Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a stylish and striking Mario evolution
With its focus on new ideas over nostalgia, tight design and striking presentation, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is undoubtedly the plumber’s most memorable 2D outing since the 1990s.
Just like those classic games, Wonder oozes a confidence lacking in the more recent New Super Mario Bros. games, which seemed more concerned with sticking tightly to the existing formula than surprising players with new ideas.
Wonder is the first 2D Mario to match the throwaway inventiveness of Mario’s modern 3D entries, which means it’s absolutely packed with imagination.
Virtually every level here introduces a brand-new mechanic, like an enemy which can push ice blocks, or rolling metal balls which can be manipulated to smash through walls, and then shelves them as quickly as they were introduced, before moving on to the next idea.
Key to the game’s gleeful inventiveness are the level-flipping Wonder effects which, once you’ve located the hidden Wonder Seed on each stage, change the scenario drastically. They transform players into floating balloons, summon a stampede of rampaging bulls, flip gameplay to a top-down adventure, and numerous other unexpected effects that always surprise and rarely leave you without a beaming grin on your face.
Wonder is a game that feels like it’s had so much more love invested into its mechanics and presentation than previous 2D series entries, and that alone makes it a triumph. This does come with some inevitable signs of compromise in the overall structure – boss encounters and unlockable surprises feel fairly slim – but this is a small price to pay for what’s overall the most stylish and inventive Mario side-scroller in decades.
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