Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo

Ever since "Super Mario 3D World" on the Wii U, the series has focused on graphics which look almost like pre-rendered CGI, so detailed and colorful are the characters and environments. This release retains that look, right down to small 3D clouds at the character's feet when jumping and landing-- but adds to it an expressiveness more normally associated with 2D art. Examples include turtles which look angry when Mario is nearby; Mario belatedly grabbing his cap as he enters horizontal pipes; or the smooth way in which the talking flowers distort as they communicate. The user interface has a striped, almost 1970s-era aesthetic and it's so polished looking that it beggars belief.

A multi-headed team of composers supplies the music for this release, and unfortunately it's probably the weakest soundtrack in any Super Mario Bros. game. The tunes don't sound bad while they're playing, but they lack personality and are somewhat lackadaisical in composition; sort of meandering and generic. A new Mario voice actor is in place, but what's the purpose, as he sounds more or less identical to the previous fellow. One positive note is the new jumping sound effect, which is refreshingly different with its lower pitch. On the negative note are the hipster influences, such as the cymbal clash butt stomp effect, and the annoying talking flowers with the soy-beard voice.

Superficially, this Super Mario Bros. game plays just like the previous titles in the series, as Mario has his usual moveset and series staples like pipes and question mark blocks. Where it differs is that each level has a sometimes-hidden flower powerup, which effectively branches the level into an alternative route, with all sorts of zany things happening both graphically and mechanically. The issue is that the level designs themselves are not up to Nintendo's usual standards: they all follow the same predictable template, and some of them are lacking in polish to the point where they play like random downloads from "Super Mario Maker".

Super Mario Bros. Wonder has an interesting art style and an eye-popping user interface aesthetic. It also supports comfy-couch multiplayer, and even has passive multiplayer, where players can drop checkpoints for each other-- a neat idea. But many of the details feel "off"; actual levels tend to alternate on the world map with micro-stages which just aren't very fun; there are equipable power-ups, but none of them feel necessary to solve the various stage elements; and overall the game tends to slog a bit under the weight of unfun elements and-- frankly-- middling level design. It's certainly not a bad platformer and it has its moments-- but it feels like it was done by a "B" team at Nintendo.