I’ve never been a massive 2D Mario person, but Wonder really grabbed me. It’s just oozing with charm and creative ideas. Everything from the new character models and animations to the world design and levels really highlight just how bland and lifeless the NSMB games were. Even if a lot of the world themes are familiar to previous games, like the typical desert and lava levels, the games art style, new enemies and level design make them feel completely new.
My only real complaint is having to grind flower coins to get every single standee. This is avoidable if you make sure to buy them as soon as you hit the 999 flower coin limit, but going out of your way to do that every time that happens is also a bit of a pain. Still, this is only really an issue for completionists so it isn’t a huge deal at all.

As someone who is a pretty passive RPG fan, I absolutely adored this game. Every chapter offered something really unique, even if a few aspects didn't land for me personally.

You can definitely tell this is a remake of a 90s game in some areas, particularly with the obtuse stuff needed to complete the pacifist of 100 kill run of the Shinobi chapter. However, for the most part the game has aged very well in my opinion, and the HD 2D visuals are beautiful in some areas, especially the Shinobi chapter.
Of course, I can't praise this game without mentioning the incredible sound track composed by Yoko Shimomura, and the new arrangements all sound great too.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a must play JRPG, and has inspired me to go back and check out more Square Golden Age JRPGs