Highlights
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder is generating a lot of hype and is currently #1 in physical pre-orders on Amazon, thanks in large part to the recent Nintendo Direct.
- The game has received praise for its revamped art style, new power-ups, enemies, and features like Badges and online multiplayer. Fans are excited for a fresh take on the 2D Mario games.
- Content creator Stealth and their followers expressed significant excitement for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, with some deciding to pre-order despite initial hesitation. The game is expected to be a bestseller for Nintendo.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is still a good ways away from being released to the public, and it's already showing signs of being a hit. Indeed, that Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct really helped drum up the hype.
First announced in June 2023, Super Mario Bros. Wonder was instantly praised by the fandom for many reasons. Boasting a revamped art style, a slew of clever new power-ups and enemies, a whopping twelve playable characters, and several completely new features such as Badges and the unique online multiplayer setup, it really is set to be one of the most talked-about games of the year. It also helps that Wonder is the first original 2D Mario game since 2013's New Super Luigi U, and drastically changes things up from the subseries that game was a part of, which many fans deemed stale after five entries.
As reported by Stealth, a relatively well-known content creator and Nintendo collector, Super Mario Bros. Wonder currently ranks #1 in physical pre-orders through Amazon. Stealth cites the recent Nintendo Direct as the culprit behind this, stating that he knows several people who initially chose to skip the game until they learned more about it. He claims that in general, he's seen more excitement for this game than any of the prior recent 2D Mario entries. In fact, it's the first time he's noticed any significant hype for such a title since his childhood, when 2D platformers were at their peak. Stealth concluded that it was "truly special" to see a new Mario game compete with a new Sonic game in the same week.
Stealth's followers in the comments expressed similar feelings about Super Mario Bros. Wonder, with several deciding to pre-order it after initially hesitating to, and others expressing that they were unusually anxious for the game to come out. Stealth replied to one commenter, stating that he himself normally only gets this excited about 3D Mario games alongside the plumber's RPG spin-offs. Some other users noted the $60 price tag and the lack of known pre-order bonuses, which didn't appear to affect the sheer amount of love for this upcoming title.
All in all, if these pre-release sales are any indication, then Super Mario Bros. Wonder is looking to be a bestseller in a year that's already been huge for Nintendo in that regard. Combine this with the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, and the billion-dollar-grossing Super Mario Bros. Movie, and clearly Nintendo wasn't bluffing when it said it wants to make 2023 the new 2017.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder will debut on Nintendo Switch on October 20.
