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[Digital Foundry] Super Mario Bros Wonder - A Switch Masterpiece

DryvBy

Member
I have a clear history of wanting this game but having it and playing it? This isn't what I really wanted. This feels too much like a side project and not a real sequel to the 2.5D Mario games.

The way the previews and even DF puts it, they're over romanticizing the game. They're fancying their words to describe something in microscopic detail to give it that extra push I don't think it deserves. Fans of a series usually put blinders on and then crap on a game later. This is one of those that won't be as graciously remembered as some of the other games.

The biggest problem with how they're pushing the game is that it's the best 2D Mario since SMW and this is just not true. Nothing about the levels feel connected how SMW felt. It's just you rushing right to the exit and try to grab stuff along the way.

The Wonder mode is cool but it's just another way to quickly blast through these short levels. And people kept -- again, romanticizing -- talking up how the Wonder mode would just change how things worked and you wouldn't know what to expect. This is correct but only one time. Really all it is on a level, you activate it and its running you through some chaos until you find a seed. It's the same effect on the level every single time.

Another fun reviewer point is how you can just explore around the map and take things at a different pace. Translating that, you go to an area and pick between a few maps until you get the seeds you need. It doesn't feel much drastically different than Super Mario 3D World.

If anyone has played the DKCR games, they felt like they were a branch from those previous games. SMB Wonder feels like a party game of sorts. It just feels off and comes off gimmicky. Like this is the Sunshine of the 2.5D games to me and Sunshine, while it's a decent game is not a good Mario game. This also is not a great Mario game. It's just a decent game.

And boy, don't let anyone in a co-op game use a Yoshi. You'll accidentally ride the stupid Yoshi trying to make jumps or grab something. Why they needed cheese characters for an already easy game is beyond me.

I'm a stupid Mario fan and I'm not going to say this is a horrible game but my hype factor outsold what this is. This doesn't even feel like it was made by Nintendo but some off brand that licensed it for Nintendo.

Graphics and music are spot on great though. At least they nailed that. Great children's game but if you are like me and thinking the "best since SMW" and actually grew up paying SMW? You're gonna be old man yelling at the clouds like me on this one.
 

Astral Dog

Member
I agree. I actually like most NSMB games (NSMB2 on 3DS was a bit of a let down though), I do feel like they were all a bit samey in the visuals and that god damn wah wah music, but it's still Nintendo here, so the level design and general gameplay of them all were still top tier. And I will absolutely go to bat for NSMBU's challenge mode, that shit was a ton of fun to try and get gold on those challenges which on a number of them are extremely difficult.

With that said, I am absolutely happy with Wonder from the bit I have played so far. It definitely feels like a good shake up of the Mario formula and I absolutely love the visuals (I don't know in what fucking world people claim this looks visually like the NSMB series? I don't see it at all....)
Nsmb was solid, but yeah the series needed a refresh and im happy to say Super Mario Wonder meets all expectations , the visuals are of course on another level its insane the amount of detail they fit on here they finally used those sales money for both the visuals and gameplay (damn those Wonder effects are crazy)

I just mean,in a way Nintendo never could have released Super Mario Wonder without the experience of developing the previous games, it is one of the best 2D platformers ever made, they always improve at a pace ,Tears of the Kingdom is another example, Nintendo brough back the 2D platformer on home consoles with new Super Mario bros Wii here they polish and reinvent what they learned since then.
I assume working with 3D graphics is vastly different even on 2D gameplay

Art wise there is a lot of cool details it has its own style though, some purist gamers may not like it because of reasons ,either "different" looks "wrong" or too "similar" but it is a good looking game
 
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Fess

Member
It's just you rushing right to the exit and try to grab stuff along the way.
Eh? I mean, that’s how just about every 2D platformer is… SMW too.

There are a few games where you need to find the exit or find a key or pieces of something to unlock the exit. But the core of it is still walk to the side and grab stuff and go to the exit. I don’t see this worthy of complaints for anyone who like the genre. It’s like telling a racing fan that you’re just driving from the start to the finish line and accelerate and brake along the way. Or tell a shooter fan that you’re just pointing and clicking until all enemy marked things are gone and do some headshots on the way. Makes your whole post fall flat for me. Sorry.

I’m going to guess that you’re just not as much of a fan of 2D platformers as you used to be and that’s why you’re a bit down here.

Perfect 2D platforming for me gets a game on my all time top list. That’s where I’m coming from. No 3D platformer has reached that point for me because I always think the platforming mechanics are hurt by the 3D perspective, never as responsive and exact.
So I get excited hearing hype about the responsiveness and platform mechanics here when John details it. Seems perfect!
 

DryvBy

Member
Eh? I mean, that’s how just about every 2D platformer is… SMW too.

There are a few games where you need to find the exit or find a key or pieces of something to unlock the exit. But the core of it is still walk to the side and grab stuff and go to the exit. I don’t see this worthy of complaints for anyone who like the genre. It’s like telling a racing fan that you’re just driving from the start to the finish line and accelerate and brake along the way. Or tell a shooter fan that you’re just pointing and clicking until all enemy marked things are gone and do some headshots on the way. Makes your whole post fall flat for me. Sorry.

I’m going to guess that you’re just not as much of a fan of 2D platformers as you used to be and that’s why you’re a bit down here.

Perfect 2D platforming for me gets a game on my all time top list. That’s where I’m coming from. No 3D platformer has reached that point for me because I always think the platforming mechanics are hurt by the 3D perspective, never as responsive and exact.
So I get excited hearing hype about the responsiveness and platform mechanics here when John details it. Seems perfect!

I'm not down on NSMB games. In fact, most people really liked those when they first hit.

I stated the platforming is great in this. It's the overall package. The world doesn't feel connected as much. The Wonder stuff is just chaos within a world and feels gimmicky. Co-op is atrocious but that's not just Wonder. 2.5D Mario games have awful co-op. The game seems incredibly short and the game is flat out easy.

Everyone goes through a honeymoon phase except me for some reason. I remember when Diablo 4 came out, I said it was a really bad Diablo game and didn't feel like Diablo. Fans mocked me as if I wasn't a fan, yet today now that the phase has left, they're saying it's a bad Diablo game and doesn't feel like Diablo. PC Gamer just put out an article that the new season finally feels like Diablo. This will be the same thing. I had the same reaction in early 00s when I said Sunshine wasn't that good and day one fans had to make excuses for it too.

I'm going to finish it today and if I'm wrong, I'm going to leave my review with an edit update.

I'm not knocking fun for anyone, just setting expectations for some that will go in and run into the same problem.
 

Killer8

Member
I have a clear history of wanting this game but having it and playing it? This isn't what I really wanted. This feels too much like a side project and not a real sequel to the 2.5D Mario games.

The way the previews and even DF puts it, they're over romanticizing the game. They're fancying their words to describe something in microscopic detail to give it that extra push I don't think it deserves.

This is just a symptom of John Linneman and the Youtuber nerd clique covering the game. Some people have tried to suggest the problem as being press bias towards Nintendo, but that isn't really the case. It's more like the enthusiast press (your Digital Foundrys and My Life in Gamings, for example, plus others like Audi Sorlie who always seems to pop-up everywhere as a 'gaming historian') love to aggrandize the minutiae of games, and especially very obscure games, or games which didn't get an English translation for many years. "You mean you never heard of JP 漢字 ( かんじ SIMULATOR EX, which only got a release on Famicom in 1986!? It's acshually one of the best games ever made, and here are 26 reasons why you've been missing out!" - cue a 35 minute video dedicated to that. Meanwhile they refuse to cover massive issues in the latest big AAA game that most people really care about. Some might call it just being passionate and wanting to share that passion with others, but there is a certain elitist bent to being the only one in the room that knows about something and then wanting to enlighten everyone else about it.
 
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Fess

Member
I'm not down on NSMB games. In fact, most people really liked those when they first hit.

I stated the platforming is great in this. It's the overall package. The world doesn't feel connected as much. The Wonder stuff is just chaos within a world and feels gimmicky. Co-op is atrocious but that's not just Wonder. 2.5D Mario games have awful co-op. The game seems incredibly short and the game is flat out easy.

Everyone goes through a honeymoon phase except me for some reason. I remember when Diablo 4 came out, I said it was a really bad Diablo game and didn't feel like Diablo. Fans mocked me as if I wasn't a fan, yet today now that the phase has left, they're saying it's a bad Diablo game and doesn't feel like Diablo. PC Gamer just put out an article that the new season finally feels like Diablo. This will be the same thing. I had the same reaction in early 00s when I said Sunshine wasn't that good and day one fans had to make excuses for it too.

I'm going to finish it today and if I'm wrong, I'm going to leave my review with an edit update.

I'm not knocking fun for anyone, just setting expectations for some that will go in and run into the same problem.
I’m sorry, I’m going to backtrack on some harsh words, I’ve had my first play session now. I kinda understand what you mean, not all of it but enough. Right now it’s a 8/10 for me. Solid platforming, lots of new ideas, superb animations, fun to have the kids watching, lots of laughs, elephant is hilariously awesome. Great family game but it’s not the magical event to play it like I hoped it would be. Not yet at least, I’m at the cloud map area so still early, maybe 3 hours played.
Biggest complaint. It’s waaay too easy. I had 17 lives when I died the first time. Hoping for a much bigger challenge later on.
 

DryvBy

Member
I’m sorry, I’m going to backtrack on some harsh words, I’ve had my first play session now. I kinda understand what you mean, not all of it but enough. Right now it’s a 8/10 for me. Solid platforming, lots of new ideas, superb animations, fun to have the kids watching, lots of laughs, elephant is hilariously awesome. Great family game but it’s not the magical event to play it like I hoped it would be. Not yet at least, I’m at the cloud map area so still early, maybe 3 hours played.
Biggest complaint. It’s waaay too easy. I had 17 lives when I died the first time. Hoping for a much bigger challenge later on.
Basically yeah, this. The over hype is causing me a mental issue to overcome. I'm not bored playing at all. But it feels like a side scroller for small children. SMB3 even today has some hard stages for a vet like myself.

Oh well. I just gotta get over that.
 

Astral Dog

Member
Basically yeah, this. The over hype is causing me a mental issue to overcome. I'm not bored playing at all. But it feels like a side scroller for small children. SMB3 even today has some hard stages for a vet like myself.

Oh well. I just gotta get over that.
This game's productions values and design are amazing for a 2D platformer, it is a game designed for players of all skill levels

I would have preferred more challenge in a Mario game, but it still the refresh the 2D series needed

Odyssey is also easier than 3D World in comparison ,im not a fan of that but if the biggest complain i see is that the game is on the easier side then they did a good job anyways

Nintendo talked about how they wanted the difficulty curve to be less like the classic 2D games and more like the modern 3D series for Mario Wonder
 
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