The 2D line of platformers is moving away from the New Super Mario Bros. style at long last, and its next pivot is looking like an intriguing one. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is out not long from now, and as the first new 2D Mario platformer, it would have generated plenty of buzz even under ordinary circumstances- but right now, when Mario’s stock is higher than ever and the game itself is looking like such a fresh and interesting take on the age-old formula, the excitement in the lead-up to its launch is sky high. And as we count the days down to its release, here, we’re going to take a look at all the crucial details that you need to know about Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
FLOWER KINGDOM
Lets start with the basics- where is Mario Wonder set? Not in the Mushroom Kingdom, unusually enough for a 2D Mario game. No, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is set in the all-new Flower Kingdom, where Mario and his friends find themselves after being invited by Prince Florian. Bowser, however, as there to throw a wrench into the works, as he so often is, and using the power of the mysterious Wonder Flower, he merges with the Prince’s castle. Now, he’s spreading chaos throughout the land, and it’s up to Mario and co. to restore peace to the Flower Kingdom.
LOCATIONS
As you’d expect from a 2D Mario platformer, Mario Wonder will take you to several distinct locations, each with their own theme and style. In total, Flower Kingdom will be split into seven unique locations. The first location you’ll explore is the hilly area known as Pipe-Rock Plateau, following which you’ll also head to the icy Fluff-Puff Peaks, the dense and vibrant locales of Shining Falls, and the aquatic and cavernous environments of Petal Isles. Three more areas whose names haven’t been revealed will take you to an arid desert, a forest of giant mushrooms, and a scorching world of fire and magma.
COURSES
Structurally, Super Mario Bros. Wonder won’t deviate too much from the classic 2D Mario formula, by and large. In each location, players will be able to move around and select courses to run through. Though this will largely be done in linear fashion, you’ll often also come across open areas where you’ll be able to move around freely and choose to tackle the multiple available courses in any order you please. Meanwhile, you’ll also be able to make use of a courses menu, from where you can quickly find and hop into a course you’ve already finished, in case you want to replay it.
TALKING FLOWERS
Based on all that we’ve seen of it so far, Nintendo is clearly stuffing Super Mario Bros. Wonder full of charm and whimsy, from the animations to some of the more bizarre mechanics that are being introduced (more on this in a bit). On a similar note, throughout the game’s courses, you’ll also find flowers that’ll talk to you as you approach them (and yes, they’ll be voiced). Some will give you hints about secrets, while others will just rattle off amusing one-liners, like a flower wondering what Goombas taste like, of all things.
PLAYABLE CHARACTERS
Super Mario Bros. Wonder will let you play as one of several different characters. There is, of course, Mario himself, but in addition to him, the game’s roster of playable characters also includes Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, and Toadette. All seven of these will play the exact same way, so the differences are really just going to be cosmetic. Meanwhile, you can also play as Yoshi, Red Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Light-Blue Yoshi, and Nabbit, all of him will be completely impervious to damage (though they’ll still die if they fall into a pit). As you’d expect, while playing as one of the Yoshis, you’ll ale be able to flutter to give yourself additional airtime.
ENEMIES
You can obviously expect to cross paths with plenty of familiar enemies in Mario Wonder, from Goombas and Koopa Troopas to Boos and more, though there will also be plenty of new enemy types. There’s Hoppycats, who will jump every time you do, Melon Piranha Plants, who’ll spit seeds from their mouths, Condarts, who’ll rapidly fly in your direction and bury their peaks into whatever surface they hit, Mumsies, who’re tall foes covered in rolls of fabric that can be unraveled by pulling at the cloth, and Maw-Maws, who’ll try to swallow you whole with their massive mouths.
ELEPHANT FORM
The power-ups are always the heart and soul of any Mario platformer, and Wonder looks set to deliver a wacky and intriguing roster of power-ups. Chief among them is, of course, the elephant form. Every single playable character in the game (barring Nabbit and the Yoshis) can take an elephant form, where not only can you attack foes and interact with the environment using your trunk, but are also able to leverage your larger size by smashing through blocks and even being able to walk over small gaps and pits. Hell, you can even store water in your trunk and spray it out whenever you might, which can even be used to solve puzzles to unlock secret paths.
MORE NEW POWER-UPS
Several other new power-ups are also being introduced in Mario Wonder. There’s the Bubble form, which lets you shoot out bubbles at foes to defeat them, and can even be shot through walls, or used as platforms to jump off of. There’s also the Drill form, which, in a nutshell, puts a drill on top of your head, making it easier to deal with spiky or hardened foes, and even lets you drill down into breakable surfaces, and burrow into the soil and move underground (or even burrow into the ceiling and move through it).
WONDER FLOWERS
Every once in a while, you’ll also find Wonder Flowers in the game, and this is where the game will really ramp up its weirdness. Touching a Wonder Flowery will trigger a Wonder effect, and the effects will vary wildly. These effects will range from you having to contend with a chaotic stampede of enemies, pipes in the environment suddenly starting to distort and move, the entire level tilting in its entirety and throwing new obstacles at you, or even the game’s perspective changing, so that sidescrolling levels are suddenly turned into top-down ones.
MORE WONDER EFFECTS
Several other Wonder Effects have also been teased by Nintendo so far. These include Mario (or whoever you’re playing as) turning into a Goomba or a spiked ball or even a floating balloon, you suddenly finding yourselves floating through outer space, a deluge of bubbles floating in the screen as you move through a level, or you suddenly getting trapped in a freefall. Collecting a Wonder Seed will bring the Wonder Effect to an end. Meanwhile, Wonder Seeds will also be used to unlock additional courses and progress further.
BADGES
Something else that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is introducing are Badges, which are essentially tools for players to alter the game in a variety of different ways. There’s several Badges in the game that you’ll unlock as you play more, and can have one of them equipped at a time, granting you different, additional abilities, like the Parachute Badge, which lets you glide and slow your fall, or the Wall-Climb Jump Badge, which lets you stick to walls and jump off of them, or the Dolphin Kick Badge, which gives your underwater bursts of speed. Different Badges will allow you to overcome different challenges, which means replaying levels with new Badges equipped will also always be an option, especially if you’re trying to track down the game’s many secrets.
MORE BADGES
Several other Badges that’ll be included in Mario Wonder have also been revealed. There’s the Crouching High ump Badge, which will let you crouch and charge up a much higher jump than normal. There’s the Grappling Vine Badge, with which you’ll be able to shoot vines at walls mid-air like grappling hooks and pull yourself to them. Then there’s the Safety Bounce Badge, which will let you defy ordinarily deadly drops by instantly bouncing back up. There’s also the Sensor Badge, which, as its name suggests, will make it easier for you to find hidden items. Other badges will also let you attract coins to you, become invisible, gain significantly increased moving speed, and more.
CO-OP
As you’d expect from a 2D Mario game, Mario Wonder will also have plenty of co-op options. Up to four players can play the game together in local co-op. When a player dies, they’ll start floating around as a goat, and will remain out of commission until another player touches them and brings them back to life. It looks like Mario Wonder won’t have player collisions, but at the very least, if you’re playing as Yoshi, other players will be able to hop onto your back- yes, even if they’re also playing as Yoshi, or even if they’re in elephant form. Poor Yoshi.
ONLINE PLAY
Mario Wonder is also promising a pretty meaty suit of online play. If you turn online on while playing the game, you’ll see live player shadows of others playing the game around the world, not only in the world map, but in courses as well. Like in co-op, after dying, you’ll be able to come back to life simply by touching another player’s shadow, in addition to which, players will also be able to send each other items and greetings. To help out other players, you can also place a Standee in a course, which also lets others revive themselves by touching it. The more you help other players, the more Heart Points you’ll earn, which is like a player rating for you that can be viewed by others who approach you or one of your Standees.
ONLINE ROOMS
If you want to play with your friends, don’t want to do it locally, and don’t want to play with random players, you’ll also have the option to create rooms and invite whoever you want. In courses, you can also race through courses against your friends, with races taking different forms, from getting to the flagpole to grabbing a Wonder Seed to defeating a boss.