Mario World remains the best 2D Mario experience but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun with Wonder. The game is a tad too easy, levels are too short and the blandness of th the level design reflects its dependence on the Wonder Flowers gimmick. Now, the gimmick is great and well implemented but, if you miss the Wonder Flower, it is so central to the level and game design that you don't want to miss It, mainly because of 2 things: 1) Wonder Flowers are required for progression because, if, you don't get it, you won't receive the Wonder Seed at the end of the level; 2)they spice up the appearance and gameplay of a level's section, which otherwise is very bland and generic.
The badge system is underutilised and I could have done without just fine.
Some stages are literally just there to give you a Wonder Seed.
The bosses are lame and too easy, nothing to write home about, except for the last one which is nice.
It doesn't sound like it, but I really love this game and I think that it is one of the best 2D Mario games. The thing that I liked the most is how it depicts the Mario World (ha!). What results is a higly hostile placey where everything looks cute while trying to murder you. I can tell you, life as a Goomba ain't easy. This game bursts with personality and heart. You can see it in the little details, in the wonderful (ha!) animations, in the drum that plays whenever you ground pound and in all the ways a level can change (with variations on a theme).
I only played as Mario during this run and the controls are not as floaty as the games of the NEW series but seemed fine tuned this time.
Overall, Super Mario Wonder is top-tier Mario game and one of my favorite 2023 releases.
9.5/10