After a long, long while of traipsing through the 2D Mushroom Kingdom in “New” clothing, Mario and buds are back in a brand-new sidescrolling extravaganza: Super Mario Bros. Wonder was the bombshell announcement of this Direct, bring Mario and friends back to classic platforming in a more surreal and cartoony form.
Playable characters we can see in the trailer include Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yellow Toad, and in a first for the platformers, Princess Daisy. We also see Yoshi in the game, though it’s a little hard to tell whether he’s a playable character or a Power-Up. (We see Mario ride him, but also his icon is next to Mario’s by the life counter.)
The game has a vibrant, expressive art style more emblematic of classic Mario clay models in promotional material from the ’80s and ’90s. Things get especially wacky when he collects a new item, a pulsating blue flower (Wonder Flower?) that causes something strange to happen: either elements of the landscape gaining sentience, Mario transmogrifying into bizarre shapes or forms, or something else wondrous. It looks like this state of being ends when he collects a Wonder Seed, a collectible found in each level, kind of like key items in Kirby games throughout the years. There also appear to be other, less critical collectibles in levels, like Star Coins of NSMB games past.
This new mechanic seems to be the focal point for the game, and we can already make out several different forms it can take, like turning into a spike ball, gaining the ability to stretch yourself, or even stampeding past the end flagpole. We also see Mario ingest a new power-up at the end that turns him into… an elephant. He then bulldozes a Goomba by running straight into it, which is a heck of a power move, honestly. We’ll have to wait and see what else the power-up can do.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder launches on October 20th of this year.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
