Super Mario Bros. Wonder

2023

platform
action
fantasy
comedy
single player
multiplayer
co-operative

The story

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.

What it’s like

Bright, saturated cartoon colour everywhere: sky-blue backdrops, candy-pink and lime-green hills, sprites with soft outlines and bouncy, squash-and-stretch animation. The Flower Kingdom's levels are built like storybook dioramas, and when a Wonder Flower goes off the whole stage warps into something strange: pipes sprout legs, ground ripples into a wave, a sudden elephant-sized Mario stomps through a field. The mood is giddy, playful, and cheerfully chaotic, with a bouncy, jaunty soundtrack and a steady stream of silly voice-acted reactions that keep things light. Pacing is brisk and bite-sized, with quick level restarts and a collecting itch that suits short sessions on the sofa, a lazy weekend afternoon, or a few levels before bed. Intensity is very low: enemies are cartoonish and defeated with a bonk or a puff of smoke, with no gore and no real cruelty, and the only real pressure comes from precision jumps that get fun to nail. It is well suited to families, to kids learning platforming, and to anyone who wants a gentle, cheerful challenge that can also be shared with friends in local co-op, where four players can dogpile through the same stage.

More games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Super Mario Bros. Wonderand we’ll explain which ones fit you.