Super Mario Wonder is a smile. A big, friendly, comforting smile. You may find the level of sweetness in Mario Wonder disorienting at first. Those little flowers that say things to you…the upbeat tunes. The helpful advice. Is this trying too hard? Or do I have to let go and welcome the embrace?
Magic is my special obsession. I practice magic tricks. I love mysterious puzzles. I go to bizarre and whimsical places like Meow Wolf. I’m drawn to unknown, experimental tech like VR and AR. I knew Super Mario Wonder was aiming to surprise and be a grab bag of new ideas, doorways to the unexpected. I love weird Nintendo. But this game is also weird, kind Nintendo.
Super Mario Wonder (which I’ll always call it over Super Mario Bros. Wonder) feels like a throwback to classic games like Super Mario World, but it also pumps clever new energy in at every chance. The 3D graphics shine, even though it’s a 2D game (like the recent Sonic Superstars).
Like I said when I played a bit of the game back in August, the appearance of surprise level transformations via the Wonder Flower basically amounts to extra ways to play, in every single main stage of the game. All of these clever moments add up and remind me of the instant surprise feeling of Nintendo games like Warioware (one of my favorites).
The warmth of this game is what sticks with me. It’s something I want to keep playing, and I feel like the game’s talking to me, helping me. I was hospitalized recently, suddenly, with something that scared me a lot. I didn’t play Super Mario Wonder during those days, but in the days after, it greeted me again, and I felt like a little puppy full of new energy.
Bouncy moments via the Wonder Flower, in one stage. Again, expect twists.
What Mario game do you buy now?
I’ll make it easy: this game and Super Mario Odyssey are the two must-haves. Odyssey is still the best Mario on the Switch (to me), but Wonder is the most approachable and family-friendly and has better online play modes.
I’m leaving out Mario spin-offs like Mario Kart 8 (obviously great) and Super Mario Maker 2 (a toybox to make endless Super Mario levels). But Wonder is the first game I’d recommend for a family getting a Switch that’s interested in a non-racing Mario game.
Super Mario 3D World is also a wonderful game and bridges the gap between 2D and 3D Mario games. But Wonder’s multiplayer modes feel better executed, and so do its online cooperative modes (which I haven’t even tried yet).
Mario Wonder is a new game, though, not a port of an older Wii U game like a couple of the above (Kart 8, 3D World). In being a new 2D game in the series, it’s a similar moment to when the new, 2D Metroid Dread arrived on the Switch a couple of years ago. And, comparatively, Wonder is as good as Dread was.
Is the Switch still worth buying?
In a word, yes. Nintendo’s expected to have a new console next year: either a vamped-up Switch with better graphics, or a whole new console (Nintendo is hard to predict). But the Switch right now is having a phenomenal year for games. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4 and now, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, add to a collection that’s exclusive and great, and even now — six years after the Switch’s launch — it’s my favorite game system thanks to its size, its family-friendly design and its games.
Yes, the Switch is still great, and Super Mario Wonder runs wonderfully on it. But like I said when I reviewed Tears of the Kingdom, this feels like the swan song for this generation of the Switch.
