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Nintendo streamed its latest Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday 21 June 2023 and showed a whole stack of great-looking games that are coming to Nintendo Switch. It included more on Pikmin 4 and a remastered version of SNES classic Super Mario RPG.
However, by far and away, the star of the show was Super Mario Bros. Wonder – an all-new sideways scrolling Mario platformer that takes the series’ classic gameplay and ramps it up to 11.
Coming to Nintendo Switch on 20 October, and available to pre-order now, Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks a little like the last 2D outing – Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – with similar multiplayer, co-op gaming as well as single-player action, but throws a fair few new gimmicks into the mix too.
One of those is the ability to turn into Elephant Mario, although we don’t yet know exactly what kind of powers that’ll give the moustachioed plumber. Another is the addition of Wonder Flowers – the reason for the title and the main new game mechanic.
By grabbing a Wonder Flower, Mario changes the very fabric of the world around him, often to unpredictable and surprising effect. As Nintendo showed during the Direct presentation, that can result in the pipes coming alive, the appearance of hordes of enemies, or even Mario (or another playable character) transforming into weird shapes.
This will ensure that new levels will always contain secrets players will want to explore and is a masterstroke by Nintendo. For us, this looks like the best original Mario game in years.
Also amongst the swathe of games announced during the presentation was an enhanced version of Luigi’s Mansion 2 – a 3DS title that’s being rehashed for Switch – and that Princess Peach will star in her own game for the first time in 2024. We didn’t get to see much, nor do we know what it’ll be called as yet, but it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The first original 2D Mario Platformer in years looks to be a great load of fun and is coming to Nintendo Switch in October. You also get to play as Elephant Mario – need we say more?
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