Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a fantastic game, but it hasn't quite accrued the sales success or following of many other top-tier Mario platformers, perhaps owing to the fact that it came out quite late in the lifespan of the original Switch. So, it's nice to see Nintendo is giving the game another chance in the form of Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park (these Switch 2 upgrade titles aren’t getting any better, are they?).
Is Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel part a can't-miss event for 2D Mario fans? Or will it leave you wondering what went wrong? Hop on down for the answer.
Note: This is an opinion piece and, thus, not as detailed as a full, scored review would be.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park is a sampler of an update, offering new single-player content (a series of Koopaling boss battles and a challenge mode), competitive and co-op multiplayer modes, and other new features, such as the ability to play as Rosalina, the rather entertaining new Flower power-up.
The Koopalings will be the feature folks primarily into Super Mario Wonder's core single-player campaign will likely dig the most. Each one of the seven colorful ne'er-do-wells has hidden out in one of Mario Wonder's pre-existing courses, with the twist being that each Koopaling is transformed in some new and odd way. Wendy turns into a teleporting pufferfish, Morton becomes a giant screen-filling marionette, and so on. Each Koopaling also transforms the stage they're hiding out in, providing a fresh challenge to work through prior to facing them. These showdowns feel like Nintendo's answer to the common criticism that 2D Mario games don't have great bosses, and in that respect, they're mostly successful. These battles are fun and fairly creative, although they're not particularly challenging. They also fly by pretty quick -- you can work through all seven Koopalings in under 90 minutes.
Those looking to test their skills can also head over to the Toad Brigade Training Camp, which offers up various flavors of challenge: collect a certain number of coins within a time limit, make your way through a course while staying invincible the entire time, etc. Each category has a list of challenges, mostly set on courses from the main game, some of which are actually quite tricky. Toad Brigade Training Camp isn't anything revolutionary, but these challenges are a bit of bite-sized fun and a nice reminder of how well Super Mario Wonder plays.
If you can line up some extra folks to play with, you'll want to check out the Attraction Central section of Bellabel Park. Here you can jump into local competitive or co-op "attractions" for up to 4 players or a handful of online attractions for up to 12 players (or 8 players if you go the local wireless route). At first glance, Attraction Central may appear to be a relatively simple Mario Party clone, but most of the attractions aren't minigames per se, but rather, multiplayer platforming challenges that take place on courses from the core Mario Wonder game.
Not every one of these multiplayer attractions is created equal, but some competitive standouts include Baby Yoshi Feeding Time, where you help ever-hungry (and ever-growing) juvenile Yoshis stuff their faces, Boo's Coin Spree, where you play freeze tag with King Boo, and Phanto Tag, in which players take turns stalking other players as a Phanto or hiding by transforming into environmental objects. Co-op can be solid fun too, with the mode that tasks players with placing donut blocks to help another player platform through a stage being a particularly good time. Admittedly, my ability to test the online attractions was somewhat limited, but the increased player count certainly made things more chaotic, and potentially more fun with the right crowd.
In addition to the content I've detailed so far, the Bellabel Park map itself holds some secrets of its own. Players earn "Bellabel Water" by completing challenges and playing attractions, which can be used to do a variety of quirky things, like sprouting flowers, redesigning some parts of the map, and even reforming a Poplin band. This stuff all feels pretty superfluous, but I suppose it provides some small extra incentive to engage in the new Bellabel content.
Beyond that, there's not a whole lot more to say about this update. The Switch 2 upgrade bumps the resolution up to 4K, and the game does indeed look nice and crisp, but it was already one of the sharpest-looking OG Switch games. I feel like Mario Wonder would have been a good candidate for a 120fps mode, but, admittedly, Mario's 'stache is looking pretty spiffy as is.
A Semi-Satisfying Stroll in the Park
Playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park was a nice reminder of how great the original game is, but the new content feels a bit like a dinner scrounged together from scraps and fridge leftovers. The Koopaling boss battles offer some memorable moments, and the new challenge mode will test your skills, but neither lasts that long. Multiplayer provides some fun moments and a bit more depth than I was expecting, but probably won't become most folks' new go-to Switch 2 party experience. If you haven't played Super Mario Wonder yet, by all means, grab the Switch 2 edition, but if you've already exhausted the main game, you're not missing too much if you take a raincheck on this meetup.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park launches on March 26. Those who already own the Switch version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder can upgrade for $20, or you can buy the original game and upgrade together for $80.
About the author: Professional writer of trivial things. Nathan has been covering games, entertainment, and online culture for over a decade with bylines at IGN, GameSpy, Cracked, Uproxx, ComicBook, and more. Joined Wccftech gaming team in 2017, and has written hundreds of game reviews and thousands of news stories since.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
