Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings awe back to 2D Mario
Super Mario Bros. Wonder had me hooked from the moment I saw Mario transform into an elephant man. In this unusual new form, Mario can bash enemies with his trunk, soak up water to spray at friends and foes, and — from a crouching position — perform an incredibly impressive push-up to launch himself into the air. Playing as Mario, as an elephant, was delightful.
I immediately needed to see Princess Peach and Toad as elephant people. Witnessing those two as chunky pachyderms, their forms straining the seams of their bloomers and harem pants, and watching them squeeze through warp pipes… Well, it may be Nintendo’s funniest visual gag outside of the Paper Mario series.
The Elephant Fruit is just one of the brand-new power-ups available in Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s new destination, the Flower Kingdom, and they make the act of playing a 2D side-scrolling Super Mario game feel fresh again. This uncharted world full of new enemies and new abilities made me feel like I was playing a direct sequel to Super Mario World more so than, say, Yoshi’s Island or the New Super Mario Bros. games. It’s spilling over with new ideas, including the game-changing Wonder Flower, while sticking to the side-scrolling core of what makes Mario great.
The powerful Wonder Flower is at the heart of Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s setup — which is, thankfully, not about a damsel in distress, but an entire kingdom.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder starts in dramatic fashion, with longtime nemesis Bowser acquiring the power of a Wonder Flower and spectacularly merging his body (and Koopa Clown Car) with the Flower Kingdom’s castle. Yes, Bowser is part building in this game, and he uses his evil powers to imprison many of the kingdom’s residents: flower-crowned
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