Super Mario Bros. Wonder Preview – Making Mario wonderful again

thesixthaxis.com:

There was a time where Mario really was at the pinnacle of video games, pioneering brand new technology and paving the way for countless others to follow. These days, we’ve seen all of his tricks before. Oh sure, his games are still fantastic, but it’s like a latter day Roger Federer in familiar excellence. Can Super Mario Bros. Wonder restore some of that, well, wonder to the series?

At the fundamental level, there’s plenty of Super Mario Bros. Wonder that isn’t particularly wondrous. It’s hardly ponderous and there’s still plenty of joy and satisfaction to be had with the finely honed platforming, but it’s still built on the oh, so familiar core 2.5D platforming of New Super Mario Bros. games from the past 15 years. It’s the new ideas that Nintendo has added into the mix that really plant a smile across your face as you play.

At the forefront of this is the Wonder Flower, a collectible that sends the world and level into a dreamlike overdrive. Everything is ramped up to an extreme or given an unexpected twist, so horizontal pipes will start to inch across the level like a caterpillar, while upright pipes push up higher and move around as you approach. Levels that feature charging bulls suddenly have a whole stampede that sweeps through – though one that you can ride on the back of to grab more coins – or one that prominently has you dodging dropping blocks will turn into a nightmare with a massive block crushing down on the world, which you have to race to stay ahead of.

You never know what to expect, even if it’s just a shower of shooting power stars, and it absolutely goes hand-in-hand with the new selection of power-ups in the game. Elephant Mario was a real stand-out from the game’s announcement, and it’s a quirky and