The review embargo on Super Mario Bros. Wonder has lifted, which means reviews have gone live for the 2D platformer across a number of outlets ahead of its imminent launch, and the game has seen near-universal acclaim from critics right out the gate.
At the time of writing, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has a score of 93 on Metacritic (after 80 reviews), which makes it one of the year’s highest-rated games, and the consensus seems to be that Nintendo has delivered the best mainline 2D Mario platformer in decades. On OpenCritic, it’s currently sitting at a score of 92.
In a 5/5 review, VGC says, “Super Mario Bros. Wonder is lovingly crafted, consistently surprising, and a delight to play alone or with friends. If this is what the future of Mario side-scrolling looks like, then we can’t wait to see what’s next. Especially if future games are assembled with this much heart.”
Meanwhile, Eurogamer, also awarding it a score of 5/5, has called it “an endless cascade of ideas in a game that takes Mario to some wonderfully strange places.”
Nintendo Life has given the game a score of 9/10, saying, “Super Mario Bros. Wonder is, quite simply, the best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World. This is the slickest, sharpest, and smartest that two-dimensional Mario has felt since 1991 and in its Wonder Flowers, badges, and online aspects, it serves up an endlessly inventive and impressive platforming adventure that we’ve been utterly hooked on. With local co-op and online fun adding to the replayability factor and nigh-on perfect performance in both docked and handheld modes, this feels like 2D Mario with its mojo back, and one of the very best platformers we’ve played in quite some time.”
Meanwhile, GameSpot’s 9/10 review is similarly full of praise for the game. It reads, “Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a bold choice for a name. It plants a flag in the ground that suggests anything less than a constant sense of awe and delight will be a failure by its own terms. But then, surprisingly, Mario Wonder rises to the challenge and the result is a modern classic. The Wonder effects are the marquee feature, and for good reason, as they serve as a springboard for a cornucopia of creativity. But it’s the smart and thoughtful choices around new power-ups, badges, online multiplayer, and visual flair that cement it in Mario canon. This is the rightful successor to Super Mario World, and hopefully, will serve as a touchstone for 2D Mario going forward.”
IGN, also giving the game a score of 9/10, has said, “Super Mario Bros. Wonder establishes a new standard for what 2D Mario platformers should look like. It is colorful, it is alive, and it is joyful. It also managed to surprise and delight me in continually more creative ways thanks to its unpredictable Wonder Effects, which transform levels into something completely different for a brief while. Like dessert in the middle of the main course of each stage, they were irresistible and always put a smile on my face – as did the absolute beast that is Elephant Mario. In every way other than advanced challenges, Wonder feels like a 21st-century successor to Super Mario World, and I’m not sure I can give it a higher compliment than that.”
Super Mario Bros. Wonder launches for Nintendo Switch on October 20. Our own review of the game will be going live soon, so stay tuned for that as well.
