Spoilers ahead!
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a reimagining of the hit game that made Nintendo a household name, and it’s a delight.
From a distance, the game is built around the same game and premise that made the previous games so successful. The main thing added is “wonder” — the game is brimming with color, personality, energy, new powers and characters.
At the same time, the game brings to life your recurring cast models more than ever — Mario and Luigi’s facial expressions have never looked better, and Lakitu and all your favorite troublemakers look great, too.
The worlds are new and exciting, and just like the rest of this game, they’re incredibly dynamic and visual masterpieces.
Nothing encapsulates the tone of this game better than the elephant fruit. It’s hard to get tired of seeing Elephant Toadette, Daisy, Mario or any other playable characters bumble through a stage after eating an Elephant Fruit.
As you’d expect, Bowser is back, and, like the rest of the game, he’s more colorful and epic than ever. He appears as a floating head and arms, making you dance to excellent sound design to take him down.
You'll love this game if you tolerate any previous Mario 2D installations. Even if you didn’t, give Wonder a chance. There’s multiplayer, different ways to play, and more fluid and dynamic than ever before.
If you don’t like 2D or platformer-style games — or Mario or his friends — this still may not be for you. Overall, I think Super Mario Bros. Wonder is one of the easiest-to-play dives into the genre that is so much fun and full of features that anyone considering playing video games can enjoy.
Ian Wilder is a senior staff writer and current men’s hockey beat reporter for The Daily Cardinal. He’s a former state politics and features reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @IanWWilder.
