What parents need to know
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the upcoming game in the Super Mario Bros. franchise. It is scheduled for release on October 20, 2023, and it is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.
Reprising the concept that made the franchise so successful, this game invites players to guide characters through levels that feature many 2D platforms, to use various powers, and to avoid enemies such as Goombas and piranha plants. In this game, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Daisy, Toad, Yoshi, and Nabbit team up to explore the Kingdom of Flowers.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder features new powers such as a fruit that allows you to transform into an elephant and Wonder Flowers with surprising effects.
Indeed, the Prodigy Flowers are at the center of the action here, because by finding them and touching them in a level, the level changes drastically, the platforms are no longer the same, the enemies sometimes start singing, or your hero transforms. ANYTHING is possible, it’s a lot of fun and very surprising.
As the adventure progresses, Mario and his friends collect new powers in the form of suits and suits, but they also collect new skills in the form of badges. So sometimes you can swim better, use a grappling hook, jump on walls (like MegaMan X), or even jump constantly as if placed on a spring. At the beginning of each level, you choose a badge for the whole team of players and you experience the level in this way. Enough to try many combinations and increase replayability.
There is no doubt that the most passionate will set themselves multiple challenges to try to finish this or that level with a specific badge.
The game is playable from 1 to 4 players simultaneously.
Article written with the contribution of Chun Gagné Cliche.
A copy of the game has been provided by the publisher for review purposes. It does not influence our opinion.
Details
Level of experience required
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There are no scary or violent scenes. When Mario has to overcome an enemy, he jumps on its head to make it disappear.
There’s a lot of text for dialogue and for descriptions of badge powers in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Someone will have to read the texts to young children.
The goal of Mario and his friends is to save the day. There are six playable characters; four are male, and two are female.
The difficulty increases as players progress through the adventure. For neophytes, it may take some time to be able to measure the distance between platforms.
Everything is included in the game, which is to be purchased once.
Local game modes
There’s a single main game mode containing all the action and adventure for now, and it can be played by up to four people in local co-op mode.
Anyone can join the game between each level.
Online Game Modes
There is an online mode in this game. When activated, random players can appear in each level as a ghost and you see them doing actions, without affecting anything about your game.
They can make a few positive emojis, resurrect you if you lose, or place a sign (standee) to allow you to resurrect in specific locations. Signs also sometimes point out secrets.
No further communication is possible, so there is no need to fear.
It is possible to play with these friends exclusively online as well, they also appear as a ghost but I couldn’t try if there were any additional functions compared to the mode with strangers.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
No DLC is planned for this game.
Our opinion
ELE-PHAN-TAS-TISQUE. I join in the outpouring of praise from all the players and the press. When I play this game, I always have a smile on my face. We want to try everything, to dig into everything.
The art direction is fabulous, the animations are top-notch.
The game is full of details, full of good game design decisions. For example, in multiplayer, characters can no longer push each other.
Nintendo’s phrase “Expect the unexpected” isn’t just a slogan, it’s just what happens all the time. The levels are full of lives, surprises, originality.
And the best part is that we can recommend this game to everyone. Some characters, like Yoshi, and Nabbit, don’t take damage to make life easier for beginner players.
The game lasts 8 hours to complete the story, which is a good thing because it means that it’s neither too long nor too short, and there are no lengths or stretched phases.
As the adventure progresses, players will come across many talking flowers that comment on the situation. Their sentences are very funny and there have been several times when I have laughed out loud and been surprised.
To quibble a little bit, the game seems to assume that players know how to play a classic Mario game. For example, it assumes that players hold the run button constantly to jump high enough, or that they know to press high + jump to enter a pipe above the character. This is the case for the majority of gamers, especially when you’ve been playing Mario games for 35 years, but it’s not easy for the non-gamers I’ve tested the game with.
But really, it’s for nitpicking, beginners will either have someone to tell them or guess on their own. It’s just that in Kirby games, the basic actions are shown at the beginning. Another point, the sound effects of the Toads’ and Daisy’s jumps are irritating.
That doesn’t take away from the fun everyone will have playing Nintendo’s mega-hit. A huge BRAVO to the development team at Nintendo. At Split Screen, we know how difficult it is to make a game of this quality.
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