Highlights
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a colorful 2D platformer with new gameplay challenges and vibrant visuals, reinventing the classic Mario experience.
- The game introduces new features like power-ups and a badge system, adding more abilities and accessibility to the levels.
- While the offline co-op is chaotic and fun, the online multiplayer experience is different, with transparent player interactions and limited interactions with others, leaving the traditional co-op behind.
After being announced a few months ago, Super Mario Bros. Wonder's launch is just around the corner. The game has now received its own Nintendo Direct, so fans have a good idea of what is waiting for them in this successor to the New Super Mario Bros. series. Super Mario Bros. Wonder will be another classic 2D Mario platformer, but with an especially vibrant new coat of paint that extends to the gameplay as well. What seems like every level has some kind of extra challenge based around the new Wonder Flowers, keeping gameplay fresh throughout.
Plenty more was thrown into the mix, with new features ranging from the debut of an interesting set of power-ups to a badge system that can add even more abilities or accessibility to the levels. With even Charles Martinet's iconic Mario voice being replaced, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is reinventing 2D Mario for a modern audience. Of course, the famously chaotic four-player co-op returns from the New Super Mario Bros. games, but that experience won’t be recreated online as expected.
Mario Wonder's Indirect Multiplayer Is Both A Blessing And A Curse
Instead of attempting to match the online and offline multiplayer experiences, Nintendo opted to take Super Mario Bros. Wonder in a new direction. This fits with the rest of the game and has resulted in the online experience becoming a distinct part of the package. Players can enter randomly assembled sessions or lobbies with several other players, all of them appearing to each other as transparent. Dying in this mode acts similarly to dying in regular multiplayer, allowing the player's ghost to be revived by living characters or any standees they place.
Various other features are available as well, including emotes, sharing power-ups, and racing against other people. However, the through line of this is that every player is little more than a phantom to one another. Unlike in the offline co-op, there is no ability to bump into, jump off of, or grab anyone else, which also puts a damper on the co-op-focused Yoshi characters. The intent here seems to be ensuring that all local games will run smoothly no matter how hectic or unstable a session becomes, but the New Super Mario Bros. signature co-op was left behind in the process.
Nintendo Games Need Firmer Standards For Online Multiplayer
Ever since the GameCube era, Nintendo has struggled with adapting to an increasingly online-centric gaming environment. The networking quality for the average first-party Nintendo game has been well below that of other publishers, and it seems like even Nintendo's hardware itself struggles to meet industry standards in this vital area. With so many new features in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, to the point where it feels like it's cribbing from Death Stranding’s unique multiplayer, the most basic online functionality has been left behind for seemingly no reason.
It's especially bizarre considering that Nintendo has been willing to insert direct online multiplayer in many of its games. Splatoon 3 is still going strong with comparable matchmaking quality to Splatoon 1, and even Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury had online co-op for its 3D gameplay. There's no excuse for restricting one of the most prominent features modern 2D Mario titles have pioneered, aside from the possibility that the Nintendo Switch just can't handle some part of the experience. Hopefully, with a new Nintendo console rumored for 2024, strange back-steps like this will become less common and Nintendo games can keep pace with online multiplayer standards.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder releases on October 20 for the Nintendo Switch.
