SUPER MARIO BROS WONDER

The first Mario side-scroller in nearly two decades to break from the established “New” series is easily one of the franchise’s best - which is an incredible feat, considering masterpieces such as Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World exist. The first thing you’ll notice upon booting up the game, and no doubt the thing that most fans were most excited for, is that the art style has changed significantly. The “New” series graphics weren’t bad - at least, at the time of the DS release in 2006. Playing a 2.5D Mario game, chunky polygons and all, felt like a pretty big deal at the time. As the series gained new installments, however, the hype very quickly wore out, and the aesthetics overstayed its welcome. What once felt fresh and invigorating was now trite and generic. They certainly weren’t ugly, but they felt sanitized, in a way, utterly lacking in charm. It wasn’t much different from the deluge of CGI family movies that were being pumped out on an exhausting basis, like Despicable Me and all its ill-deserved sequels. It’s so refreshing to see the series adopt a new art style, one that has smear frames, exaggerated expressions, and is just oozing with charm. It’s a true delight to jump around as your favorite character, especially when you run at full speed and jump, with the animation mimicking some of the most iconic promotional art Nintendo has used for the series years ago.

But the game is more than just beautiful - it’s fun as hell. For the first time in years, I was surprised by a side scrolling Mario game. Hidden in each and every level is a Wonder Seed, and if you collect it, the stage will change in a zany way. This can range from warp pipes squirming around like inchworms, to turning your character into a giant blob that can cling to walls and ceilings, to switching perspectives to a top-down view as you walk up walls. There are a few repeats, but those that reappear are the cream of the crop, and the variety was great. It was always exciting to grab a Wonder Seed, and guess ahead of time how it might transform the level (or your character). The level design is also another high point for the franchise; I can’t think of a level I actually disliked. They’re all enjoyable romps across some of the expected flavors of environments (deserts, forests, volcanoes) as well as some fresh new ones (waterfalls and fungi filled caverns). There are also a wide variety of enemies, starring not just familiar faces like goombas and koopa troopas, but newcomers such as the charging bulrushes, the delightful hoppos and hoppycats, and the pipe-pushing shovas. I feel like each one had its purpose, and these new creatures were among my favorites to come across, even bringing smiles to my face (trottin’ piranha plants, I’m looking directly at you.)

Of course, making new worlds and adding new enemies wouldn’t be enough for this to be a truly excellent Mario game. Like in some of the previous “New” games, you can choose between playing as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yellow and Blue Toad, Toadette, and even Nabbit - plus, for the first time ever, you can step into the shoes of Daisy or one of three colors of Yoshi! Unlike the precedent set in Super Mario Bros 2, and continued in recent games like Super Mario 3D World, each character plays exactly the same, with no difference in running speed or jumping height… With the notable exception of Nabbit and the Yoshis. Together, these characters make up the “easy” mode of the game. The Yoshis take knockback from enemies, but are immune to damage and other hazards, with the exception of bottomless pits, while the Nabbit takes things one step further and doesn’t experience knockback, either. In addition, the Yoshis can use their trademark flutter jumps and can eat enemies. These make a great option for younger and less experienced players, and I’m glad Nintendo has been including these accessibility options.

The one drawback to playing as a Yoshi or Nabbit, though, is that you can’t obtain power-ups. In true series fashion, the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower return as snaggable upgrades, but they’re joined by three very welcome new abilities - Elephant, Bubble Flower, and Drill. The Elephant is the highlight, dramatically changing your character’s appearance and letting you damage enemies by swinging your trunk, and soaking up water to spray across the level to grow flowers and earn coins. Drill lets you dig into the ceiling or below the ground, accessing hidden areas through seams in the dirt, and Bubble Flower lets you shoot bubbles that turn foes into coins and can also be used to bounce off of and reach further heights. I enjoyed using each of these abilities, and hope they become series mainstays.

Yet another new addition to the franchise is the use of badges, which give Mario unique skills or make the game a bit more manageable for those who still need help clearing stages (or even make them harder - does anyone actually use the invisibility badge to make the levels easier?) These range from helpful techniques like a second jump, to gliding slowly like you were using Peach’s parasol, to letting you do vertical wall jumps. Others are less helpful for clearing stages, but still fun, like timing your jumps to the level’s rhythm to earn coins. While I didn’t spend any time with the game’s online mode, you can connect to wifi to see the ghosts of other players and where they died on the same stage as you, and you can touch their standee to get a second chance. And if you get tired of level after level, there’s some fun new additions to spice things up; there are badge challenges that force you to master a new ability, enemy gauntlets where you have to survive waves of foes, and my personal favorite, small stages where you have to find hidden coins.

Throw in some great music with instrumentation that changes based on your powerup, tons of unobtrusive nostalgic throwbacks hidden in sound effects and stage design, bosses that are a step up from the usual affair (although nothing truly ‘epic’), and some of the most difficult special levels in the series, and you have a real winner on your hands. It’s great to see that Mario is back, and that the New era is behind us. I’m excited to see what’s next for the franchise after this bold new direction!

Final Rating: 9.5