all with different abilities. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Daisy and Peach are available. Yoshi and Nabbit are also available (but they are for the younger players).

So you can collect Wonder Seeds in the usual stages, but a lovely addition to the game is extra side missions where you can perfect your skills and obtain badges which you can use at the start of each stage to gain an advantage in the levels (higher jump, start with a mushroom etc.). There are lots of little collectibles through the game as well for all the completionists out there.

Mario and the friends... oh and ferocious Bowser

The controls are tight as you’d expect from any Mario game and the new power ups also feel as though they have been in and around the series for a number of years. I especially liked the drill power up which enables Mario to tunnel above and below into the ground or ceiling in order to avoid enemies or access new locations.

In terms of its looks and sounds Super Mario Wonder does not disappoint, it looks brilliant with the bright colours we come to expect from modern Mario games. The music is wonderfully composed too and we have the cute quaint little voice snippets from the flowers in the levels. They can often give hints away on how to progress or find wonder flowers so it’s worth paying attention to them. I’d also like to say this is the first Mario game without the voice of Charles Martinet. Whilst its sad Charles is no longer the voice of Mario, his replacement Kevin Afgani does a fine job here, and I am sure will continue to do so in the future.

In conclusion Super Mario Wonder was perfect as a stop gap game for small bursts while I was away on holiday. It’s probably still a little too short with its six main worlds, but there is plenty to things to collect to give the game a little more longevity. As I stated before the 2D Mario games had stagnated for me and needed something new to revitalise the series. Did it do enough? I felt this was more like a sticking plaster.
I’m not saying it’s a bad game, it’s not. But the Super Mario franchise is close to its fortieth anniversary, it’s inevitable that after so long it feels stale. The problem here is what Nintendo can do to make Mario feel more fresh, relevant and more appealing to older gamers like myself.
I give Super Mario Bros Wonder a 7.5 out of 10
Thanks for reading and as usual Keep Gaming

Guest Blog post by Adam Foster @AngelicWiganer / @snoopfozziefozz