In addition to a contemporary rethink of some of its fundamental gameplay concepts, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is slated to offer the traditional 2D platforming branch of the franchise a much-needed graphical facelift.
After spending a large amount of time with the game, I can absolutely concur with a lot of the initial impressions that GamesHub content lead Leah J. Williams had of it. The new aesthetic is delightful, and I’m very impressed with the new Badge ability system, which transforms the idea of character-specific skills into interchangeable tools anyone can use, such as a floaty high jump, a grappling hook, or even more difficult traits like characters running nonstop.
But the implementation of online multiplayer, which borrows certain ideas from FromSoftware’s games like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring, is one of the new elements I got to try out first-hand and the one that surprisingly makes me happy.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder offers new features like a cast of characters that don’t take damage, which is a lifesaver for less skilled players, and cooperative play for up to four players overall. However, if you’re playing online, other players will always be present even while you’re playing alone.
This is due to the fact that, similar to Dark Souls, as you progress through Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s stages, you’ll encounter the ghosts of players who have gone before you and be able to see their silhouettes moving along the same path, giving you hints as to where to go next and giving you an idea of which jumps might be challenging.
If you die while running and you’re online, the stage won’t fail you right away; instead, your character will become a ghost. When you’re a ghost, those once-dark outlines will assume correct shape, and if you manage to touch one of them, you’ll be instantly revived and given the opportunity to carry on with your current life’s stage.
Not only that. Dropping adorable miniature standees of your characters for others to view in subsequent runs is another option that you and other players have. A de facto revival checkpoint will be created if you see another player’s standee and flip it; if you touch it as a ghost, you will likewise be instantly revived.
It’s a very helpful feature to employ as a lone player when you’re taking on some of the more difficult stages in the game. Simply having another chance to execute a jump successfully feels like a huge blessing and eliminates a lot of the potential stress, provided someone has been kind enough to set a standee near the edge.
Standees also perform a different, but no less important, task: they inform other players of secrets.
One of the things that players tended to do was set their standees in difficult-to-reach spots, including in the hidden passages above the level, or in mid-air, since there wasn’t a real Dark Souls-style messaging system (no ‘But Holes’ in this family-friendly game).
They did this to demonstrate that there was a means to ascend to those seemingly inaccessible locations. When you leaped up to hit and disclose it, a standee floating in midair marked a hidden block that was immediately below you and may have included handy items like 1-UP mushrooms, a practical platform, or a doorway to another hidden section. That could lead to a hidden exit, which could lead to hidden stages on the overworld map.
Because each of the 12 playable characters in Super Mario Bros. Wonder has specific hidden blocks that are only visible to them once they approach close, this feature is extremely helpful for lone players. This is one of the game’s other novel design choices. If you want to play the game alone, using standees is one approach to aid other players in unraveling the mysteries of the game’s several stages.
When playing a course online, even if you aren’t expressly in an online lobby with pals, it’s still possible to stumble into genuine, live people. This is in addition to the ghosts of previous players.
The revival rules still apply, you can emote at each other, and you can share goods with them even if you won’t have the same world state or currency. Holding the A-button will activate any power-ups you have stored, such as the drill helmet, the drill flower, the bubble-shooting ability, and of course, the elephant. The object will be wrapped in a balloon when it arrives, and you can either take it or leave it for another person to take.
Sharing products and installing standees that other players utilize don’t seem to have any obvious advantages, but you do receive Heart Points each time, which serve as a constant reminder to other players of your good nature. You can also earn heart points by completing a stage alongside other players or player ghosts.
Cool internet implementation is not something I would have anticipated in a new Super Mario Bros. game, but with this addition, it seems like Nintendo has gone above and beyond to modernize the franchise and keep things fresh and interesting despite the series’ well-known, traditional structure.
Super Mario Bros. has a ton of new features and pleasant surprises. Beyond the online mode, of course, there are other things to marvel at: the variety of the stage mechanics, the well-balanced mix of entertainingly simple and easy stages and nerve-wrackingly challenging stages (with options to make them more approachable), and just the pure sense of joy in the character animation, the setting, and the level concepts. In our comprehensive review of the game, which will appear before the game’s release, we’ll have a lot more to say about it.
On October 20, 2023, Super Mario Bros. Wonder will be made available for the Nintendo Switch.
