Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Development

Development of Super Mario Bros. Wonder began in 2019 after the release of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, with Shiro Mouri returning as director and Takashi Tezuka as producer. The team was not given a deadline for a prototype, allowing extra time to develop gameplay ideas. Mouri wanted to recreate the sense of secrets and mystery from the original Super Mario Bros. for a modern audience, noting that after many years, those elements had become ordinary.

The focus shifted from transporting Mario to different areas to changing the current physical location, leading to the Wonder Flower, which dramatically alters levels. Approximately 2,000 ideas for Wonder effects were solicited from every team member, with the most viable prototyped and implemented. Tezuka acknowledged claims that Super Mario Maker had eliminated the need for another 2D Mario game, so the team conceptualized Wonder to be completely different from Super Mario Maker.

They sought to create a foundation for future 2D Mario games, similar to what New Super Mario Bros. did in 2006, and developed a new engine using 3D models with modern technology. To balance gameplay for younger and experienced players, the game features a sliding difficulty scale, badges that make the game easier or harder, an online mode for assistance, characters with special abilities like immunity to enemy damage, and a non-sequential world map allowing players to skip harder levels.

Character-specific abilities from prior games were separated from characters so players could choose any character and ability freely.

Release

Super Mario Bros. Wonder was announced during a Nintendo Direct on June 21, 2023, and released for the Nintendo Switch on October 20, 2023. It is the first 2D side-scrolling Super Mario game since New Super Mario Bros. U in 2012, and the first to feature Kevin Afghani as the voice of Mario and Luigi after Charles Martinet's departure. The similar 2D platformer Sonic Superstars was released three days prior; producers Tezuka and Takashi Iizuka stated this was a coincidence.

An expanded version titled Super Mario Bros. Wonder: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park was announced on September 12, 2025, and released on March 26, 2026, for the Nintendo Switch 2, adding a Bellabel Park world with competitive and cooperative multiplayer levels and the Koopalings as antagonists. The game sold 4.3 million units in its first two weeks, becoming the fastest-selling Super Mario game, and reached 17.15 million copies by March 31, 2026. It was the 12th best-selling video game in the United States in 2023.

Reception

Super Mario Bros. Wonder received universal acclaim on Nintendo Switch and generally favorable reviews on Nintendo Switch 2 according to Metacritic. On OpenCritic, 98% of critics recommended the Switch version and 88% recommended the Switch 2 version. Critics praised the creative use of Wonder Flowers and their effects for keeping level design varied and unpredictable. IGN noted the effects changed stages in surprising and delightful ways, while Eurogamer called the creativity an endless cascade of ideas with wonderfully strange places.

GameSpot observed occasional repetition around some Wonder effects. Nintendo World Report criticized the boss fights as mostly uncreative, especially airship endings requiring only touching a Switch, with minor environmental variations and no changes to enemy attack patterns. They also found the difficulty curve fairly low, comparing the experience to a roller coaster ride rather than a platforming challenge, but still considered the game an incredible breath of fresh air.

Edge echoed that while no 2D Mario since the early 1990s felt so irrepressible, courses were short and difficulty verged on easy, concluding these were a price worth paying for the sheer exuberance.