Super Mario Bros. Wonder hands-on — 2D Mario is exciting again
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I got to attend Nintendo Live in Seattle this past weekend, and my hands-on time with Super Mario Bros. Wonder (coming out on October 20 for Switch) definitely stood out as the highlight.
This is the first new 2D Mario platformer (not counting the more creation-based Mario Maker 2) since New Super Mario Bros. U came out for the Wii U back in 2012. Those “New” games were fun sidescrollers, but they lacked heart and spirit. They were mechanically solid, but artistically bland.
Wonder does wonders to make 2D Mario feel exciting again.
It’s the improved animation that stands out the most. Everything in the New games always looked a bit flat. Here, Mario and company emote and bounce around the world with a lot more flair. Just watching a character go into a pipe is a lot of fun. At one point, Mario went one and had his hat fall off. His hand then appeared from the pipe to grab and pull the cap back in.
Gameplay-wise, things do feel a lot like they did in the New series. That’s fine, as that’s something that those games did well. You still have access to wall jumps and that little spin move in the air that can give you a little more distance.
But you also have a bunch of other moves that you can use via badges. You can only equip one of these per level, and they’ll augment the game in different ways. One of them replaced that aforementioned spin move with a large, parachute like cap that lets you glide in
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