Super Mario Bros. Wonder: The First Preview

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is, by Nintendo’s own admission during a presentation prior to my one-hour hands-on, the first major new 2D Mario game in a decade.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is, by Nintendo’s own admission during a presentation prior to my one-hour hands-on, the first major new 2D Mario game in a decade. It captures the same joyousness as the original NES trilogy did, and it surprises in its own unique ways too, thanks to the Wonder seeds that anchor the gameplay. It also exhibits Nintendo’s biggest commitment to multiplayer – yes, including online multiplayer – in the history of any Mario game, 2D or 3D. Even the small piece I got to experience has me ready to put aside every other one of the many, many big blockbuster games due out in October alongside Wonder so that I can focus on Nintendo’s latest Super Mario adventure.

The first thing I have to say isn’t news to you if you’ve watched the first Wonder trailer (see below), but the first thing that makes the latest mainline SMB game so captivating is how alive it feels. The vivid color palette, the constant animations Mario has going on – both big and small – and of course the music all bring a kinetic energy to this new Mario adventure that simply brought a smile to my face as I played. The fact that this is the Flower Kingdom rather than the Mushroom Kingdom also adds to the welcome visual uniqueness of Wonder.

The biggest new gameplay hook is the Wonder seeds: hidden pickups in each stage that have transformative and unpredictable effects on the gameplay. In one, a herd of Bulrushes stampeded across the screen, inviting me to ride them like a wave and collect coins as we ran by them before they charged through the exit pole and just kept running, thereby unlocking an alternate ending to the stage. In another, my co-op companions and I inflated into giant round balloons, not unlike a combination of Violet Beauregarde and Charlie Bucket in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, floating our way up the screen and collecting coins as we bounced off the walls and rose higher and higher.
We weren’t just trying to sneak past them. We were sneaking past them while playing as Goombas, and thus unable to jump or attack.

And the final level I played had me and my two fellow local co-op players trying to sneak by Maw-Maws, sleepy wide-mouthed creatures who, when alerted, open their giant mouths up to cartoonishly large proportions and will swallow you whole if you’re in front of them. But we weren’t just trying to sneak past them. We were sneaking past them while playing as Goombas, and thus unable to jump or attack. It’s this spice of variety and unexpected joy that has always made me adore the mainline Mario games, be they 2D or 3D.