If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago the release date of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, I’d probably have guessed it came out late 2024, early 2025. So imagine my surprise when I realized that Wonder actually came out in 2023. I was so confused trying to understand why Nintendo would be re-releasing this game so soon. Time moves at a speed that I am extremely uncomfortable with.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a great game back when it came out on the original Switch hardware, and it’s still a great game today on the Switch 2. Nintendo decided to add a bunch of new stuff that both delights me and frustrates me. Right off the bat, I’ll say that this is the definitive version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but it’s got some glaring issues that the original game just didn’t have.
Starting with the good – they added Rosalina as a playable character! That’s great, I love Rosalina, and she fits perfectly with the cast of characters. I love her animations and how she looks with the various power-ups. Most of my playtime was with her, but I had to switch back to Yellow Toad because he’s undeniably the best. Rosalina feels great, looks great, and controls just as snappily and responsively as everybody else. Nintendo also teased a while ago that Pikmin would be more prevalent across all of their games, and it looks like they kept that promise. There are a bunch of Pikmin hidden throughout this new release, and I can’t remember the last time I got so excited to see one of those guys.
The Koopalings also appear as a series of boss fights. Each of them has its own unique form that makes it appear imposing, but none of the fights are particularly difficult or interesting. The best part of each fight is just how much personality Nintendo has finally given these guys. I’ve always been a major Lemmy fan, and seeing that he got a jester makeover made me extremely happy. His fight isn’t very demanding, though – you’re meant to whack bombs that he drops back at him. It’s pretty simplistic stuff, but it gave my boy Lemmy a new look, and that made me satisfied. They gave this treatment to all the Koopalings, so it was always fun to see what they would do next.
The best part about the add-on, Bellabel Park, is the Toad Brigade Training Camp. This mode consists of 74 challenges that require you to navigate various stages while following strict rules. Maybe you have to collect every coin in a set amount of time, or maybe you have to defeat every enemy. It’s usually pretty simple stuff, but some of them can actually be quite challenging and rewarding once you actually beat them.
My main issue with this re-release is that outside of the training camp, I don’t like a single thing Bellabel Park has to offer. For starters, it is entirely multiplayer. I cannot fathom why they would do this, considering that the main game is fully playable solo or in co-op. Bellabel Park has Attraction Central, where you can partake in various attractions that are essentially just mini-games. I didn’t play any of the local mini-games because I didn’t know how to ask my roommate to play them with me, but I did get into the online games for a bit. These mini-games ask very little of your brain. Most of the online mini-games are just you and some randoms racing to the end of a course. There is a “prop hunt” style hide and seek mini-game that is by far and away the winner here.
Bellabel Park also has some customization that you can get by planting flowers after completing challenges. You can grow instrument flowers that will flesh out a band of little guys who will play music around the park, but other than that, it’s just growing flowers. It feels completely unnecessary and like padding for an already questionable game mode.
Rosalina’s little star-shaped friend Luma has also been added as a co-op-only character. You can fly around the screen as you collect coins and attack enemies. When you play as Luma, you aren’t restricted by walls or physics; you can just do your own thing. This inclusion feels like it was specifically made for a very small child who doesn’t know how to use a controller. You can also use the Switch 2’s mouse mode while playing as Luma to make it even more streamlined for a child. It’s just such a nothing addition to the game. I wish they had added another fleshed-out playable character like Wario or something.
I’m also puzzled that this re-release doesn’t support the Switch 2’s 120fps capability. Digital Foundry pointed out that when Nintendo announced the console would meet that benchmark, they showed Wonder’s model of Mario to demonstrate the feature, yet the game is locked at 60fps. It’s a very peculiar decision, because the game looks and feels great, but having that extra 60fps would make for an even better 2D platforming experience.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is/was a great game. Bellabel Park is a bizarre inclusion, adding a bevy of multiplayer mini-games that don’t really offer much fun or replayability. I have an extremely difficult time believing anybody will be putting this game into their house party rotation. The lack of single-player focus is a huge miss, and I just don’t think this update does enough to warrant purchasing it again. Thankfully, there is a discounted update for owners of the original release, but I’d argue this could have been a free update. If you’ve never played Super Mario Bros. Wonder and you want to, then this is the best version your money can buy. If you have played the game in the past, I can’t see any reason to recommend this.
