Release
Friday, October 20, 2023
Critic score
95/100
Platform families
1
Editorial overview
Inside Super Mario Bros. Wonder
What it is
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a side-scrolling platform game and the first 2D Super Mario entry since New Super Mario Bros. U (2012). Players choose from twelve characters and traverse levels across the Flower Kingdom, a new setting for the series. The game's central mechanic is the Wonder Flower, which dramatically alters levels in unpredictable ways when touched. New power-ups include an elephant transformation, a bubble flower, and a drill hat, while an equippable badge system allows players to customize their abilities. The game supports local multiplayer for up to four active players and includes an asynchronous online mode.
The premise
Mario and his friends are invited to the Flower Kingdom by its ruler, Prince Florian, to witness the power of a Wonder Flower. Bowser crashes the ceremony, steals the Wonder Flower, and uses its reality-warping magic to fuse himself with the kingdom's castle, transforming into a sentient flying fortress. He imprisons the kingdom's citizens, the Poplins, and begins plotting to enslave the entire universe. Mario and the group set out alongside Prince Florian to gather six Royal Seeds scattered across the kingdom's regions, each one removing a layer of Bowser's defenses and bringing them closer to a final confrontation.
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