Video Game Blog 030: Mario's Sensory Overload

I have loved Mario games since I was a kid, since playing Donkey Kong on my old Atari. This affinity persisted to the colorful and complex world of Super Mario Bros and beyond. The Mario franchise has given me countless hours of fun, joy, and comfort over my lifetime. And now I get to talk about the newest game in the series, Super Mario Bros Wonder!

Title screen. (Credit: Nintendo)

Super Mario Bros Wonder is a side-scrolling platforming game that was released in 2023. It takes a lot of inspiration from the games that came before it… especially Super Mario Bros 3 and the New Super Mario games. But there is a lot of innovation to be found in the gameplay and design.

Bowser is a castle now, I guess. (Credit: Nintendo)

As with most Mario games, the story is super basic. Mario and the gang are visiting the Flower Kingdom and its ruler, Prince Florian. As usual Bowser, King of the Koopas, attacks. He steals the reality-warping Wonder Flower and is merged with the Prince’s castle. In order to eliminate Bowser’s defenses (smoke-like Piranha Plants) and gain access to the castle, Mario and friends need the power of the Royal Seeds that are spread throughout the land.

So many characters. (Credit: Nintendo)

You have a much longer list than usual of characters to choose from. There are 12 characters, counting the two colors of Toads and the four colors of Yoshis. The Yoshis and Nabbit are considered “easy mode” as they cannot be hurt by enemies, but they also cannot collect power-ups. Up to four players can play on the screen at once and there is some online functionality. Sometimes in levels you can see ghost characters. This indicates others are playing the same level at the same time. If you set up a character standee, players can respawn by making their way to the standee. Standees are collectible and you can purchase them randomly from Poplin Shops.

The elephant is a powerhouse. (Credit: Nintendo)

What would a Mario game be without power-ups? This one includes the usual favorites: the Super Shroom, the Fire Flower, the Starman. It also includes new ones: a bubble flower that allows you to shoot bubbles, a Drill Shroom that gives you a drill hat, and the Elephant Fruit that turns you into a hulking elephant that can attack enemies and break blocks with its trunk.

As with some of the Mario games, you can keep a spare power-up with you that you can switch to at any time. This helps if you lose your current power-up or if you just want to switch to a different one. This adds to the strategy, as with planning you can bring a power-up into a level where you wouldn’t ordinarily find it.

Another new feature are Badges you can equip to grant yourself special abilities and skills. One badge can be worn at a time and their effects give you powers such as making you jump higher, see hidden blocks, get coins when defeating enemies, wall jump, and many more. These badges are earned by completing Badge Challenge levels or purchased in the Poplin Shops. The game can be played without badges for more difficulty.

So colorful. (Credit: Nintendo)

The game progresses along a world map, in which some areas become free roaming. Some levels are right there on the map, some are hidden, and some appear only when completing other levels or puzzles. There is a middle hub area that leads to other worlds, and at a point in the game the path forks so you can choose the order you visit the worlds. Previous levels can be replayed through the menu. The levels are ranked from 1 to 5 stars, with 5 stars being the most difficult levels.

There are optional paths you can take in each world that lead to more difficult levels. Completing these gives you access to the Special World, which is reminiscent of the Star World in Super Mario World. Special World has the most difficult levels and a special Poplin Shop where you can purchase Standees of specific characters.

The world map. (Credit: Nintendo)

As expected, the world is vast and composed of varied biomes. The middle area is water-based. There are also cloud areas, a desert area, a mountain, and more.

That’s a big seed. (Credit: Nintendo)

The point of the game is to collect Wonder Seeds and Royal Seeds to advance. Wonder Seeds are this game’s stand-in for Stars. The main Seed is gained at the end of the level by hitting the flagpole. Often there is another Seed in the middle of the level that you earn for solving a puzzle or just surviving the chaos as the world warps and changes around you. (More on that in a bit.) Other seeds, as mentioned, are bought from Poplin Stores and still others are just handed to you by the citizens of the Flower Kingdom. Some levels have secondary flag poles that grant you a Wonder Seed also.

The Royal Seeds are the end-of-world prizes. They’re earned by making your way to the Boss fortress and defeating the boss. Each Royal Seed eliminates one of the smoke Piranha Plants from the Bowser Castle.

Every level has three purple coins that you can collect. Hitting the top of the flagpole at the end of the level grants you a flag icon for the level. (I’m still playing the game, but these seem to be for completionists. They could serve some other purpose in late game.)

Along with the usual golden coins that give you a 1-up for every 100 you collect, you can also collect purple flower coins. This is the currency you use in Poplin Shops to buy Wonder Seeds, new badges, 1-Ups, or Standees. There is a cap of 999 flower coins.

Yes there is a ninja/disco themed level. And yes, I love it. (Credit: Nintendo)

Most levels contain a Wonder Flower. When touched, this flower transforms the levels in various ways, generally causing chaos. I won’t spoil the surprises in these, but I’ll say that they can alter the world, the enemies, or your character. The Wonder Effects end when you locate the Wonder Seed within the level. You can skip touching the flower if you choose, but you have to trigger them if you’re looking to collect all the Wonder Seeds.

That’s way bigger than Toadette has any business being. (Credit: Nintendo)

To add to the variety there are several other types of levels in the game besides the usual. Search Party, which are puzzles where you have to seek out flower emblems to earn a Wonder Seed. (You can call in friends to assist you in these levels.) Badge Challenges let you try out and earn new badges. KO Arenas task you with defeating waves of enemies while a timer runs. The faster you defeat the waves, the more large purple coins you earn from 1 to 3. Wiggler Races where you do exactly what you would expect from the name. And Break Time, which are short and novel levels to earn an easy Wonder Seed.

I like the talky flowers. (Credit: Nintendo)

I know I usually do a pro and con list at this point in the post, but I can’t really think of any cons. If you like Mario games, you will most likely enjoy this one. If you don’t like Mario games or hate platforming, then this game is not for you. Obviously I love it and it may be my favorite side-scrolling Mario game. There are times when I shut off a Mario game in frustration due to a difficult level or frustrating platforming, but I didn’t run into that here. The times I would have normally been frustrated, I only found myself more determined to pass the level and see what was in the levels beyond it.

This game is full of little touches… the elephant squeezing through a door or pipe, the expressions on the characters faces, the comments made by the little talky flowers… So much attention to detail was put into this. Remixes of classic songs, returning enemies and new, the tried and true gameplay with new twists. The game is constantly playing with perspectives and its own rules, subverting expectations and keeping players expecting the unexpected.

Super Mario Bros Wonder is amazing chaos. It takes everything that makes Super Mario great— the challenging platforming, the colorful characters, the bouncy memorable music, the cool power-ups— and dials it up to 11. It’s a wild ride that changes with every level, and often in the middle of the level. This game has style, personality, and is a blast to play and watch.

Wheeee! (Credit: Nintendo)

Thank you for reading my quick, gushing review about Super Mario Bros Wonder. I did my best to not spoil too much, and I know there’s a lot more for me to discover as well. As of this writing, I’m still on World 4. Like with most Mario games, I fully intend to 100% this one.

Anyway, thanks again. Coming up next is my usual year-end video game recap. See you then!

The end! (Credit: Nintendo)