Yea there will never be an official release hard enough for anyone of even moderate skill let alone a pro. Stick to kaizo and Mario Maker and just enjoy the charm of the official releases.
there is challenging levels (the last ones) but not enough. Challenging does not mean hardcodre difficult, juste that you cannot complete first try with every coins not being focus... NSMBU offers such levels, and not talking about mario 3D world....
Yeah I feel like every gaming RU-vidr forgets in their reviews that basically none of the audience plays video games for a living. Seriously, how do they forget that literal toddlers need to be able to play these games? That being said, I do feel like there were way too few hidden challenge levels in this one, those were my favorite part of the game but they were over so quickly
I feel the main theme of this game is "we made a bunch of crazy stuff just take it and have fun". I had a ton of fun with this game and just went with the flow.
Yeah for sure. He critiques it from a Pro player perspective. Meanwhile I would never want this game to be any harder, it was the perfect amount of challenge for me and very fun.
One point about the badges, for me I would never use the high jump badge because it's too floaty for me and I can't make jumps properly. So I would always choose the crouch jump badge because I have my more accurate jumps and then if I need to jump high I can choose when to do so. So I think in general the badges are kind of balanced for different play-styles. But then I got the double jump badge and the rest of the badges no longer mattered. xD
A cool way to increase replayability could have been to implement a rewarding systems to completing each levels with several badges. I was almost certain it would be the case before 100% completing the game... like mario 3D world rewards you completing levels with every characters....
I'm pretty sure this game was put out with a Mario Maker sequel in mind. Making a 3D Mario Maker would be tough and probably couldn't have the nice intuitive drag and drop interface we have with the 2D ones. Mario Wonder keeps the traditional 2D theme while adding tons of extra creative options. Nintendo gets 2 releases out of essentially the same engine and fans of the franchise get 2 very different gaming experiences.
That's what I thought through the whole review: Wonder sets up MM perfectly in terms of mechanics, physics, badges etc, the stuff they failed at -- level and boss fight design -- is the thing that creators can improve on. And also deliver pick-a-pipe hot garbage :D
1:52: Art Style 2:53: Music 3:21: Why an elephant? 5:00: What is the theme of this game? 6:08: Boss fights 7:36: Level design 9:54: Regular levels 12:17: Badges 15:01: Level design Part 2 15:21: Controls of the game 15:42: Speed run 17:34: Badges Part 2 17:44: Charming 18:38: Multiplayer 18:54: Difficulty stars 19:54: Summary 21:03: Rating! Awesome video Ryu!
You make a lot of valid points, especially with the filler levels that would be better just being cut. But in terms of difficulty, games really are just different now, so I don’t see how after playing thousands of super expert and kaizo levels that you’d ever feel like the game was a challenge. If they added a pack of super difficult “lost levels” though, they could definitely make those harder
Yea I mean they can make the games harder they truly can, games were fun for kids back in the day when they were hard, it just gave me and other kids reason to practice and get better at a game. sometimes nowadays the difficulty of the game is too easy and they don't have to work hard and practice to win. almost like they are being spoon fed a win for some reason, when they didnt take the time to earn it, same thiing with new mario kart, mario kart wii was brutally difficult with hard mechanics, but the new mario kart just has so little to offer with its skill ceiling.
@@Here2PoneA lot of people, no matter how hard they practice, are not going to have the dexterity or response time to master the hard stuff. They also don’t have the time to. Video games above anything else are meant to be fun for the masses, and those that spend hours and hours ‘gitting good’ are not the masses.
Do you think Nintendo listens? I think they do what they want to get the most $. Thats what Mario Wonder was made for. Nintendo knows Mario fans are going to buy it but they were thinking how do we make this game fun and easy enough to get everyone to buy it. I would say that there are many creators in Mario Maker 2 that are actually better at level design than Nintendo.
Actually it was literally this: "We want a watering mechanic because flowers. How do we do that? OH! I know! Elephants!" because that's always how nintendo brings in watering mechanics for some reason.
@@lytethekyte I think they made it vaguely make sense, but I think it's mostly a marketing decision. When you say Elephant Mario, there is only one game you can think about
For the Elephant, I guess they thought “which animal looks and acts like a water pot”, and chose it. I think wonder succeeded in the most difficult task, to make platform games feel new again. Is a 40-y.o. genre, where you run and jump, been there done that. By changing the mechanics in EACH level with the wonder seed, it's like a whole new game, and I looked forward to see what happened. Sometimes it was big, sometimes it was small, but you need both types. They have so many ideas, each seed could be a standalone indie game, and only Nintendo could implement them with such care and polish. They did seem to care about beginners and experts alike, and the co-op multiplayer is a lot of fun and gives it replay value. I wasn't as excited as with mario world, but I was a kid back then and easily impressionable. I think this game demonstrates a Nintendo at its peak. Each game is different, and Mario Wonder doesn’t scratch everyone’s itch. But objectively, I have to say this is the best, most polished 2D Mario game, and give it a 10/10.
I also agree. Ryu rates things from a high skill, speedrunner level point of view. And its good that he still loves it a lot. The levels he hates are likely amazing for other players. They like the silly pointless level here or there. I love super hard Mario levels and go out of my way to do super expert levels in SMM2, but I also loved the search levels he hated. I appreciate all the levels this game did even if they weren't great. Because all of them were MEMORABLE which is something most of the NSMB levels did.
@@nickfarace9339 plus you can replay levels with a different badge for a different challenge I would think. Seems like a cool thing for replay-ability.
This looks like lots of very small ideas surrounding and augmenting the cure gameplay, a little bit. But there’s nothing very revolutionary. Just more vanilla platforming. Extra high jumps and shit.
I think they went with those "break time levels" actually for people that are not so familiar with video games in general. I know some folks that would have a "challenging" time playing all of the normal levels in general. Mario Wonder tries to appeal also to new players and very vastly to "real gamers" - that have played some kaizo mario. Since it is targeted also for Casual gamers, i think its a good balance to have only the special world as optional harder levels. But i feel the same, I wish they would focus more hard levels, give us some extreme challenges. (But don't think that will work for their marketing/target audiance) Lets hope for Mario Maker3 with Wounder
The Break Time levels are just weird to me. I don't dislike them or anything, but their whole purpose seems to just be random small levels that Nintendo doesn't have to put much effort in. I feel like it would've been better just to make more levels for worlds like Shining Falls and Fungi Mines that really could've used it, but I guess there are certain mechanics that wouldn't have fit well in a full level that they could just make a Break Time level for.
“Break Time levels are for people not familiar with video games” This doesn’t make any sense, because you have to beat several normal levels before you can even access the Break Time levels. And if you’re good enough to beat a normal level, the BT ones won’t do anything for you. It might be a brief tutorial for a specific badge, but what little it teaches there could’ve been figured out by using it for a minute anyway.
@@mrshmuga9Well, the break times focus on specific concepts that might not be used by everyone automatically in the levels. For example, the very first break time where you just run to the right is actually pretty cool, because it teaches the sprint mechanic. Obviously for us, that is just second nature, but I remember the first mario game I ever played (nsmb wii), I didn’t know that sprinting existed. Since it’s not smth required in levels, It’s cool that for anyone who is completely new to 2d mario, it forces them to experiment how to sprint to beat the level, which I think is pretty smart
The break time levels are because they just didn't wanna make more levels with the requirement of putting a wonder flower gimmick in each one. I think that actually hindered them.
I honestly really liked this game despite popular opinion in this comment section the levels are just so refreshing,creative,and just so enjoyable! Although im not a speedrunner so Im not sure how others like gimmicks so much but I thoroughly enjoyed them! Break time levels are definitely the weakest out of all the levels just of how unnecessary some are and bosses could have been better but I feel like the wonder effects kinda create a lot if mini bosses along the way so thats why I wasn’t really annoyed with jr just wished his castle designs had more creativity music is really good! Better than a certain other 2d platformer to come out this year… and I’m very glad they dropped the old and now stale new title I was plain disappointed after playing mario bros u and now i can say that mario wonder gives me a lot of hope for the future of the series, Nintendo please give out no deadlines more! It gives more time for creativity to flourish and new ideas to prosper! Solid 8/9 out of 10 REALLY good game! I would recommend it to newcomers and anyone who’s looking for a grand ol Time I also feel like the post game offers hard challenges similar to odyssey where you go to a really hard level and collect lots of items No I’m not forcing you to listen to this opinion and make it your own but before you complain that the game’s too easy you have to keep in mind that nintendo is constantly trying to welcome newcomers and for members of the whole family to enjoy not every game is going to be mm2 levels of hard just sayin 🤷🏽
I agree with everything that you've said here. Yes, the game is easy. Yes, it is supposed to be like that cause it is a family game. And there's still some challenge for people who looks for it. So it is all good, the game is simply amazing. Hands down the best 2D Mario since World.
I can understand making a game like this easy enough for newcomers and kids, but the problem with making it too easy is that even the less experienced players will eventually get better, and then they'll just join the rest of us and it will be too easy for everyone. But if they started with some easy beginner levels and then increased the challenge with more of the levels then the new players could keep practicing, get better, and then we'd all enjoy a more challenging game together. The older 2D games had their easy levels, but they got harder pretty quickly, and those were for kids too. We just kept at it and got better and better.
I think the main issue is they made a game for everyone. So it offes some for every playstyle but cannot deliver 100% on any category. The search party and online coop are for multiplayer and obviously they suck playing that alone The break time levels are for the most casual gamers and are not meant for any challenge While the online races and special world are intended for the hard core gamers that are looking for a challenge As the mixed bag that it is I think it is very solid overall. Would they go for a dedicated difficult platforming Mario game, I am confident they could pull it off as well! It just was never the intention for SMBWonder...😅
The ducking high jump was one of the badges I used the most. Sometimes I didn't want the floatiness of the floating jumps, and not something that interfers with my twirls like the extra spin badge.
I said it on your world record video but I 100 percent agree on the unskippable cutscenes and dialogue. I've 100 percented the game, and decided to replay it with no power ups. The STUPID. POINTLESS. DIALOGUE. Has actually made it kind of a chore to replay. Like, it makes me wish the world map didn't even exist because every beginning of the world, every level, there is some unskippable dog shit and it's just so infuriating to me. People can say it isn't that big of a deal or say I've got a short attention span, but with a short platformer like this you want to make the replay experience as smooth as possible. I see these like I see metroid games, experiences that are best when the promote blasting through a short and sweet, couple hour run of the game, and anything that causes that experience to stutter IS a big deal to me. Like bro, with the amount it completely takes control from me I almost just want it to automatically dump me into the next level.
Something I wished it would have done is make it like banjo and kazooie. You could skip cutscenes and even skip how too learn a move by just pressing B
Tropical Freeze is my favorite side scroller. I clear it in one sitting about once a year. I appreciate the mention ;) Side note, playing the game I got the overwhelming feeling they're gonna make SMM3. It seems to be tailored for the SMM editor. A lot of these assets would 100% be usable in the context of a new SMM.
I 100%'d Mario Wonder and it was very fun, and also very easy. To be clear, great game. I wanted another platformer so i picked up Tropical Freeze and I got to say... Tropical Freeze has just as much unique and fun mechanics as Wonder but manages to make them all match one clear theme. And it has much more replay value. This is a game from 2014. After mario odyssey and wonder i would love to see this much clarity from a mario game.
My TOP 11 Super Mario Platform Games of all time: #11 Super Mario Wonder (Switch, 2023) #10 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES, 1995) #9 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB, 1992) #8 Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013) #7 Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985) #6 Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017) #5 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010) #4 Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007) #3 Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996) #2 Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990) #1 Super Mario World (SNES, 1991)
Finally a legit review, everyone else is so blindly giving it a 10 out of 10 with almost no critic, I always love a honest review a non bias review like this one
His review was almost point for point exactly what I thought. If course there's a honey moon phase, but yeah, not saying the game is bad, but it's actual level design is inconsistent, lacking challenge, and the dialogue pop ups, holy shit the dialogue pop ups drive me insane. Idk, it's just a little disappointing to me that when it comes to this game, it's more like a lot of the elements are really cool and I'd love to see how they're utilized by people in the community in mario maker or mods, but their implementation into the game itself is largely pointless or underwhelming a lot of the time.
@@Cheesehead302 I thought I was the only one being driven insane by the forced baby dialogue of this game, one person told me the few seconds couldn’t be that irritating to my gameplay experience, unfortunately it is smh
@@animebabe4107 Dude, you aren't alone. I've actually found a lot of people who think the pointless dialogue crap is bad lol. I've been told that I have a short attention span for complaining about it but it isn't even something that should be a problem. There's no reason for it to exist beyond padding put play time.
I think Ryu really missed out on experiencing the game for the first time using the online features. Sharing the discovery of a lot of the secrets with randos online was really cool. Sure you can call it cheating and you want to beat it on your own the first time, but as mentioned the game is easy so what's the point? Especially when talking about the search party levels. They were made for that shared experience, and they are terrible without it.
@@Ryu agreed, but I think the OP is just trying to say is that it's a bit more dull to experience those search party levels alone. And it probably would have been a good idea to play them for the first time with randos. I personally turn online off cuz I just didn't like being revived or turning into a ghost when I wanted to just die and go back to a checkpoint.
I actually really like the goo transformation, it's just that it's used way too much and well overstays it's welcome. But yeah, I agree on most of those points and the score. I enjoyed it, but again it's just too easy and doesn't quite do enough with its concepts. And yes, the Bowser levels were the highlight but they were too late in the game. If Nintendo doesn't want to make challenging games, I get that. But if they don't want to leave any kids out in the cold, I think they should at least prioritize having difficulty options. Give a standard mode for the youngsters and a hardcore mode for the old school boomers like myself. It'd be a lot of work I'm sure but it would do so much for the game. Until then, I hope we get a challenging expansion pack to the game. Mechanically and artistically, the game is great. Just want more wrung out of its potential.
The thing is you played the game alone, the search party levels are fun when you have other online people trying to figure out where to find the coins, i enjoyed the game mode online that just by myself.
I think the key to understanding the game is imaging playing it with your (or a friend's) kid. Maybe your kid is just watching you play and I can imagine how a kid will react to all of the wonder seeds gimmicks. This could also be the idea behind the break time levels: providing levels even a kid with little to no experience can solve.
Gotta say, I agree with this review, it's a pretty fair assessment, the comparison with Tropical Freeze makes a lot of sense, it shows that it didn't need the speedrun aspect to be a good and charming game, but even so, they added and it's great. I hope there is a return to Tropical Freeze to finish all levels.
I agree with a lot that you’ve said A massive chunk of the game was on the easier side, I didn’t use more than half the badges most of the time, and the bosses sucked But above all else, it was still a pretty damn fun time. Music? Great! Visuals and animations? Wonderful! I’d say 8/10, worth all the time I put into 100%ing it
Super Mario Bros. 3 was the Alpha and Omega from childhood for me. The nostalgia is just too strong. But, this generation will find their favorites. One size fits all paesano's!
I was 8 years old. Mom and I rented sm3 from a video store, and played all day. It was a school night, it was after 10pm when mom sent me to bed because it was getting late. She dropped bowser a half hour later and let me get up to see the end. I will never forget it. She also taught me to play zelda and I still play her style to this day. So does my 11 year old, who I taught to play mario and zelda. Generational enjoyment.
To me this game feels like a prototype that was supposed to be a starting point for the team to build around and then someone accidentally committed to an October 2023 release date so they tied up as many loose ends as possible and shipped it out. There's a lot to love here, but I feel more like I'm playing a bunch of experiments than like I've been sucked into an immersive story/experience along with the characters in the game. Agree with many of your critiques as well as the positives, I wish Nintendo had broken this up into 5 different games revolving around the Flower Kingdom and revolved each game around some of the best core aspects of Wonder to really mine the value out of what works well, as opposed to getting small tastes of what could have been sprinkled throughout the game.
An amazing idea/qol they could implement when you reach 100% is a new game + where they allow you to select any badge you'd like from the start, it'd allow you to both do challenge runs more easily like "all game with spring jump" but also get jet run from the start and such and use it on every level, which you wouldn't normally do. It'd also make it more fun for speedruns.
I really appreciate your perspective; I felt literally the exact same way about a number of things you mentioned (not all, but most), and besides bad boss fights, almost everything else I've seen online is that Mario Wonder is the greatest 2D Mario game ever, and while there are some very good things, like the visuals and general presentation as well as the movement physics and some particularly imaginative wonder effects, I couldn't help feeling that the game was a bit lackluster, especially upon finishing it. Super Mario World is my favorite 2D Mario game, and my friend asked me after completing Wonder what percentage of Mario World's fun I had with Wonder, and I told him that the fun I had with Wonder landed somewhere around 70% of the fun I had with World. While I initially was interested in the final boss's design and animations as well as the fact that it was a music boss fight (which I thought was a cool idea), it was FAR too easy, because Bowser just didn't attack you. I didn't take damage a single time during my first try, and hitting the boss was literally as simple as taking all the time you needed to line up under his sweet spot and press the button at the right time, sometimes twice. And that's to say nothing of the idea that a small concert and head-and-hands boss turned out to be the crazy Wonder Bowser was cooking up for the entire game AFTER turning into a mobile, weaponized planet; I was hoping we'd fight the castle itself or that we'd have to grab wonder flowers to use a variety of different wonder effects from other levels to hit him with, but nope, it was just Andross but easier. The entire game as a whole was too easy, and even the bonus world's levels weren't challenging enough (I don't mean that as a brag and am just sharing my personal experience; I've seen all the posts on Reddit about the trouble people have had with Climb to the Beat and the Final-Final Test); I died three times on Climb to the Beat while collecting all the coins (the fact that coins stay collected when you die takes difficulty away from the game), and I died somewhere around 30 or 40 times on the Final-Final Test, which I was surprised had checkpoints. One thing we differed on was our opinions of the Search Party levels, which I loved. I agree with you about the pick-a-pipe part, but that was only one section of that level, so I give that a pass, and there was another non-pick-a-pipe puzzle to solve within the pick-a-pipe part, which diluted the tedium of the pick-a-pipe idea. I can also understand why others didn't like those levels, though. Overall, the platforming was too easy, there weren't enough secrets to find in levels that required some good gamer intuition, a number of the wonders didn't require enough of you (like the spike ball wonder that just had you roll down a tube and didn't really demand anything of you), the bosses were both too simple and uninspiring, and there wasn't enough powerup diversity. But the presentation of the game was great, there were some really fun and interesting wonder ideas scattered in there, the desert world was particularly fun with its overworld secrets, and the platforming mechanics themselves are tight.
Love your videos so much ryu! We would love to see more content on this channel, especially your live stream content if it were in shorter form. Thank you for making my day every time you post!
Mario Maker 3 with Badges would suck because most levels would just force you to use a certain badge instead of letting you pick different badges and play the level the way you want like Wonder does.
I felt there shoulda been some backtracking elements. Use the badges you get later in the game like the grappling vine in the earlier levels to find secret exits. Then those exits lead to more challenging levels.
Thank you for the honest review. I called this one month ago in the comments for your initial reaction video. This game will lack replayability and make people appreciate NSMB so much more. I am one of Nintendo's super fans but this game just doesn't check all the boxes of a nintendo AAA title. It hurts me to say that and I hope the next generation of Nintendo developers can follow in the footsteps of the amazing developers that proceeded them.
Great review! I agree with Ryu 100% here actually. Wonder is a really good game, but just has a lot of questionable design choices to keep it from being one of the best Mario games. For me the vast majority of levels were just too easy (or suck like Search Party and Break Time), bosses were few and far between and generally lame, a lot of mediocre/useless badges, and no option to turn off cutscenes for repeat playthroughs. I grew up with Mario World (and Mario 3) and those games just cut through the BS to provide interesting and fun platforming levels with a natural escalation in difficulty. I agree that I really hope there is DLC to offer additional, more challenging levels, more useful badges, and non-Jr bosses. Outside of that, Mario Maker 3 with existing Badges would be incredible. The Badges seemed way too underutilized outside of maybe the final badge marathon. Also, this is my bad, but I missed the option to turn off the Talking Flower until I had already completed the game...all those annoying and insipid comments...I was always like "dude, please stfu!" 🤣
I don’t understand the whole “why elephant? That’s so weird!” Nobody reacted that way to Tanooki Mario in SMB3. Or Frog Mario. Or Cape Mario. Or basically any of the past power-ups. It’s just Mario. You turn into stuff.
Have you ever seen Winnie the Pooh? If you're familiar with Heffalumps then the elephant feels way less random as a power up. This whole game is basically Mario x Winnie the Pooh episode, but I kinda love that. I feel like that's definitely where a lot of inspiration was drawn.
I think there just could have been more. They might have been limited by how much detail they wanted to put in. It’s probably one of the best looking games I’ve ever played even though it’s cartoon style. They clearly spent a lot of time polishing the game and making it look and feel spectacular. More levels, harder levels, I’m old school too and I’ve always viewed Mario games as things that I can’t beat. I’m just not good at platformers. The special levels are cool but more of them would be nice. I really hope there is an expansion or Mario wonder 2. I really enjoyed the game, I had a blast, but it felt empty and too easy. It’s nice that I could 100% the game but it would also be cool to have some kind of overwhelming challenge. If there was a mean world where everything is crazy hard or like you were saying multiple badge challenges. All the mechanics could have gone much deeper. I hope they iterate on the amazing engine they created. It really is awe inspiring but you don’t get to completely experience it.
Honestly, I think Nintendo would rather let the advanced Mario players abuse ourselves in Mario Maker, whereas Super Mario Wonder is meant to bring back the flagship gameplay, that's more child friendly where there is challenge for new players, but enough for veteran players to find some challenge and casual enjoyment. What I realized in the middle of this game is that II have not felt this much love and enthusiasm for a Nintendo-made classic Mario game since Super Mario World. To me that's a huge deal, and is the real magic of this game. I do agree about the badges and some of the special stages. The sage where you have to find coins requires you to have multiple players exploring the map (some characters can see the hidden blocks while others cannot) so it encourages you to play online multiplayer... which I wish they kept separate from single player playthroughs. The rest ones were nice when you just wanted a fun non-stressful game... but the bossbattles really have no excuse. Baby Bowser was super useless, and the machine bosses were a joke. But I did have a lot of fun with the final Bowser fight, as easy as it was.
There are maybe 3 levels that match the difficulty of some of the worlds of SMB3 and SMW. So it's not even challenging for new players. Kids could eventually beat the older games which means they could put the same level of challenge today.
I think it's interesting because people state things about the badges and the wonder flowers (like which ones are good and which ones are bad) like they're clear facts but they'll say completely different ones. So like, idk... maybe it's subjective and the fact that there are lots of options means that they did a pretty good job making an offering that works for lots of people and you should play it how it works for you?
Two things, first is that Mario Wonder reminds me of Metroid Dread with how there’s a bunch of dialogue to mash through during speedruns or repeat playthroughs as well as unskippable cutscenes (the opening to dread I really wish was skippable at least after finishing one playthrough) Second is that I think you kinda missed the purpose of the spring jump badge. Every badge has a pattern and color that signify their purpose. Orange ones are your skill badges that give you more mobility options. Blue ones are utility that provide some inherit use without needing to do something yourself. Those last three with the gold and black are “challenge” badges made to make the game harder.
I think the design decision to allow players to pick whichever badge they wanted ultimately made the game worse. As it sits, you can do everything with any badge and as a consequence the levels themselves can't be designed around the badges in a way that's fun. The end result is just frustrating because the badge levels themselves are some of the best levels in the game and it feels like they were afraid to utilize them.
SMB had a theatrical theme to it, like a stage play. Title screen is a curtain over a stage, and some stages had props and backstage areas. Of course, the power ups were mainly different suits/costumes, fitting the theme.
Am I the only one who thinks that Elephant Mario looks really gross and creepy? As soon as I saw that in the trailer, it completely put me off the game.
Probably a skill issue on my part but some things felt a bit jank. Like my Luigi will sometimes not grab the wall, I dies countless times in the final challenge during the duck jump part due to Luigi immediately ground pounding after the jump. But apart from that, feels great and plays great :)
I had that issue with the special world Climb to the Beat level. I kept getting over halfway through the level with 0 problem, but then there was this one single tile block you had to wall jump off of and my character just kept hitting that block and falling straight down without wall jumping. I wall jumped flawlessly to that point but for some reason I just couldn't get the wall jump to work on that one specific block.
I agree with most of these critiques. Personally, I was disappointed with the difficulty level of this game. Most levels are a cakewalk, and I thought it was a missed opportunity that so many of the levels end right after collecting the first wonder seed in the level. I wish these levels were longer, or had a significantly higher challenge to them. I was underwhelmed with the difficulty of the special world too, completing many of them on my first try. This game really needs more content/modes with Mario veterans in mind.
I'll be curious to see what people think of this game in a few years time. There are a lot of different mechanics and unique wonder seeds and whenever you have that many different things, some are going to necessarily be better than others. My first thought when I saw the game was that people would likely start to wish the developers had really took the time to dive into a few different mechanics rather than having (almost) a unique wonder effect for each main level. Maybe have one per world or something but make the ones you do choose to use better, deeper and more fleshed out But then I remembered that Warioware exists. And people love those games. In those games the variety is the point. So I'll be interested to see, in a few years, once the hype has calmed down a little bit, whether the overall consensus of the fanbase tends more towards "Mario wonder is fun, but I wish they'd done more with X, Y, Z and maybe not bothered with A, B, C" or more "Mario Wonder is fun because you have so much variety. In one level you're doing X, Y, Z. Then in the next it's all A, B. C"
I think this is why Wonder would benefit from a sequel, or even a game style in a new Mario Maker game. Both options would allow for more fleshed-out versions of the concepts seen in those game. I can’t help but feel like one of these options is sort of what the devs had in mind making the game due to, as you said, almost a unique concept every level
As a casual gamer, with a lot of focus on retro gaming, this was the first platform-mario I finished entirely again. So it is fun. But I mostly miss the secrets. And the real hidden secrets within secrets we experienced in SMB3, Mario World or SM64... That's what really lacks in SMW... It's so dissapointing you THINK you found a secret way, and it's just for some small pink coin or to just end up a bit back in a level, like what the hell that's it? I agree with the 7.5
how are you casual but retro? i really dont get it. you have to had learned a bit of skill through the years even if casually gaming. how does it never interested you to go fast on a platform level? i really cant see that happening. maybe it works like most people who drive a car dont ever turn to pro racers
I liked the Search Plaza party levels. They made good use of the online multiplayer shadows of other players thing. You could watch where they went and find things, or you can show each other, put standees up. If you only played offline, I could understand not enjoying the levels, but that's because they weren't designed for offline play, there's a cooperative aspect to them that you're simply missing out on.
You did criticize a lot BUT I see where yourre coming from. I feel the same way about Pokémon , they need a game that tailors to the huge adult fan base without having to resort to competitive battling or speedrunning to get that itch scratched.
The them is Lewis Carol's "Alice and Wonderland". The Elephants, Catapillars, singing flowers, size changing Wonder effects, these were all refrences to the Alice in Wonderland book.
Ryu is not only an "older" person..he is a "professional" Mario maker player. thousends over thousand of hours of MM1, MM2, Kaizo Mario games etc. - of course he is used to totally different difficult levels in a Mario game. Ryu is about challenges, gameplay at it´s purest etc., but kids are also just about the world, just the look of it. The feel of a level - not only in the beginning, but also after hours and hours of playing. Some points i get absolutely from Ryu. And i think, that all 2D upcoming Mario games will not be favorite in the future for Ryu - because it will stay that way. MM3, if it comes, will be a blast on the other side for Ryu! And the next 3D Mario maybe as well:)
With due respect i didn't expect you to be properly critical like this. Just doesn't seem your brand to me. But this is quite good, and mirrors a lot of the meh I feel with the game too. Good game but still loads of bits that can improved before we call it a masterpiece or whatever.
I think it was a very entertaining game, I enjoyed doing 100% in it, but yes it was severely lacking in some areas and on average I don't think it deserved the hype and praise it got. Very good, but it doesn't get an all-time great stamp from me. It was too easy. The boss battles were a bit boring and repetitive. The level design varied between poor and great. Some levels were novel, but didn't really have any replay value and they never fully explored some of the more interesting concepts. Most of the badges were useless and the game didn't really give a reason for most of them. I fully agree that a whole world with level design around the hookshot would be amazing. That's the direction they should have taken some of the badges. Either that or giving some levels alternate endings for using specific badges and designing around that idea. Lots of fun for a few hours, but as far as Mario games go I'm much more likely to return to other titles.
Maybe the Elephant and it’s trunk has something to do with a plumber and going to the other side of the spectrum? Usually, the power ups make Mario faster or even flies. The elephant makes him stronger and slower plus you can play with more bass in the sound effects.
The raccoon (well really it's a tanuki, aka a raccoon dog) is actually a big part of Japanese folklore. The tanuki powers in SMB 3 are rooted in that, even letting you turn into a statue when you get the full suit. That one is a lot less random than you think. Same with the frog suit, which is for the water levels.
Agreed! The game is fun, but I miss the challenge and gameplay of games like Super Mario World on the snes. This game once again feels like its made for kids. Having fun with the special world levels though, but wish more of the game was like that.
To me, the break time levels reminds me of the cool down levels in certain kaizo hacks. It makes sense in THOSE games. The problem with wonder is it never gets hard enough to warrant a “cool down” level. Maybe I’m wrong, my little nephew couldn’t beat the rabbits on Mario Odyssey in their mech. Asked me to help him. Its very possible I’m just over estimating how good kids are.
Goid points. I think having break time levels in Wonder isn't a bad idea, but the way they are done makes them way too sluggish and boring. And I don't think many kids like boring levels eithe
kids can be better with practice, how do you think all kids back in the day got better at games, they practiced and took some time. Games should take some grind time to get better at. games feel honestly too easy and kids get spoon fed winning without the challenge aspect imo.
Honestly I get the point with break time levels, using ideas that normally wouldn't work or a quick "oh neat" like the catchy tunes levels, and also the press Y to run level, SO many people play games where you can run and never do it, first time playing i mean, I've watched someone who doesn't play mario games playing wonder and never running for the first few levels, then someone in chat told them about it and when they reached the hold Y level they were like "I already knew that, this level is pointless", nope, it's for people like that
For an old novice like me (grew up playing original marios on NES and SM 2 is only one I've beaten), I like Wonder and it has that familiar feel and look to the OGs but I still struggle with the mechanics of it all, and fail regularly. Not all of us out there are speed running freaks or masochists when it comes to gaming. BUT thats why I watch you.
This is what I said to a friend as a spoiler-free review: - I was worried that the game would be too easy, but there are a few tough levels. Though I wish there are more of them. - The wonder effects are fun, ranging from this-completely-changes-how-the-game-plays to what-just-happened. - The badge system is interesting. I occasionally tailor the badge to the stage. However, once I found the best badge (in my opinion), I almost never changed it. - The online feature seems to make the game easier and may contain spoilers, so I did not try it. If Celeste is the perfect 2D platformer, Wonders would be a 8/10.
i agree with a lot of points but the slime powerup is a 10/10 for me i loved that it has it‘s own movement and changes the game so much, my only criticism is that it was only utilised in 2 levels. for me, the game was a 9/10. it was the most fun i ever had in a mario game, even beating mario bros ds, my former favorite in the series. i acknowledge that it drifted far from the mario bros‘ roots and that the elephant powerup was pretty random, but i thought of it as a means to make the game even more unpredictable (even if undoubtedly pretty gimmicky) which made the game appear to me as more of an art project than an game (which it definitely was, not tryna deny that). had a lot of fun and loved the unpredictable nature of it. thus, 9/10 for me, could‘ve taken more use of actually fun wonder effects like the slime and bowling ball and make it more complex and fun instead of using effects like the shadow thing which i personally didn‘t enjoy as much as others, but those were still so fun i can‘t blame anyone for exploring these concepts. :)
I loved all the things you hated. And, the super easy levels by the way, we're an introduction to the mechanics. Every new mechanic had that. Then later they challenge you.
I was personally hugely disappointed by the game. Beat it, went back to 100% it, took around 15 hours total, and haven’t picked it back up since. I have no desire to play through the levels as different characters (what’s the point? No different abilities), like I did with 3D World. For the $60 price tag, I’m starting to “Wonder” if I’ll keep buying 2D mainline Mario games upon release. I’ve had WAY more fun playing indie platformers for $19 and getting 20-30 hours of fun out of them. Of course Wonder is beautiful. But it’s too easy and the “side levels” are so pointless that I was visibly annoyed while playing. Lol.
For anyone who has young kids in their life (children, nieces/nephews/cousins, etc.), I definitely recommend playing this game with them. For me it changed a lot about how I look at the imagination and creativity in the game. Personally, I do wish the game were more difficult or had more challenge levels in it. This might be the first Mario platformer where I'm hoping for DLC; giving us a world dedicated to each badge would be the absolute best.
@@christaggart5687NSMB 2 was the first game they did DLC for, so to imply it’s impossible for a Mario game is dumb since it’s already happened, lol. Plus they’ve done DLC for a bunch of other games, just not _literally_ every one. I still don’t expect it for this though.
I feel like the main thing about Wonder is that they wanted to distance themselves from the NSMB series. And I think that includes the approach to levels. Besides the secret worlds and levels, I don't think Mario's point is really to he hard or challenging, but rather to be fun. And part of that came from how engaging the levels were, and engagement in games typically comes from an ever increasing difficulty curve. Mario games pretty much set the text book standard about that, and everyone refers to it when talking about what makes a game well designed... which still doesn't exactly guarantee it'll be engaging or fun for everyone... ...and folks being tired of the NSMB series is a testament to that. Style also matters. Since the main criticism of the NSMB levels was how drab and sterilized they could look, they decided to make them engaging in different ways. The levels are still well designed, but their beauty, style and sense of, well, wonder was the main focus here. The Wonder Flower adds to that in both fronts. Some effects change how a level plays or its design, and some are just fun diversions! It's like a huge theme park, where some rides are thrill-filled rollercoasters, some are stunning dark rides, and some are calming ferris wheels! So it makes a lot of sense that they're not as appealing to folks that have grown to want more challenge, even harder and more technical levels, to the point of playing kaizo Mario on the regular. The level design is the selling point for you, while Wonder was more for the other side of the fandom.
I very much agree with your take. This game has so much potential, but it's a slosh through baby gaming to get to the very few levels that utilize all of the cool badges. This just made me want to start playing Kaizo hacks. I hope they make a Mario Maker three and just replace the New Super Mario with Wonder
I’m still obsessed with Mario Maker 2 and play it everyday. I kinda wish they would just add 1 more huge DLC with Wonder stuff and more enemies and better leaderboards so we don’t lose the great game we already have. What’s there already needs to stay in a Maker game we just need more added. Also it’s not Temple of Doom, it’s Raiders of the Lost Ark haha
I think if you go into playing this game with the mindset of expecting to be really challenged by it you'll be disappointed - especially if you're one of the best at conquering hard levels. However, if you approach the game with a sense of adventure and just wanting to explore all that it has with the wonder seed unlocks, I think it's a terrific adventure!
To me, the main theme of this game was expanding the Mario universe. We've always been in the Mushroom Kingdom, but this game introduced us to the Flower Kingdom, presumably a neighboring kingdom. I feel like this ties into a lot of what the recent Mario movie was trying to hint at, which is that Nintendo wants to grow Mario into a much bigger think going forward. Also, I recently went to Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and you could see pieces of the DK Kingdom in the background, again, to me, further hinting that Nintendo wants to start expanding all of this and tying it together. I think Mario Wonder is step 1 of Nintendo's master plan to start really blowing all of this out.
You remember that scene in Dumbo when he's hallucinating or having a nightmare or something and there's all these weird elephants dancing around? I wonder if that's why they chose elephant Mario, because they thought it goes with the whole mushroom trip, psychedelic nightmare thing this game feels like at times. There's also those ballet dancing elephants in Fantasia, the most LSD fueled animation ever produced. 🧐
This game is a ton of spectacle without much substance in my experience. I feel it barely taps into the mechanical flowstate that earlier games offer, and instead requires you to essentially make your own fun with self-imposed challenges to reach it (which I always find to be incredibly lame). This feels like Nintendo saw how much the baby sensory, clickbait-gimmicky, and music levels dominated Mario Maker in popularity (basically levels designed around instant gratification), and essentially said "oh wait that's what people want!" which is a shame cuz I always felt that just solid level design with increasing complexity and a natural development of player skills throughout was what made Mario so good before. This on the other hand feels pretty shallow. Flashy! but still shallow.
Man you put my exact thoughts into words. Previous games prioritized platforming and evolving level design whereas this one was more interested in throwing in a crAAAzy new gimmick each level. Another awful thing about the level design was the over reliance of those flowers scattered throughout every level that usually spit out coins, blocks, or other level elements. They ruined so many potential secrets by locking them behind touching a stupid flower.
@@tyresr Oh yeah I hadn't even thought about those ubiquitous flowers. To me they just exist to keep the player constantly stimulated again with instant gratification (often favored over the satisfaction of figuring something out that has more grounded logic to it). I saw someone compare these flowers to Yoshi's Island's question-mark clouds, which i get, but I think those were much less common and required more skill to trigger; plus that's a game that's not already throwing a bunch of other wacky things at you constantly. What's crazy is I don't see why those 2 principles (wacky level gimmicks and mechanical development) can't coexist strongly. It's no wonder why a lot of people think this game is too short. It leaves you hanging with so many different ideas that could've been much more deeply explored. Like Ryu said as an example, I could easily see plenty more worlds that force you to wear a specific badge, all levels designed around it. But instead, Nintendo's probably going to answer that desire with a relatively scattered and less intrinsically meaningful experience in the form of Mario Maker 3 community levels (unless they really rework the system). :p Ah well, at least it's what 99% of the playerbase want, lol.
In the level breakdown section. I understand what you're getting at for sure, but im also hearing "not challenging=bad". I think we gotta remember this yame isnt only made for speedrunners. As i type youre essentially saying this haha but i dont think its necessarily a bad thing unless its done TOO much (pokemon)
They should definitely make a Mario Wonder 2. With what they've learned from the first one it could be something really special. About 30-40% bigger overall and the levels should work better for slow AND fast players. Once you've beaten the game once warp pipes to every world should open up and the ability to skip cut-scenes etc.
