Back in 2023, when Super Mario Bros. Wonder was released, it marked a true revamp for the 2D Mario franchise, especially after the fatigue that fans felt with the New Super Mario Bros. series. Out of every game in Nintendo’s first-party lineup thus far, it was only a matter of time until Wonder received a Switch 2 Edition, especially after its critical acclaim.
That said, when you look at the lineup of first-party Nintendo Switch 2 Editions released thus far, there’s a true mixed bag in regards to quality. Some of these releases have a $20 upgrade pack attached in addition to their pricey $60 MSRP, so I hope you’ll forgive my apprehension whenever a new one is announced, especially for those who have a digital collection. So, let’s go back to the Flower Kingdom and see if the fabled Bellabel Park holds up, or if this is yet another disappointment, making you stick with just the Nintendo Switch 1 version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder?
Welcome to the Flower Kingdom
Let’s start things off with the main campaign. In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, we begin our journey in a brand-new kingdom called the Flower Kingdom. After Prince Florian welcomes Mario and his friends, Bowser suddenly attempts to steal one of the Kingdom’s prized possessions, the Wonder Flower. Upon touching it, the flower’s power causes him to fuse with the Flower Kingdom’s castle, and wherever he passed, all the residents’ houses turned into prisons, trapping them inside. But of course, that’s where Mario comes in. He’s used to this by now; I’m sure it’s just another Wednesday for him. So, he and his pals embark on a journey to collect the Royal Seeds scattered across the kingdom, so they can undo Bowser’s transformation magic and rescue its residents before he accumulates enough power.
Honestly, the 2D Mario series was never really known for having a complex story to begin with, and that’s not really going to change here. Although even for 2D Mario standards, I do think this game has quite a bit of dialogue, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, I do find that sometimes Prince Florian can be a bit aloof, with some of his dialogue making me question things such as, “You’ve lived here your entire life, and you don’t know that?” Still, I really enjoy the story’s overall presentation, because many cutscenes get the point across without too much text.
The first thing you’ll be prompted to pick in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is your character. Your choices are between Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, and Toadette. There are also specific characters meant to help beginners, such as Yoshi and his five color variants, as well as Nabbit. Unlike Mario and his friends, they do not take damage, and Yoshi can also use his trademark flutter jump, as well as eat enemies and turn them into eggs. As a trade-off, though, power-ups will not affect these characters. In the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, two new characters can be selected: Rosalina and Luma. The former is functionally identical to Mario and company in that she can use power-ups. Luma, on the other hand, can only appear as a second player controlled by the Joy-Con 2’s mouse or via the standard control stick. The player controlling it can assist other players by attacking enemies and hitting blocks.
Something interesting I’ve noticed is that on the title screen, you’re given the option to start Super Mario Bros. Wonder‘s Nintendo Switch version. This effectively disables any content the Switch 2 version added. As far as I could tell, this is to ensure compatibility with multiplayer, because Nintendo Switch 2 Edition players cannot play or enter multiplayer rooms from the Switch 1 version. Given that ejecting or deleting a game’s upgrade pack isn’t the most straightforward thing, it’s nice that it’s as easy as pressing the button on the title screen.
The Wonder Flower’s Unique Effects
Now let’s talk about the stages of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The objective is pretty simple: you must traverse and get to the goal to save the trapped Poplin at the end, who will give you a Wonder Seed. There are seven total worlds, plus one central area that serves as a sort of connection between them. In order to progress the story, you’ll need to collect a good amount of these Wonder Seeds in order to defeat the Piranha Plant blocking the path.
Each world’s stages have a charming variety, but if there’s one thing that sets them apart from other 2D Mario titles, it’s the Wonder effect. Hidden within each level is the Wonder Flower. Once you touch it, the entire stage will transform itself into a challenge, upon clearing which will give you another Wonder Seed.
You just never know what will happen until you touch that Wonder Flower, really. Warp Pipes might start to crawl like caterpillars, enemies might become gigantic and start to sing a tune, or Mario and his friends might transform into a weird object. This all sounds positively absurd in both theory and practice, but this sheer absurdity is what hooked me onto Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The level designers clearly had a lot of fun, and in terms of difficulty, they managed to create a pleasing balance between levels that were both easy yet difficult, with challenges that were still pleasing to beat.
Another customization feature Super Mario Bros. Wonder offers is the badge system. You can use your Purple Flower Coins to purchase them, or obtain them from certain stages in the game. These Badges can provide all sorts of neat effects, such as starting the stage with a Mushroom or placing additional platforms to ensure you don’t fall. While you can only use one badge at a time, swapping them out is very easy, and by default, the game will automatically open the Badges menu if you happen to lose a life. In fact, some collectibles almost seem to require that you have a certain badge equipped, which does give you a reason to go back to those stages.
Take Your Time to Discover
For the first time ever in the series, there is no time limit. You can quite literally take your time with each stage. The scoring system has also been removed, but you can still accumulate combo kills to get an additional life. Overall, these are some of the most ingenious 2D Mario stages I’ve seen yet, and I enjoy each and every one of their gimmicks. Unfortunately, I can’t say I was a fan of the Palace bosses themselves. Instead of unique bosses tailored to each area, you have to defeat Bowser Jr. to get the Royal Seed. Granted, each time you fight him, he does have a special kind of Wonder effect gimmick going on, though at the end of the day, he looks the same. Thankfully, that gripe of mine was somewhat addressed in the Switch 2 Edition.
When I first started a fresh save file on Super Mario Bros. Wonder, it immediately prompted me to try out the online mode, and I can’t say I like it all that much. Going into a stage will just randomly pair you up with other players who are also playing that same level alongside you in real time. These players can then leave their standees, which can act as middle points to help those who need to complete the levels. While it is a cool feature for the more difficult stages, I’ve noticed some players place their standees in secret locations, which removes that feeling of discovery, so you can find them yourself. I do see the vision in helping someone in their 100% journey, but I would strongly recommend playing through the stages first in single-player mode. Maybe, just maybe, you can use the standees as a last resort if you’re truly stuck, but otherwise, the mechanic was more trouble than it should’ve been.
Take a Break at the Park
Now, with the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, what do you actually get when upgrading your game? Well, as soon as you get through the first three stages of World 1, you’ll meet a Poplin who belongs to Captain Toad’s brigade. Upon freeing him, you’ll be immediately thrust into the cutscenes that unlock Bellabel Park. This introduction also immediately gives you a warm hello to the main antagonists of the Bellabel Park expansion, the Koopalings, which the game calls “Bowser’s lackeys”. But even after you knock them out, they manage to flee with Bellabel Park’s treasures, the aptly named Bellabel Flowers. This causes Captain Toad and his Poplin assistants to go on a journey to track down the Koopalings so you can take back what was stolen from the park.
But what is Bellabel Park, you might ask? In summary, it’s an extra area that is divided into two hubs: Attraction Central and Camp Central. Let’s start with the former. Here, you can play a variety of attractions through local communication, online, and even use GameShare to play them with others who don’t own a copy of the game. The attractions themselves are divided into cooperative and competitive. The attractions themselves have pretty simple objectives: Collect as many coins as you can, help a player reach the goal. Unfortunately, none of these attractions support single-player mode, so you must either connect online with friends on your friends list or use GameShare for those who do not own a copy of the game.
I actually had the opportunity to play through Bellabel Park at a family gathering we had recently, and we had lots of fun. In fact, I was very shocked at the sheer variety of attractions this area had to offer. But unfortunately, I fear this is not a mode I will be regularly playing. You see, while GameShare is possible, the considerable distance between my friends and me ends up creating a very ugly input lag, which makes some attractions very difficult. Still, I do agree that if you have a group of friends you can get together, Bellabel Park is a solid multiplayer mode.
Now let’s talk about Camp Central. Out of the two new additions to the Switch 2 Edition, this is what I was looking forward to the most. Here, you’ll be able to access the Toad Brigade’s camp, which contains a variety of things you can do. First, you can play some training challenges from the Blue Toad. These challenges range from equipping a specific badge to completing a stage as fast as possible, to even some where you must avoid collecting coins. Clearing these challenges will give you Bellabel Water, which can be used at the park’s fountain to obtain various items.
Among these items, you can obtain a new type of badge called a Dual Badge, which combines two Badge effects in one. So, for example, the Auto Super Mushroom + Coin Reward badges will allow you to collect more coins and start the stage with a Super Mushroom at the beginning. These badges are definitely handy and allow for some further customization of the effects you need.
Finally, you have the Koopalings I mentioned previously. In each world, you’ll come across a tent from the Toad Brigade. Upon interacting with one of them, Plucky, the brigade’s companion bird, will give you a report that one of the Koopalings has been spotted in that world’s level, prompting you to reclaim the Bellabel Flower they stole. Upon entering the stage, they will envelop themselves in Wonder power, changing the stage to their whim. In a similar manner to the Royal Seeds from the main campaign, there are seven Bellabel Flowers to collect in total. These fights are absolutely fantastic, and they are everything I wanted out of boss battles in Wonder.
The development team was very attentive in how they chose to represent each Koopaling’s Wonder form, making them really shine in a way that fits their personality from when they were first introduced. I had a lot of fun with each of them, and I hope we see them in future Mario games, because to me, they are classic enemies that sadly haven’t reached the same level of iconography as Bowser Jr.
A Very Fun Experience
After playing through Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, I initially thought this would be just like Kirby and the Forgotten Land‘s Switch 2 upgrade, where the amount of content added wasn’t really worth the price. But after playing through everything the Switch 2 Edition has to offer, I do think the Bellabel Park expansion manages to stand out in a big way. Of all the Switch 2 Editions I’ve seen from Nintendo, I would go as far as to say it’s probably the best Switch 2 Edition we’ve seen yet.
While it is a shame that Bellabel Park walls off some of its features in multiplayer, Nintendo did not skimp on making it accessible, and the added quality-of-life features and additions are great. Both first-time buyers and returning players will have a great time with what’s here.
Disclaimer: Super Mario Bros Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.
