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StarTopic Super Mario Bros. Wonder |ST| It’s a Wonderful Extra Life

This is the best Mario has every played or looked. Sound design is incredible too. Badge System complements the gameplay really well, the floating cap by itself is already a huge addition to serve as an aid to less experienced players.
 
Just got the game from being delivered today! Thus far the wonder effects are the highlights of the game, and so far the large purple coins aren't too difficult to find. With how the game keeps track of levels cleared by getting at the peak of the goal pole, I imagine that some levels will be quite troublesome to get to, though so far they aren't too much of an issue yet.

Thank you for reading.
 
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I know I really shouldn’t be surprised anymore but Nintendo continues to outdo themselves generation after generation. Wonder is a platforming masterclass and I’ve had a smile on my face since I’ve started it.

The worst part about Nintendo games is that they end.
 
Mekanos said:
Also I know the tweet above already did this meme - but I made this back when I played the demo and it still feels true:

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This is 2D Mario’s Mega Man 9 / 11 and Metroid Dread moment for me

Nintendo is just firing on all cylinders right now, it’s crazy
 
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chocolate_supra said:
This really really really feels like a successor to Mario 3 and Mario World combined, giving me feels I never thought I'd feel from a Mario again. Hooooly cow.
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I think it’s a mixture. And SMB2, because it throws me back when you climb vines hahaha

HockeyBird said:
When you're a ghost and that asshole refuses to stop so you can revive

t1000-terminator.gif
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The crown thing is sooo annoying

AstroOhHey said:
I think comparing it to the NSMB games helps a lot with the 'wow' factor
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I haven’t played a NSMB game since the DS one. I was gonna invest in Deluxe on the Switch to play with my boyfriend, but decided to wait for this one better. And even coming from someone that last played a NSMB game back in the 2000’s, and not playing much of 2D Mario, it’s still very wowing! Especially the Wonder Flower segments

Chauzu said:
My 2 wishes for the sequel:

  • make each character unique and add a bonus collectible to each stage for them
  • rather than just one badge, let us stack them
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I feel like this’ll be the natural evolution of the game: individualized multiplayer

—————

Also, we went to the special world. And the very first stage is another type of Jump! Jump! Jump! Stage… 🫠 we tried playing three times ans just left hahaha
 
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Stacking the air twirl and vine grab badges would be OP. I think maybe allowing a badge from each category would be a better improvement

IE:

One R button badge (glide, double jump, vine grab, etc)

One support badge (enemy defeat coins, pit bounce, auto super, etc)

One modifier badge (jet run, spring jump, etc)
 
Ok the online this is a lot of fun. Had a good time helping people out with the first Search Party level. Theres something really satisfying about dropping standees when you figure out how to get to one of the big Wonder Coins too.

I’m also loving the little postcards you get from each stage.

Other companies need to take notes on this game. Mario has always been sort of timeless, but this game is such a well thought out evolution of a design that’s been kicking around for nearly 40 years. There are so many ways Nintendo could’ve flubbed this entry by adding all sorts of modern embellishments and they just stuck to the fundamentals and we now have one of their best games ever.

As much flack as Nintendo gets for “not being with the times” this is an absolute demonstration of why going slow and steady and not chasing trends can pay off.

BassForever said:
Stacking the air twirl and vine grab badges would be OP. I think maybe allowing a badge from each category would be a better improvement

IE:

One R button badge (glide, double jump, vine grab, etc)

One support badge (enemy defeat coins, pit bounce, auto super, etc)

One modifier badge (jet run, spring jump, etc)
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Agreed. I would love to either be able to pay wonder coins to unlock the ability to use more types of badges at once or as a beat the game or 100% reward
 
Is anyone else disappointed by the title screen? It's a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, but I dislike how it's just the key art.

Past 2D Mario games had a tradition of title screens that gave you a taste of the gameplay. The most iconic example is Super Mario World's title screen. The New Super Mario Bros. games did something similar too:




In comparison, Wonder's just feels lifeless and boring. It's very odd considering how creative the rest of the game is.
 
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I want to retroactively go back to all the previous 2D Mario games and give each level a fun name. So much better than World-Level convention. Really happy they lifted this idea from Maker and the 3D subseries.
 
TheMindOfThomas said:
Is anyone else disappointed by the title screen? It's a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, but I dislike how it's just the key art.

Past 2D Mario games had a tradition of tile screens that gave you a taste of the gameplay. The most iconic example is Super Mario World's title screen. The New Super Mario Bros. games did something similar too:




In comparison, Wonder's just feels lifeless and boring. It's very odd considering how creative the rest of the game is.
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It's a trend for EPD games on Switch, unfortunately. BotW, TotK or Mario Oddysey also suffer from this. Although, personally, I leave the console on sleep mode all the time and don't go through the title screen almost never.
 
Just completed the story (although I have little secondary content left) and what an amazing journey.

The final 5 levels were amazing and the theme and aesthetic reminded me a lot of 3D World. And the credits were some of the best I've seen in a videogame.
 
I could not put the game down last night. I kept telling myself that I was going to do one more level at like midnight and I ended up playing until 2AM. That desert world is S-tier stuff. That world has been the peak of my excitement playing this game.

Somehow Nintendo made me like a desert world.
 
One minor thing that leaves me sad is... I feel llke they've topped the wonder flowers in level 1-2. Did anyone find a wonder flower that made them feel as wowed as that (granted I'm still mid world 3 so taking my time)
 
TheBlade said:
One minor thing that leaves me sad is... I feel llke they've topped the wonder flowers in level 1-2. Did anyone find a wonder flower that made them feel as wowed as that (granted I'm still mid world 3 so taking my time)
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I don't think that 1-2 wonder flower is that special, to be honest. It's cute and very well-executed visually, but it's a bit short and I don't like how slow-paced this section is compared to something like Rayman Legends where similar set-pieces are these energetic moments that really integrate with the gameplay.

I'm not very far into the game, but I've enjoyed several other wonder effects more; my favourite one so far is probably the one where
a huge snowball starts rolling along the stage, picking up the flagpole along the way and then at the end the wonder seed appears at the "bottom" (which is now the top) of the flagpole that has been integrated into the snowball. Thought that was quite funny.
 
shoptroll said:
I want to retroactively go back to all the previous 2D Mario games and give each level a fun name. So much better than World-Level convention. Really happy they lifted this idea from Maker and the 3D subseries.
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It’s still crazy that, even after World and Yoshi’s Island named their worlds and levels, it took 3 NSMB games to get back to that. Hopefully it’s never going away again.
 
korok said:
It's a trend for EPD games on Switch, unfortunately. BotW, TotK or Mario Oddysey also suffer from this. Although, personally, I leave the console on sleep mode all the time and don't go through the title screen almost never.
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Quick loading > "fun" title screen. The title screen is not gameplay and doesn't need to be "fun." I greatly appreciate Nintendo games that let me get right to the gameplay, which is fun.
 
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Just finished. 100% complete. Damn good game and I have to say… Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World have finally been dethroned from their best 2D Mario pedestals. I didn’t think the day would ever come, but here we are. Such a wonderfully fun experience!
 
BlackthornOrion said:
to give NMSBU its due, that is something that I think it started
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Ah, I’d forgotten about that

Phendrift said:
It’s still crazy that, even after World and Yoshi’s Island named their worlds and levels, it took 3 NSMB games to get back to that. Hopefully it’s never going away again.
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World’s level naming was fairly flat though since they were simply things like “Donut Plains 2”
 
I'm only up to near the end of World 2. I know, I'm slow! But I'm very busy these days. To give some general thoughts that I haven't seen commented on too much:

Pros:
  • The iconography of this game is great. I've always thought that Mario iconography was just ok, and that it was mostly pulled either by the quality of the game, or the quality of the art itself (Kotabe's art style, for example, is amazing for Mario characters, and I also think despite being fairly straightforward Mario Kart makes the Mario cast look really interesting). But the designs in Wonder for all of the new enemies are A+ Kirby-tier designs. These are so memorable and I'll be sad if they don't get used a few more times.
  • I loveeee how the gimmicky stages like search party or the enemy gauntlets pay homage to Mario's arcadey roots. I know they aren't the greatest levels in the world, but they're so fun and are nice little breaks from the rest of the action. I have encountered one pretty bad one, the one with the pole where you need to collect the wonder badges, but we'll let that slide as a one time thing hopefully.
  • People have put a lot of attention to deaths not kicking you out of the level, but I honestly think what's even bigger is that deaths have become a game of their own, thanks to the fact that you can get revived if you make it to someone or their post. It's honestly way better because it keeps the momentum based gameplay going, and frantically trying to search for a post is so much fun.
  • The post system being a way to carry over badges from 3D World is fucking amazing. Holy shit Nintendo. You did it!
  • This is admittedly kind of a bad pro, but the music in this game is pretty good. Not great, certainly not memorable, but pretty good. It's nice and that's worth mentioning after games like Pikmin 4 or Metroid Dread.
Cons:
  • I would say relative to the actual difficulty of games like DK, Crash, Mario etc, I disproportionately suck at Mario. That's not to say they're harder than those other games, they're not, but Crash and DK are actually supposed to be hard games, whereas for a game made for babies I disproportionately suck at Mario games. There's something about the experimentation and momentum that makes me make more mistakes than I should. So while I usually don't like doing it, it's kind of annoying that you can't buy powerups at the shop in this game. Maybe that's something you unlock later, but it's just kind of annoying that you start a level knowing you're probably going to die as small mario to an enemy anyways.
So far my biggest fear is that this will end up like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which for my money was one of the best platformers Nintendo made in a while and probably one of the best games they ever made, but also had super creative worlds for 4 worlds, then ran out of ideas in the last two. I hope I'm wrong and that doesn't happen.
 
AngryAlchemist said:
Maybe that's something you unlock later, but it's just kind of annoying that you start a level knowing you're probably going to die as small mario to an enemy anyways.
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There's an early game badge that lets you start every level as Super Mario. If this is your biggest issue, that extra hit while you're learning the level might help.
 
While I haven't gone for 100%, I'd rank the "SMB3" style 2D Marios as this:

A+: SMB3
A: SMW
A-: SMBW
B+: NSMBU + NSLU
B: NSMBW/SML2
B-: NSMB
C+: NSMB2

Wonder feels like the first true evolution from Mario World, but I think the power-ups could be better and the boss battles feel strangely undercooked. It's a great game though and I might change my opinion of it as I play and replay of it more, compared to SMB3/SMW which I know like the back of my hand.
 
UnrulyUmbreon said:
There's an early game badge that lets you start every level as Super Mario. If this is your biggest issue, that extra hit while you're learning the level might help.
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I get that, but as silly as it sounds, I'd rather not cheat every level by starting with Super Mario. In general I'm trying not to use assist badges. Buying a powerup would at least seem like a bit of a punishment as well since you'd have to exchange purple coins and I wouldn't do it that often. I realize that's a bit silly though cause I guess you could just unequip the badge after each level.

It isn't my biggest complaint, just was mentioning stuff I haven't seen mentioned. I realize it's a bit silly tho!
 
AngryAlchemist said:
I get that, but as silly as it sounds, I'd rather not cheat every level by starting with Super Mario. In general I'm trying not to use assist badges. Buying a powerup would at least seem like a bit of a punishment as well since you'd have to exchange purple coins and I wouldn't do it that often. I realize that's a bit silly though cause I guess you could just unequip the badge after each level.

It isn't my biggest complaint, just was mentioning stuff I haven't seen mentioned. I realize it's a bit silly tho!
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Don’t think of it as cheating, that’s how 3D World did it by default! I much prefer it.
 
Mekanos said:
While I haven't gone for 100%, I'd rank the "SMB3" style 2D Marios as this:

A+: SMB3
A: SMW
A-: SMBW
B+: NSMBU + NSLU
B: NSMBW/SML2
B-: NSMB
C+: NSMB2

Wonder feels like the first true evolution from Mario World, but I think the power-ups could be better and the boss battles feel strangely undercooked. It's a great game though and I might change my opinion of it as I play and replay of it more, compared to SMB3/SMW which I know like the back of my hand.
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Mostly the same, except SMBW and SMB3 would be tie for second while SMW is still first for me.
 
Still in the second world but having a blast(got tied up by other stuff yesterday).

Did a couple levels with the n64 controller and it plays great with that dpad… only problem is it doesn’t remap the spare item button to anything so it makes things slightly harder for secrets XD
 
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This might be the best 2d platformer ever for me. Mario Bros 3 and Tropical Freeze is currently in shared first place.
 
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I like they actually named the levels since you can do it in any order (or even skip them) so it wouldn't make sense to play 4-1 and then 4-5 or so

Also

 
Going through World 5, this game continues to delight. Ideas never cease, and yeah, I absolutely adore these goofy, chatty flowers. Never let another 2D Mario go by without this sense of humor.

If anything’s bothering me about this game so far, it’s the dwindling number of new compositions as I go from new environment to new environment.

Game is firing on all cylinders otherwise.
 
So long gay Bowser

I'd be okay with the C team making another game

Ironically I had to kill myself on the final challenge of special world 2 coins in cause I hadn't actually done the final world and was seeing wonders I hadn't experienced yet. Whoops
 
The Jet Badge is insane, holy shit. And somehow I only found the second challenge for this, not the first one.
 
The only thing I'd put against the game so far is despite playing it fairly casually inbetween work is I've already beaten it lmao, I feel like the NSMB games weren't quite this short? Obv there's a lot more to do but I feel like I reached the end a lot quicker than I was expecting and I don't think I rushed things that much.
 
100% finished

Overall I get why many are calling this the "best since World", but for me I found most of the Wonder mechanics to distract from the pure Mario platforming that I love. I'd much rather go back and replay NSMBU, heck I'd rather replay NSMBWii. I just vastly prefer not constantly having the perfect formula 2d Mario level pacing interrupted with the Wonder stuff which is often all style no substance for me.
 
BassForever said:
100% finished

Overall I get why many are calling this the "best since World", but for me I found most of the Wonder mechanics to distract from the pure Mario platforming that I love. I'd much rather go back and replay NSMBU, heck I'd rather replay NSMBWii. I just vastly prefer not constantly having the perfect formula 2d Mario level pacing interrupted with the Wonder stuff which is often all style no substance for me.
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I only just got to World 3 but for me the wonder flowers have been hit or miss so far. Some have been absolutely delightful surprises, but others have been just kinda whatever.

If anything though, I'm just happy to be playing a Mario game that has heart and soul to it. The NSMB games were just so bland and sterile, even though Wii and U have some outstanding level design.
 
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AstroOhHey said:
The only thing I'd put against the game so far is despite playing it fairly casually inbetween work is I've already beaten it lmao, I feel like the NSMB games weren't quite this short? Obv there's a lot more to do but I feel like I reached the end a lot quicker than I was expecting and I don't think I rushed things that much.
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If you're just beelining to the credits, then it's probably a tad bit shorter than Wii and U since it has more optional levels, but it took me about 10 hours to reach credits which I don't think any of the NSMB games took that long. Definitely not NSMB DS and 2, which are quite short in comparison.
 
So despite what you may have expected from someone like me, I haven't actually played much of Wonder this week. I played World 1 through 100%, including the first special world courses, and I played in both single player and in multiplayer across two files.

My friends, this is the real deal. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is off to an incredible start. There are so many things to gush about from just that first set of courses. I'll try to keep things without spoilers for now.

First, I need to specifically talk about the multiplayer. Because I never enjoyed the multiplayer of NSMBWii or NSMBU. I don't like how easy it is to get in the way of the other players, I don't like how easy it is for characters to wrestle control away from the camera due to sheer chaos, and I think the timer, while solid for single player, really puts the pressure on when you have players of varied skill levels. Wonder alleviates every single one of these concerns. I think I still prefer single player/online, but I actually want to play this game with folks. Here's a tip: have a player who does not want the crown? Turn into a ghost (L+R) and the crown will transfer to another player.

But even beyond that, Wonder is consistently throwing in new ideas or good iterations on previous ideas. The New Super Mario Bros. games have their moments, but especially as they went on, they introduced less and less new ideas across entries. I think of NSMBU, a game that is extremely fundamentally solid but borrows so many of its concepts from NSMBWii...which also had a lot of concepts from NSMB DS. Wonder has that NSMB polish, but we got lots of new ideas, lots of fresh enemies and course mechanics, lots of environmental variety even in its first world. And I find that the Wonder Effects, while also being unique in their own right, do a great job of expanding on mechanics found in the courses. Then you add on an incredible presentation (those character models and their animations are so expressive and also so communicative of the mechanics and animations), and it adds the secret spice that the solid but kinda bland NSMB games lacked.

The world map has its own surprises too. We don't have the deep level of integration of a SMW, but within Pipe-Rock Plateau we have so many paths, so many optional locations, so many areas. I struggle to think of a better 2D Mario World 1, it's that good.

If the rest of the game lives up to this quality, then we have an all timer Mario game on our hands.
 
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