Super Mario Bros Wonder (Switch)
By: Nintendo
AS IF ruling 2023's box office with a CGI movie wasn't enough, Nintendo marks 40 years since the release of the original Mario Bros with a return to the brand of 2D platforming it perfected in the 90s.
Recently favouring fancy-pants 3D adventures, the Japanese giant hasn't made a traditional Mario in over a decade, instead giving the Mushroom Kingdom's keys to the players, who've created millions of ingenious levels in Mario Maker.
Plumbers just wanna have fun
Finally returning to their mascot's roots, Wonder is a slice of platforming genius crafted by artisans that's crackling with fun and character. If you thought Zelda was Nintendo's shoo-in for game of the year, a certain fat plumber would like a word.
With Bowser up to his old tricks – this time using the power of Wonder Flowers to literally become a castle – it's up to the Mushroom Kingdom's finest to dispel his magic with the power of the fancy flora.
Mario's razor-sharp fundamentals haven't changed as players sprint through kaleidoscopic stages, trouncing Bowser's minions and hoovering up coins. While Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad play identically, Yoshi and Nabbit – who don't take damage – are perfect for younger players.
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And, though a brilliant single-player experience, co-op support lets four funsters barrel through stages together, reviving fallen comrades amid the carnage.
Flower power
So far, so Mario – but the wonder stuff comes with a raft of new power-ups. On top of mushrooms and fire flowers, Mario can now don a drill hat, shoot bubbles and – best of all – transform into an elephant, swishing blocks and enemies with his trunk.
The (literal) game-changer this time around is the hallucinogenic Wonder Flowers secreted across levels. Trigger one of these for a trippy sugar rush of effects that reshape the world, from flipping the perspective or slowing down the action to turning out the lights – one level even becomes a bona fide Mario quiz.
More than just a series of gimmicks, entire games could be crafted from any one of the Wonder Flower's bag of tricks.
While Mario has always been spry for a tubby tradesman, unlockable badges now lend the princess-rescuer an arsenal of new moves, from enhanced jumping and swimming to revealing secret blocks. It's up to you which badge to use, and they drastically change how levels are tackled, rewiring your Mario brain after four decades of conditioning.
Music to gamers' ears
With so much going on, though, Wonder's ADD approach does mean less cohesion across worlds. Themes are diluted in favour of throwing the kitchen sink at each and every moment, with Mario's trademark purity getting rather lost amongst the noise.
Of course, it all looks gorgeous, and boasts a return-to-form soundtrack from Nintendo legend Koji Kondo, who's been scoring the series ever since that iconic "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" kicked off Super Mario's very first level in 1985.
Fun, endlessly imaginative and with no microtransactions, Super Mario Wonder is Nintendo at the peak of its powers. A nostalgia hit that reminds us geriatric gamers why we keep coming back to this series, Mario's trippiest outing is the eighth wonder of the gaming world.
