Super Mario Bros. Wonder is being lauded as one of the best iterations of the Mario platformer design. Many new gameplay mechanics have been introduced, and this Super Mario Bros. Wonder guide will detail a number of undocumented or little known tips, tricks and secrets that you might like to know.
- Even though all characters are unlocked and available from the start of the game, Nabbit is the best choice for new players because of natural invincibility and immunity to knockback from enemies and projectiles. The four Yoshis are a close second-best choice for their ability to swallow enemies and spit them out like projectiles. The Yoshis can also flutter jump by default to reach higher than normal characters.
- You can store power-ups for later use simply by touching it while already using another power-up. Hold A to make use of the stored power-up if and when you lose your powers. Even if your character is currently powered-up, you can still hold A to simply swap the power-up you currently have active for the one that’s stored. Note that, there is just one slot for storing power-ups, and touching another one on the course will erase and replace the stored power-up. The only exception is, if your in-use power-up, the stored power-up, and the pick up are all of the same type, in which case the latter will become a singular Flower Coin.
- Since the Dash button is bound to Y, which is also the Attack function for Fire form and Elephant form, you will often fire off an attack at the start of a Dash move. You can prevent this from happening, by changing the Dash button bind to B instead.
- The Fast Dash Badge not only speeds up the regular Dash, it also speeds up normal walk speed, as well as traversal over sandy courses.
- The Dolphin Kick Badge not only speeds up swimming, it also allows you to smash through barriers.
- Unlike other Badges, the three Expert Badges–Invisibility, Jet Run, Spring Feet–actually serve to increase the difficulty of any given course, adding an element of challenge.
- In cooperative play, all the Yoshis can be ridden by other characters, including in their super-sized Elephant form, and even other Yoshis. Simply jump on their back to do so. The Yoshi player can complete the entire course without any input from the riding player. Note that Yoshis cannot triple stack.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Multiplayer Tips and Tricks
- Playing online can be advantageous if you’re finding a course difficult. Other players will be visible in shadow form, and can resurrect your ghost form if and when you die on a course, sparing you the use of a life.
- Items can be shared online as well, by creating item balloons from stored power-ups for the benefit of another player that could use it.
- Standees are cut-outs that can be placed by players at various points in a course, and can serve as a signpost of sorts. Hidden blocks can be marked, and secret pathways to alternate exits can be indicated with a variety of Standees. There are 144 Standees, 12 per character, to be collected throughout the game.
- Touching a Standee as a ghost will revive your character, sparing you the use of a life.
- If you think a specific section of the course would be especially difficult for other players, place a Standee there so that other players can revive their ghosts upon death.
- Standees can get deactivated over time and turn gray, preventing their use for reviving player ghosts. Touch them again to reactivate them first.
- Heart Points are a purely nominal count that serves as a numerical indicator for how helpful a player has been to other players. You can earn them by 1. Resurrecting other player ghosts. 2. Sharing your stored items with them through item balloons. 3. Arriving at the course flagpole at the same time.
- Both Standees and player shadows display Heart Points along with their name, for bragging rights. Standees also serve as an “I was here” indicator to other players.
- You can race competitively with friends on several courses and earn trophies. Simply hit the race block to host a race, and a countdown will start once two players interact with it. The finish line is the flagpole at the end of the course, and may involve collecting Wonder Seeds or beating bosses. Races with random players is not currently possible.
- When you lose your last life, and get the game over screen, it’s still not the end. You will lose a variable number of Flower Coins, and then be returned to the world map. Five lives will be bestowed upon you by Prince Florian, and more importantly a bonus course will appear on the map. This Bonus: Coins Galore! course is filled with both regular coins and Flower Coins, and if you can collect enough before the music ends, you could both recover your Flower Coins losses, as well as gain an extra 1UP for every one hundred coins collected.
- Green checkmarks for each course are achieved by collecting all Wonder Seeds, all 10 Coins, and achieving the Wonderful! Flagpole Finish. Several courses have a secret exit with additional Wonder Seeds and alternate Flagpoles.
- You can change the language spoken by the Talking Flowers, or mute them entirely through the Settings in the Main Menu. Muting them still lets you see their captions on screen for any helpful tips they may have to offer.
Those are all the tips, tricks, and secrets we have to share for Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the Switch.