Super Mario Bros: Wonder is appropriately titled because every single thing about this game will leave you in WONDER and awe at the sheer creativity. It's simply just a joy to play through.
We follow Mario and friends on a journey to stop Bowser's latest villainous scheme of taking over a neighboring kingdom to the Mushroom Kingdom known as the Flower Kingdom. To do this they have to collect enough Wonder Seeds and Royal Seeds across 6 distinct worlds in the Flower Kingdom.
I think when it comes to platformers level design is the most important thing and the level design in Mario Wonder is just unmatched in creativity and vibrancy. I mean this is the game that throws the singing Piranha Plants level at you as literally the 2nd level so you KNOW you're in for a good time and that's BEFORE you even add in the new Wonder Flower which completely changes the level and this is in EVERY SINGLE level and while a few effects do get reused, about 90% of them are entirely unique to their respective level.
From being turned into a Goomba and having to hide from enemies who can eat you to being turned into part of the level itself, I met every new level with excitement as I wondered what surprises were in store for me this time and that's just two simple examples you'll come across in the 126 stages of this game.
The creativity doesn't end on the level design though because there's 3 new power-ups as well which give so much variety on how to play through all the stages. Whether it be the Bubble Flower which lets you blow bubbles to jump on for platforming or the Drill mushroom that lets you drill under the ground or on the ceiling to reach areas you couldn't previously and of course we can't forget the iconic Elephant Fruit which allows you smack blocks and enemies with your trunk and store water to spray on dried out flowers. On top of the new power-ups there are also badges that give different special effects like a longer jump or a glide or making blocks appear for platforming which gives even more incentive to replay stages and try our new badges and power-ups to find new secrets hidden within every stage.
Music in Mario games has always been important, but it has never been as important as it is in Wonder with some stages and even bosses actually having the player platform in time and rhythm with the beat of the music, it makes me want a whole game like that. However that's not all that's good about the music in Wonder because the soundtrack itself is also phenomenal and arguably one of the best in the series with tons of fresh remixes of classic tracks and catchy new themes that are sure to become just as iconic as the classics.
Thanks to it being constantly creative and fresh with a plethora of unique ideas being thrown at you at every turn alongside incredible focus on music as well, my 15 hours with Super Mario Wonder is the most fun I've had with a platformer since Super Mario Odyssey first came out and it truly has me in WONDER of how even almost 40 years later Nintendo has managed to put out not only one of the most creatively innovative and fresh Mario games in the past 40 years, but also one that is simply bound to go down as one of the greatest of all time. If you're a Mario fan or just a fan of amazing platformers, you don't want to miss out on this one.
We follow Mario and friends on a journey to stop Bowser's latest villainous scheme of taking over a neighboring kingdom to the Mushroom Kingdom known as the Flower Kingdom. To do this they have to collect enough Wonder Seeds and Royal Seeds across 6 distinct worlds in the Flower Kingdom.
I think when it comes to platformers level design is the most important thing and the level design in Mario Wonder is just unmatched in creativity and vibrancy. I mean this is the game that throws the singing Piranha Plants level at you as literally the 2nd level so you KNOW you're in for a good time and that's BEFORE you even add in the new Wonder Flower which completely changes the level and this is in EVERY SINGLE level and while a few effects do get reused, about 90% of them are entirely unique to their respective level.
From being turned into a Goomba and having to hide from enemies who can eat you to being turned into part of the level itself, I met every new level with excitement as I wondered what surprises were in store for me this time and that's just two simple examples you'll come across in the 126 stages of this game.
The creativity doesn't end on the level design though because there's 3 new power-ups as well which give so much variety on how to play through all the stages. Whether it be the Bubble Flower which lets you blow bubbles to jump on for platforming or the Drill mushroom that lets you drill under the ground or on the ceiling to reach areas you couldn't previously and of course we can't forget the iconic Elephant Fruit which allows you smack blocks and enemies with your trunk and store water to spray on dried out flowers. On top of the new power-ups there are also badges that give different special effects like a longer jump or a glide or making blocks appear for platforming which gives even more incentive to replay stages and try our new badges and power-ups to find new secrets hidden within every stage.
Music in Mario games has always been important, but it has never been as important as it is in Wonder with some stages and even bosses actually having the player platform in time and rhythm with the beat of the music, it makes me want a whole game like that. However that's not all that's good about the music in Wonder because the soundtrack itself is also phenomenal and arguably one of the best in the series with tons of fresh remixes of classic tracks and catchy new themes that are sure to become just as iconic as the classics.
Thanks to it being constantly creative and fresh with a plethora of unique ideas being thrown at you at every turn alongside incredible focus on music as well, my 15 hours with Super Mario Wonder is the most fun I've had with a platformer since Super Mario Odyssey first came out and it truly has me in WONDER of how even almost 40 years later Nintendo has managed to put out not only one of the most creatively innovative and fresh Mario games in the past 40 years, but also one that is simply bound to go down as one of the greatest of all time. If you're a Mario fan or just a fan of amazing platformers, you don't want to miss out on this one.