Personal Reviews

Released on October 20th, 2023, Super Mario Brothers Wonder was a refreshing take on the iconic 2D Mario platformers. For nearly 18 years, 2D Mario games were stuck in this purgatory of being in the same family as the 2005's New Super Mario Brothers released on the Nintendo DS, New Super Mario Brothers Wii, New Super Mario Brothers 2, New Super Mario Brothers U, and New Super Mario Brothers U Deluxe. The genre was beginning to be saturated and I wanted nothing more than something fresh and new. The universe heard and delivered.

Super Mario Brothers Wonder has Mario and crew visit the neighboring Flower Kingdom for a festival. In this Kingdom, there is this magic flower called the Wonder Flower which grants people crazy and weird powers. Bowser grabs hold of one of these flowers and becomes Prince Florian's Castle and causing distruction to the Kingdom. It is up to Mario and his friends to aid Prince Florian on retrieving the castle and restoring the Kingdom to harmony.

Right off the bat, the art style is amazing. Comparing this style to that of New Super Mario Brothers, the player can tell that the developers was looking to make something new and started from the ground up. The music also is something phenomenal and is also tied to the characters. Of example, there is a new Power Up, Elephant, where the player will turn into an elephant and be able to use their trunk to knock obstacles. Obtaining this power up adds a base to the music, making it dynamic. 

When it comes to the game play, I never got bored. This is mostly thanks to the Wonder effect. Each level has a Wonder Flower hidden somewhere and it is up to the player to find it. Grabbing the Wonder Flower will cause the level to change or a challenge to appear. Many of the these effects were memorable. To a quiz show, to walking on walls, to becoming a Goomba, to flying on a dragon. The game never became stale but also never moved too far away from the core mechanics of Mario. 

Badges also added a new twist to game. Players can equipe badges to change how the characters is played. For example, one badge can allow a player to jump higher while another badge can allow a player to swim faster for the water levels. Though I found myself predominatly using one badge, doing the challenge levels were fun and tested my skills.

Two things brought me the most joy however, that is the character selection and the localization. The character selection allowed the player to select a multitude of characters. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, and Toadette are all playble in a normal way. Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Light Blue Yoshi, Red Yoshi, and Nabbit are playable for those who want an easier experience. My one complaint is that I wish that the Yoshi's were not locked as easy mode characters and that there was a way for us to play as them normally. At the same time, I understand why they are designed the way that they are. 

For the first time in mainline Mario title, it was translated and localized into Brazilian Portuguese! This was exciting news to me and I ended up playing the entire game in Brazilian Portuguese. I could tell that the localizers and translators put a lot of care into their work. Adding many references to Brazilian history and pop-culture. My favorite reference is the level Dragon Boneyard, which would be translated to Memorias póstumas de um Dragão. Which is a reference to the Brazilian Novel Memorias póstumas de Brás Cubas. 

Overall, I recommend this game to any player, new or veteran. It is fun for everyone and I could not get enough of it. If there is any Mario game that deserves a sequel it is this one!