Super Mario Bros Wonder it immediately attracted the attention of the press and gamers since the first announcement. Not only Super Mario is one of the most popular and successful characters and franchises, but this new chapter seems to want to take the winning classicism of the series to a new level. As? With the wonder of the Flower Kingdom! Thanks to Nintendo, we had the opportunity to play Super Mario Bros Wonder as a preview and we can’t wait to tell you about it.
Our preview of Super Mario Bros Wonder
We played Super Mario Bros Wonder for about an hour during which we explored the first levels of the Kingdom of Flowers, the main scenario of this chapter. During a peaceful celebration of Prince Florian, the peace is interrupted by Bowser (Obviously!) which will harness the power of a wonder flower to merge with the castle of Principe Florian and threaten the Kingdom. So begins a fantastic adventure for Mario, Peach and the other protagonists to restore peace.
The Kingdom of Flowers is the perfect pretext that will bring the main news of this chapter. Although the main formula of the classic scrolling platformer remains unchanged (fortunately), Super Mario Bros Wonder offers many new features in terms of gameplay. In fact, we will have new never-seen powers at our disposal which will vary from level to level and which will transform us into mighty elephants or offer us a drill hat to be able to move underground or on the ceiling (you read that right).
To this we add a new and interesting unlockable pin system which offer active or passive skills valid for all levels. These range from the ability to glide with a funny parachute or use a double jump to reach higher points. This adds an extra touch of strategy that will push you to choose the right pin to best overcome each level and collect all the elements present.
The “Wonder” factor
Added to all this is the most innovative element that gives the game its name, the Wonder Flowers. In fact, each level hides one of these magical flowers that once taken will unpredictably transform the entire level, objects and enemies. And Visually spectacular psychedelic swirl and this is how the classic green tubes will start to crawl or a flow of enraged enemies will become a real wave to ride to reach new goals that would otherwise be unattainable.
The Wonder Flowers in fact offer new ways to explore the level which loses its classic linearity in favor of greater replayability. Added to this is the incredible creativity of the animations of each Wonder Flower, which are different for each level.
In general, the whole game is characterized by a truly surprising fluidity and originality of animations and in perfect Nintendo style.
Waiting for the full game
In just one hour, Super Mario Bros Wonder has won us over, and while we’ve only tasted a sliver of the game’s potential, we can only imagine how many more wonders it has in store for us.
The Super Mario Bros formula has remained unchanged over the years, but Nintendo has always managed to add new and fascinating elements. With Super Mario Bros Wonder the magic seems to repeat itself and we can’t wait to discover more in the full game.
Super Mario Bros Wonder releases on Nintendo Switch on October 20th.