The fruits of the first Strand-type Mario are simple, but juicy.
Despite the comparison, Wonder’s multiplayer reminds me more than anything of LittleBigPlanet’s. The 7th console generation came well after my first exposure to online multiplayer, which I think was either Runescape or Age of Mythology, but LBP integrating that sense of shared experience into a 2D platformer of all things stuck out to me as feeling like the future at the time. Trying your hardest to show other players secrets, puzzle solutions and how to reach certain items without any way to communicate beyond changing Sackboy’s facial expression, or vice versa, was just as much fun as getting from point A to B and Wonder hits all those same notes, minus the ability to take out your frustrations on one another with a punch that was equal parts friendly and passive-aggressive.
Other players being intangible ghosts in Wonder’s a net advantage, though, due to how much more condensed and focused it allows the levels to be than if it weren’t the case. 3D World had always been my favourite Mario in part for its passive online elements; for the longest time, I’d put off giving its Switch port a proper go because the absence of other players in the world select (which Wonder thankfully reintroduces) and the uncomfortable laughs that came with their posts felt offputtingly empty, like joining a now dead server in an online game you used to love years back. That said, revisiting it solo in the run up to Wonder’s release drew my attention to just how spaced out many of its levels are, no doubt to accommodate the chaos that came with four players being able to physically bump into and sabotage each other. There’s something to be said for that kind of experience too – some of my favourite memories of Team Fortress 2 involve intentionally making enemy spies invulnerable – but Wonder’s overall more cooperative spin on multiplayer Mario enables more engaging content density while also better fitting the game’s cheerful tone.
The latter point could be extended to the removal of both the timer and scoring, but there was likely more to axing these than that. Considering the emphasis Wonder places on collectibles and exploration, there’s a sense that some cues have been taken from the 3D games, which seems to have also included the willingness to let players go at their own pace. How well considered this decision is becomes apparent through online play and the revival system in particular, since players need to physically touch each other or a standee to be saved; it’s tough to imagine this mechanic not being undermined to the point of redundancy if everyone was incentivised to rush through levels as quickly as possible instead. You don’t have to engage with it purely out of the goodness of your gamer’s heart either, because heart points both provide an extrinsic motivator to tickle your monke brain for assisting others too and are arguably more practical than scores ever were, given that they inform others of how helpful you are (vaguely akin to the original Demon’s Souls’ co-op ranking system).
Granted, there were definitely a few instances where being revived allowed me to get past some parts it felt like I shouldn’t have. While some tougher levels (especially those in the special world like Climb to the Beat) are designed with such a staggering amount of foresight that they prevent dying and then floating around obstacles to be revived at the other end from being a consistently reliable strategy, usually by way of autoscrolling and/or stuffing the screen with a precision platformer’s worth of hazards, it’s easy to see why someone might reductively refer to Wonder’s multiplayer as a glorified checkpoint system whenever those factors aren’t present. Although you can’t knock it too much for this since it’s a self-inflicted problem in at least two different ways, seeing as you need to go out of your way not only to touch another player but also to flick the multiplayer on in the first place, it did lead to rare moments of dissatisfaction in a game otherwise so good at avoiding them that it should probably be studied in some kind of school.
The different effects brought about by the Wonder Flowers go a big way towards achieving that, essentially multiplying the frequency with which other platformers like Rayman Legends and Tropical Freeze dole out new ideas every couple of minutes by a factor of two while also giving nearly every level at least double the amount of completion methods. The abundance of brand new enemy designs, powerups, and locales combined with characterful jams like this and claymation-like art direction would’ve been more than enough for this to feel like a breath of fresh air, but not knowing whether you’re about to be turned into a jelly monster or take a ride on a Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins dragon and simultaneously sharing the bewilderment of others around the world takes it to another level.
Hopefully this review’s focus on multiplayer hasn’t been too one-note and gives a bit of different perspective on how valuable an experience it can be. It’s not a coincidence that I’ve referenced three other, older games here whose online features (i.e. my favourite part of all of them) can’t be conventionally accessed anymore – unless it’s faithfully rereleased 1:1 from now until the end of time, Wonder’ll likely someday join them as a game I’ll still always be able to happily recommend, but partially on the basis of inimitable memories. I think the tendency of remasters to remove online functionalities has played a part in conditioning us to see multiplayer as this ancillary thing that can ultimately be done without, even if it’s where the game’s at its strongest; ideally, Wonder’s will be preserved for as long as possible, because it really does accentuate its many strengths.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble, though. For now, just enjoy divvying out those wowie zowie balloons.
Despite the comparison, Wonder’s multiplayer reminds me more than anything of LittleBigPlanet’s. The 7th console generation came well after my first exposure to online multiplayer, which I think was either Runescape or Age of Mythology, but LBP integrating that sense of shared experience into a 2D platformer of all things stuck out to me as feeling like the future at the time. Trying your hardest to show other players secrets, puzzle solutions and how to reach certain items without any way to communicate beyond changing Sackboy’s facial expression, or vice versa, was just as much fun as getting from point A to B and Wonder hits all those same notes, minus the ability to take out your frustrations on one another with a punch that was equal parts friendly and passive-aggressive.
Other players being intangible ghosts in Wonder’s a net advantage, though, due to how much more condensed and focused it allows the levels to be than if it weren’t the case. 3D World had always been my favourite Mario in part for its passive online elements; for the longest time, I’d put off giving its Switch port a proper go because the absence of other players in the world select (which Wonder thankfully reintroduces) and the uncomfortable laughs that came with their posts felt offputtingly empty, like joining a now dead server in an online game you used to love years back. That said, revisiting it solo in the run up to Wonder’s release drew my attention to just how spaced out many of its levels are, no doubt to accommodate the chaos that came with four players being able to physically bump into and sabotage each other. There’s something to be said for that kind of experience too – some of my favourite memories of Team Fortress 2 involve intentionally making enemy spies invulnerable – but Wonder’s overall more cooperative spin on multiplayer Mario enables more engaging content density while also better fitting the game’s cheerful tone.
The latter point could be extended to the removal of both the timer and scoring, but there was likely more to axing these than that. Considering the emphasis Wonder places on collectibles and exploration, there’s a sense that some cues have been taken from the 3D games, which seems to have also included the willingness to let players go at their own pace. How well considered this decision is becomes apparent through online play and the revival system in particular, since players need to physically touch each other or a standee to be saved; it’s tough to imagine this mechanic not being undermined to the point of redundancy if everyone was incentivised to rush through levels as quickly as possible instead. You don’t have to engage with it purely out of the goodness of your gamer’s heart either, because heart points both provide an extrinsic motivator to tickle your monke brain for assisting others too and are arguably more practical than scores ever were, given that they inform others of how helpful you are (vaguely akin to the original Demon’s Souls’ co-op ranking system).
Granted, there were definitely a few instances where being revived allowed me to get past some parts it felt like I shouldn’t have. While some tougher levels (especially those in the special world like Climb to the Beat) are designed with such a staggering amount of foresight that they prevent dying and then floating around obstacles to be revived at the other end from being a consistently reliable strategy, usually by way of autoscrolling and/or stuffing the screen with a precision platformer’s worth of hazards, it’s easy to see why someone might reductively refer to Wonder’s multiplayer as a glorified checkpoint system whenever those factors aren’t present. Although you can’t knock it too much for this since it’s a self-inflicted problem in at least two different ways, seeing as you need to go out of your way not only to touch another player but also to flick the multiplayer on in the first place, it did lead to rare moments of dissatisfaction in a game otherwise so good at avoiding them that it should probably be studied in some kind of school.
The different effects brought about by the Wonder Flowers go a big way towards achieving that, essentially multiplying the frequency with which other platformers like Rayman Legends and Tropical Freeze dole out new ideas every couple of minutes by a factor of two while also giving nearly every level at least double the amount of completion methods. The abundance of brand new enemy designs, powerups, and locales combined with characterful jams like this and claymation-like art direction would’ve been more than enough for this to feel like a breath of fresh air, but not knowing whether you’re about to be turned into a jelly monster or take a ride on a Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins dragon and simultaneously sharing the bewilderment of others around the world takes it to another level.
Hopefully this review’s focus on multiplayer hasn’t been too one-note and gives a bit of different perspective on how valuable an experience it can be. It’s not a coincidence that I’ve referenced three other, older games here whose online features (i.e. my favourite part of all of them) can’t be conventionally accessed anymore – unless it’s faithfully rereleased 1:1 from now until the end of time, Wonder’ll likely someday join them as a game I’ll still always be able to happily recommend, but partially on the basis of inimitable memories. I think the tendency of remasters to remove online functionalities has played a part in conditioning us to see multiplayer as this ancillary thing that can ultimately be done without, even if it’s where the game’s at its strongest; ideally, Wonder’s will be preserved for as long as possible, because it really does accentuate its many strengths.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble, though. For now, just enjoy divvying out those wowie zowie balloons.
2 Comments
@TheQuietGamer That's the power of la creatividad. Sort of wish he would make an account here so we could get the only measure of quality that matters but for games.
TheQuietGamer
5 months ago