Wonderful and whacky are just two of the words I would use to describe Super Mario Bros. Wonder for Nintendo Switch.
Early on Friday morning (they sure do love to torture me with late nights), Nintendo held a live-streamed direct for the game and broke down some of the new features in store for fans.
Friends and Foes
New and returning characters, both good and bad, are making their way into Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
For starters, there’s a sizeable cast of franchise favourites to play as: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, two different coloured Toads, Toadette, four brightly-coloured Yoshis, and the iconic Nabbit (… no? Just me?).
Most of the characters will control the same as each other – with no special abilities to differentiate them. Instead, players can choose their character based purely on looks.
The Yoshis and Nabbit are where things differ. These characters are what you could call ‘easy mode’ as neither will take damage. This means that anyone who finds the game challenging can still enjoy all that there is on offer, without having to put the controller down and walk away.
You can still die by falling off screen, however, so you’ll still need to pay attention! The Yoshis can flutter jump, helpful to land those extra big jumps, and also swallow objects, spitting them back at enemies.
For Nintendo, that’s likely the extent of the games accessibility features, but only time will tell.
Next we learned about the new enemies making their way to the game. From adaptations of the usuals (such as Melon Piranha Plants that spit seeds instead of fireballs), to Hoppycats which jump whenever the player character jumps.
While these new enemies took the spotlight in this Direct, it’s important to note that fan-favourites will also be making a return. The new enemies that were showcased won’t replace the classic Goombas and Koopas, but will add to the variety of enemies available.
So… Mario is an elephant now?
The direct announced three new power-ups debuting in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, alongside the return of the fire-flower.
Let’s break down these three new abilities.
It Ain’t No Babar But It Sure Is Cool
The elephant power-up allows the player to, well, turn into an elephant.
As an elephant, you can use your trunk to attack enemies and store water. Sprinkling that water onto flowers found around the levels may reward players in some capacity, such as with coins. The other benefit of this power-up is taking advantage of the elephant’s size, which can be used to break blocks simply by running at them.
I’m happy to report that ‘Elephant Princess Peach’ is a thing that does exist.
Adorable.
Bubble Bubble Toil And Trouble
Not quite bubble-beam from Pokémon, but close enough.
When a player dons the Bubble power-up, it allows them to shoot – you guessed it – a bubble. You can use them to capture enemies and turn them into coins (presumably through some horrific vacuum-manipulation process?).
They also have the advantage of being capable of moving through walls to target enemies that aren’t in direct line-of site.
What’s also nifty about this power-up is that the bubbles can be used as temporary platforms. This will be great when dealing with tricky platforming situations.
I Choose You, Diglett!
The Drill power-up isn’t an entirely new concept within the Mario franchise.
This was first dabbled with (to my knowledge) in Mario Galaxy with the Spin Drill – an item Mario had to carry around on his head and could use to drill through a planet’s core. Likely inspired by this mechanic, the new Drill power-up works in a similar fashion. Equipping this power-up will allow players to drill down into new spaces or burrow like a Diglett to move past enemies without taking damage.
Is This An RPG Mechanic? (Queue ‘Is This A Pigeon’ Meme)
In a twist I did not see coming, Nintendo announced that Super Mario Bros. Wonder will have a ‘Badge’ mechanic.
Badges can be earned and equipped, granting special abilities to make some of the platforming challenges a little easier.
The one that stood out to me the most was the ‘Grappling Vine’, which is essentially a grappling hook. You can zip towards walls and stick to them, choosing the right time to jump off.
This kind of power-up will be fantastic for people who struggle with those kinds of elevated platforming maneuvers.
One Badge can be equipped at any given time, and must be equipped before entering a level.
Nintendo Please Stop Making These – I’m Going Broke
The last moments of any Nintendo direct are always the most exciting, and this one was no different. They really did leave the best to last with the announcement of a brand-new Nintendo Switch OLED Mario Red Edition!
Featuring all the standard specs of an OLED model, this console sports an entirely red shell and dock, with some sneaky details hidden on the back.
What did you enjoy most from the direct? Why not join our discord and let us know!
