Check out this hefty chunk of gameplay from the first section of Mario Wonder.
31.08.2023 - 15:27 / gamespot.com / Jason Fanelli / Charles Martinet / Flower Kingdom / Mario / New / New Gameplay / Reveals New
15 minutes of new gameplay showed off many of Mario's Wonder-ful new moves.
By Jason Fanelli on
Today, Nintendo aired the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct, a 15-minute presentation centered around Mario and company's next big adventure. The Direct covered new power-ups, a new kingdom, and more through brand-new gameplay footage.
The game takes place in the Flower Kingdom, a «not-so-distant land just beyond the Mushroom Kingdom» according to the presentation. Prince Florian is the ruler of the kingdom and guardian of the Wonder Flower, but Bowser soon gets his hands on the Wonder Flower, and it's up to Mario and crew--Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Toad--to stop him.
You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Sign up or Sign in now!
By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Now Playing: Super Mario Bros. Wonder — Nintendo Direct Gameplay Showcase 8.31.2023
The Flower Kingdom is broken up into seven different worlds, each with their own set of stages. Unlike previous Mario games, these stages can be challenged in any order, which allows players to chart their own courses. Some stages also include a Wonder Flower, which upon touching one will create Wonder Effects like moving pipes, massive bubbles, and the player suddenly floating through space.
New power-ups include the internet-favorite Elephant Mario, which can bash obstacles with its trunk and store and shoot water. The Drill power-up protects from enemies dropping in from above, while also allowing the player to burrow below obstacles. Finally, the Bubble ability lets players shoot bubbles, and then jump on those bubbles in order to reach faraway platforms or coins.
The game will also offer multiplayer components both locally and online. Up to four players can play together via local co-op, with extra abilities like being able to resurrect defeated partners. Friends can also link up online via Friend Rooms to see which stages each player is currently adventuring through, and if everyone is on the same stage, they can initiate a race and try to be the fastest through the stage.
Finally, Super Mario Bros. Wonder includes multiple perks for new players to enjoy the game with little difficulty. A new badge system will unlock new abilities--ranging from charged jumps to non-stop dashes--and allow the player to activate them at will. Also, the playable Yoshi and Nabbit characters will not take any damage when hit by an enemy, which makes getting through stages easier for younger players.
One major mystery not addressed in the video is the new voice of Mario, as it was revealed earlier this month that longtime voice actor Charles Martinet would be stepping away
Check out this hefty chunk of gameplay from the first section of Mario Wonder.
We may have heard Mario and Luigi’s new voices in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but Nintendo will not be confirming who is voicing them until the game’s release, according to Nintendo president Doug Bowser.
If the last six months or so of gaming have taught us anything, it’s that the “rivalry” between the three main gaming publishers is still going strong. That might be sad to say or hear, but it’s the truth. Sony sued Microsoft for anti-trust reasons basically, and during those proceedings, neither of them wanted to admit that Nintendo was a “true rival” for them due to the Switch’s price point, of all things. These three have been going at it for a long time, yet Phil Spencer found time to go and play Super Mario Bros Wonder at the recent Nintendo Live event.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s talkative flowers can be silenced, but you won’t be able to entirely escape their hints and comments, Nintendo has confirmed.
Last week, Nintendo revealed a host of new gameplay and details on Super Mario Bros. Wonder in a dedicated Direct presentation. The publisher has also followed that up with an extensive new gameplay showing for the upcoming 2D sidescrolling platformer.
Many people have Super Mario Bros Wonder on their minds, given that the title just had a significant Nintendo Direct that broke down the various elements of gameplay, plot, and the new kingdom players will be in. As if on cue, the floodgates opened after that, and the team talked about everything to do with the game, including the parts of its development process. For example, the team wasn’t rushed to develop something special early on, as the producer wanted them to make something special. But a question about what Mario’s creator had to say about the game has popped up.
One of the biggest complaints in the video game community is that certain developers are so driven to get their video game titles out that they’re willing to rush through development. That’s a problem, as it can leave games feeling incomplete, or they can be so rushed that it leaves a ton of bugs and glitches in the title. Nintendo has always been a company that has prioritized a game’s quality over everything else more times than not. That was apparently the case with Super Mario Bros Wonder, as the team wasn’t rushed during the early stages of development.
Nintendo outlined Super Mario Bros. Wonder in a recent Direct, with the various courses, mechanics and new features showcased in glorious detail. However, it’s interesting to note that when the platformer was in the prototyping stage, it didn’t have a due date or deadline.
The director of Super Mario Bros Wonder says Nintendo has to try harder to surprise players these days.
After its rather trippy announcement earlier this summer, the Super Mario Bros. Wonder direct has revealed an awful lot more gameplay for the new 2D Mario platformer, coming out on 20th October 2023.
Side-scrolling 2D Super Mario games have mostly followed the same formula for three decades now — to immense success. At first blush, Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder — the first side-scrolling Super Mario game in 11 years — retains most of the iconic Mario touches we all know and love. However, it includes enough unique twists to make for what could be one of the freshest Super Mario titles in some time.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder had me hooked from the moment I saw Mario transform into an elephant man. In this unusual new form, Mario can bash enemies with his trunk, soak up water to spray at friends and foes, and — from a crouching position — perform an incredibly impressive push-up to launch himself into the air. Playing as Mario, as an elephant, was delightful.