Mario Wonder is a Great Game to Try, and I’ll Tell You Why!

Have you seen the new Mario Bros Wonder game, but aren’t too sure if it will be worth playing?  

The Game's Front Cover, Image Courtesy of Nintendo

The new Mario Bros Wonder had fans asking a few questions when the first ad for it started showing up with Mario as an elephant that at first glance looked like something you might call a “cursed image”. It also looks intriguing as it’s something different from the usual fire power-up. There have been a few more power-ups added to this new game besides the one with the most spotlight on it though one of which allows you to defeat enemies by trapping them in bubbles. All of these have made it pretty interesting to play and gives the game a new look. 

Character Menu, Image Courtesy of Game8

What’s also interesting is the new lineup of characters available to play as, which now includes Peach, though she’s been in a few games before, Daisy, which makes this game the first Mario Bros platformer adventure game she’s shown up in as a playable character, plus Toadette, Nabbit, and a couple of colourful Yoshi’s. Along with the original lineup from the Wii version of Mario, Luigi, and the Blue and Yellow Toads.  

The story starts with Mario and his friends visiting a caterpillar, Prince Florian of the Flower Kingdom all of them are standing around a floating Wonder Flower when Bowser comes flying by in a Koopa clown car and steals the flower turning him into a ship and allowing him to spread chaos throughout the kingdom.  

Mario Wonder Beginning Cut Scene, Image Courtesy of BeardBear

Gameplay From a Level in the Second World, Image Courtesy of Paranoia’s Dungeon

Throughout the levels, Prince Florian sits on your head so when you collect different badges, he can wear they come with different abilities, some of them allow you to jump off of multiple walls to reach higher-up places and others let you use a parachute that looks like a giant Mario hat. Some characters not associated with wearing hats have their design on each hat that corresponds with the usual colours and symbols they wear. The level map is different from other Mario adventure platformer games as it’s a mix-up of other maps from Mario 3D World and Mario Bros Wii in the beginning level, the game makes you complete levels in a certain order then in the next world on the map you can walk around, and choose which levels you want to complete next.  

Gameplay From One of the Beginning Levels, Image Courtesy of JustOneGamr

In this game, you’ll encounter certain levels that are guarded by a Piranha Plant wrapped around them. In order to progress and access these levels you need to collect different amounts of Wonder Seeds that you’ll collect throughout the past levels, you play to get rid of the Piranha Plants to then be able to play that unguarded level. In each level, you’ll automatically collect one Wonder Seed after completion but at about halfway through the level you’ll encounter a second Wonder Seed. Some are easy to find, and others are harder to seek out but once you go to grab the seed, it will transform the level a bit and the level goes a bit haywire and out of control. Throughout these secret parts of the levels, you need to reach the Wonder Seed again before the timer runs out and turns the level back to normal.  

Another cool part of this game is the talking flowers you’ll encounter through each level. Some give you tips on what you need to do when you run past them, and others give funny commentary. Along with dancing and singing Piranha Plants in certain levels this game brings new and funny elements and will have you playing each level wondering what wacky characters you’ll see next.   

Mario Wonder is a great game for those new to this franchise and for long-time fans with easter eggs throughout the game bringing back new and old characters from past games with new powerups that separate this game from the rest of the Mario Bros games and is definitely worth giving a try for something new. 

 

Hello, my name is Isabella. I’ve been playing video games since I was a kid, I first got into video games when I watched my mom play TMNT and Super Mario Sunshine on GameCube when I was younger. 

I still play games when I have time though I tend to play only on consoles, the types of games I enjoy are survival horror, arcade-style, fighting games, social simulators, platformers, racing, detective narrative driven, and party games. I try to learn about different kinds of styles and genres of games, though mostly I tend to lean more towards Nintendo-made games, for example, many from the Mario franchise.