Road To Nintendo Switch 2: 'Super Mario Bros. Wonder'

The Switch 2 launches in just a few weeks on June 5 and I’m deep into my Road to Nintendo Switch 2 article series. Plus, the weather around me is starting to perk up—everything is coming back to life! Flowers are blooming, trees are releasing enough pollen to physically assault your boy’s entire immune system, and the occasional Spring shower is making long-distance running pure, blissful joy. I do real-life Ring Fit Adventure, brother.

Up to this point, I’ve covered a decent chunk of legacy Switch titles, including Super Mario 3D World Bowser’s Fury, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and sentient balloon simulator Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Today, we’re going a bit retro and heading back into two dimensions with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, an original and rather strange 2D Mario game that’s exclusive to the Switch, released recently in 2023. We’re talking plumber elephants. We’re talking bubble powers. Yeah, it’s going to get weird.

Admittedly, it’s been a long while since I’ve played anything 2D in the Mario universe, as I mostly skipped past entries like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. U or New Super Luigi U. It wasn’t because Nintendo can’t name a Mario game or New Big Extra More 3DS XL console to save its life (they’re almost worse than Microsoft—Xbox Series X, ugh), but rather that I tend to naturally gravitate toward 3D Mario titles. I cut my youthful gaming teeth on the NES original like I’m sure many of you did, and then Super Mario World on the SNES, of course. But once Super Mario 64 hit, I rarely looked back.

In a way, Super Mario Bros. Wonder feels like a return to form for Mario, and a return to that 8-bit/16-bit classic era, but with a fresh coat of paint and some interesting new ideas. It’s also maybe the most bizarre Mario title I’ve ever played, largely because it’s so damn playful; pure imagination is profoundly abundant. Between Wonder’s smart Talking Flowers, who are constantly quipping striking bits of conversation as you play ("They say the ocean tastes like tears.") and the perplexing ability for main characters to morph into literal elephants, the whole experience comes across as a drug-induced fever dream. So right off the bat, it gets major points for being unapologetically surreal.

The imagination extends to the game’s excellent, endlessly replayable level design, wherein each of the stages presents itself as a sort of bespoke, handcrafted gift. Every area introduces clever new mechanics and gameplay puzzles that make use of Wonder’s vast asset arsenal in fresh ways. For instance, in one level, all the enemies jump when you do. In another, giant clouds pour out gushing waterfalls, and you need to time the downpours so you can swim to different platforms. What’s cool is that you can constantly feel the developer’s minds at work. They really want to serve you something interesting and challenging, all the time, and the effort shows.

Actually, challenging is a great word to describe Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It’s much more difficult than the 3D Mario titles I’ve played recently on the Switch, and you really need to get good to reap the game’s benefits. Getting good can be, shall we say, arduous in Wonder, because the controls are predictably floaty. I know Mario controls can be a bit of an acquired taste, and what’s going on here is no exception.

If I’m being perfectly honest, I’ll say that I don’t care for the physics in 2D Mario games all that much. Achieving accuracy is an uphill battle, and in Wonder, the characters rarely feel like they’re doing what I’m telling them to do. It often reduces precise platforming to an exercise in hoping for the best, although I’ll concede that there’s a deep pool of skills to master here. I’ve watched people on Twitch and YouTube simply blast through this game.

In terms of content, there’s plenty to do, achieve and earn in Wonder. For the most part, you’re pursuing the titular Wonder Seeds, but additionally, a whole in-game economy exists, through which you can earn currency to buy helpful badges and collectible standees. Badges are a strategic element in Wonder that allow you certain advantages within levels, like the Parachute Cap, which gives you the ability to float, or Coin Reward, which allows you to earn coins for defeating enemies. The varied standees come into play when you jump online.

Basically, you can opt in to network play, and this allows other players into your game in real-time. You can see them moving all over the map and across the levels like ants. They’re in transparent ghost form, and you can watch them play and overcome obstacles (great for hints and tips), but you can’t interact with them directly, other than some generic chat symbols.

Every player can plant standees, and these act like wayward checkpoints, so if you die, you can steer your ghost to one of these cutouts and get revived. Really, you’re not playing with other people, per se, but instead playing alongside them. Local play is pretty standard, but the online implementation is pretty unique.

What did I ultimately think of Wonder? It’s an objectively well-made 2D platformer with plenty of Nintendo charm and more than a few sprinkles of artistic insanity, and it’s a game that can get wildly frustrating at times, due to floaty controls and unpredictable physics. But the latter bits are more a feature than a bug, at least when it comes to two-dimensional Mario games, and so in the end, this will be a matter of preference.

I tend to prefer platformers that feel less mushy, but I’ve still had a blast during my time with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, even if I did scream a handful of choice expletives. Are you even playing a Mario game if you’re not cursing the gods? I’d wager not.

That about does it for this episode of Road to Nintendo Switch 2. Tune in next time for Halloween in May…

Disclosure: Nintendo provided a review code for coverage purposes.

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