“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” a Wonderful Reinvention of a Foolproof Formula

“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” is an amazing reinvention of the Mario formula. It plays nearly the same as the other modern two dimensional Mario platformers like 2006’s “New Super Mario Bros.” and 2012’s “New Super Mario Bros. 2”, but with a new twist.

The big addition in this game is the newly introduced wonder seeds. There is one of these in each level and it adds a fun, crazy, and sometimes difficult twist to every stage. For instance, some wonder seeds can grant you the ability to walk on the walls, create stampedes of creatures that crash through the stage, or even turn you into the very creatures you squish as Mario. These seeds add a new layer of fun on an already amazing platforming adventure.

This adventure has the most playable characters in a platforming Mario game at 12. It gives you the capabilities to play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, two different Toads, Toadette, four different Yoshis, and Nabbit. The Yoshis and Nabbit can’t take damage so they are good for accessibility. There is also some new power-ups with the Elephant Fruit, Bubble Flower, and Drill Mushroom all adding new fun ways to play and of course some landmarks powers like the Fire Flower and Super Star.

This game also holds two new landmarks for the Mario franchise. The smaller of the two is a brand new artstyle. The game has left behind the stale and sometimes uncreative style of the “New Super Mario Bros.” games for a more artistic and fun style. This is most evident in the  number of animations per character, they have been increased tenfold making the experience of the game a lot more entertaining to play through or even just watch.

The larger of the two landmarks is the introduction of a brand new voice actor for Mario and Luigi. Charles Martinet had been the voice of Mario since the character got a voice in 1992’s “Super Mario Bros. Pinball”. Prior to the game’s release it was revealed that Charles Martinet would be retiring from the role and passing the torch to Kevin Afghani. Afghani does an amazing job with both Mario and Luigi. It seems like he will bring his own voice and creativity to Mario games in the future.

“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” is a testament to how polished and fun a two dimensional platformer can be. It’s created a great introduction for newcomers to Mario and a fun reinvention for long time fans. It is possibly one of the most polished games of the year and is definitely worth your time.

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division

Platform: Nintendo Switch

ESRB Rating: E

Price: $59.99

My Rating: ★★★★★