Highlights

  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder revitalizes the franchise with a new art style, attention to animations, and distinct stage effects.
  • The multiplayer system in Mario Wonder, which features player shadows and larger populations, could be implemented in other Mario games like Mario Kart.
  • While some Mario spin-offs may not be suitable for multiplayer, cooperative modes in sports titles could benefit from the mechanics introduced in Mario Wonder.

2023's Super Mario Bros. Wonder did a lot of good for the aging franchise. After the New Super Mario Bros. series overstayed its welcome, Super Mario Bros. Wonder needed to shake things up to justify its return, and it managed to do so while retaining Mario’s trademark 2D platforming excellence. Complete with a vibrant new art style, more attention given to character and environmental animations, and varied Wonder effects that make each stage feel distinct, Super Mario Bros. Wonder will no doubt go down as one of the series’ all-time greats.

An understated, but nonetheless important, part of this is Mario Wonder's new multiplayer system. Player collision has mostly been removed in local play, and even that major change pales next to the online overhaul. Instead of making offline and online sessions equivalent, Mario Wonder instead turned online players into Dark Souls-like phantoms, displaying their movements alongside the host player's own. This permits larger populations in a single session while also setting the stage for speedrun-esque races, sharing items, and placing standees in tough spots to revive players. It's a conceptually simple system that’s game-changing enough for other Mario series’ to take notes.

Mario from Super Mario Odyssey and Mario from Super Mario Bros. Wonder looking at each other
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One Super Mario Bros. Wonder Feature Could Make Odyssey 2 Much More Engaging

Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduced a new idea to the series that could come through once more in a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey.

Mario Kart Is Already A Step Away From Using Mario Wonder’s Multiplayer

Mario and Luigi from the promo art for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass

Perhaps the greatest strength of Mario Wonder’s “live player shadow” co-op is in how it unites its community without interfering in single-player gameplay. Traditional multiplayer is only possible online by opting into a race, and otherwise, players are free to go wherever they want without fear of disconnects or latency issues. Most Mario spin-offs don't have interconnected worlds to precisely mirror this, but there is a race-oriented line of Mario games that suit this mechanic perfectly.

Not only are time trial ghosts already present in Mario Kart with similar visuals to Mario Wonder’s online players, but the two could be united without much change. Ideally, racers could drop into Mario Kart's time trials and coexist on separate laps, as well as reset their runs whenever they want without leaving a session. This mode would need distinct leaderboards to account for players copying the best drivers in the lobby en masse, but that in itself makes it a great communal learning tool. Records by other players could even be saved and viewed offline, giving players inspiration on how to improve their own times.

Lots of Mario Spin-Offs Have Room For Ghost Players Somewhere

Fitting Mario Wonder’s multiplayer into other Mario spin-offs is a risky proposition, as series like Mario Party and Mario sports games are predicated on direct competition. Linear single-player series like Captain Toad, Wario Land, Donkey Kong Country, and Yoshi synergize with contact-free co-op just as well as Mario Wonder, but Mario Party's turn-based boards and quick-but-separate minigames demand active participation. Ghosts would have to be confined to a new mode that could involve players taking their turns simultaneously while using items in real time. Minigames, puzzle games like Dr. Mario, and the WarioWare series’ microgames, could potentially fit into a daily challenge mode or battle royale where other participants are visible, but their actions won't impede local players’ own.

Mario Wonder’s Online Play Best Lends Itself To Cooperative Modes

Mario sports titles, as well as other assorted spin-offs like Mario vs. Donkey Kong, would be better served sharing Mario Wonder’s cooperative angle. Special modes like Mario Tennis’ minigames should work with multiple players on the same court, as could a simultaneous Mario Golf mode where other players could have some option to rescue balls from out-of-bounds and sand traps. There are lots of ways for Mario games to expand their online multiplayer, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder offers a good set of ideas to start with.