Wrong. The catchily titled Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup In Bellabel Park flips the 'less is more' approach on its head, bundling the base game's platforming perils with a bunch of multiplayer party content. A sprinkling of extra bells and whistles (literally, in both cases) makes for a perfectly pleasant opportunity to replay Wonder as we knew it, but the meat and potatoes multiplayer modes never escape the feeling of an inconsequential Mario Party -lite bolted on to an otherwise brilliant base to justify the beefed-up price tag.
This review will focus on the new Switch 2 additions, and I imagine many of you will have played Wonder already, so I won't dedicate too much time to the intricacies of the Flower Kingdom here (check out PJ's 2023 review for more info there), but three years on, it remains an exceptionally fun time.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked) The classic 'Big Coin' collectibles are all present and correct, but it's each level's Wonder Flower — and its subsequent flashy effect — that's the star of the show. If things felt samey as you hopped between worlds in the 'New' games, the originality of each and every Wonder switch-up means no such repetition here.
The Switch 2 Edition gives you a good reason to play back through the base game, too. Aside from a minor resolution-bumping visual upgrade, which welcomes HDR but is hardly game-changing (let's not forget that Wonder was a very pretty game to start with), the titular Bellabel Park setting spins off into level remixes of its own, where you have to chase down Koopalings to reunite the Poplins with their stolen Bellabel Flowers.
Each world is home to one Koopaling boss fight, the location of which is only shared upon discovering Captain Toad's 'Toad Brigade' tent in the area's overworld. Talking to Toad will give you the chance to hop back into the level where a Koopaling is now hiding, and journeying there reveals that things are not quite as pristine as you remember them.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) Utilising Bowser's Wonder powers, the Koopalings have turned their home levels into an enemy-filled battleground, void of all the collectibles you'd find in a usual runthrough.
While the levels are somewhat uninspired and ridiculously quick to navigate (having no coins or Seeds to collect will do that), the Koopaling battles themselves are undoubtedly the best bosses in the game. They're all easy as pie to beat, but each utilises a Wonder effect creatively enough that they don't feel like just another 'bounce on Bowser Jr's head three times' match-up. I mean, how can a giant puppet Morton or ever-growing fish-shaped Wendy not spice things up?
Other tweaks to the base game are small but neat. Rosalina is a playable character now, for one, and while the cynic in me wants to see her inclusion as nothing more than a Mario Galaxy Movie tie-in ploy, playing through the entirety of the adventure as her did bring a smile to my face.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked) It wasn't as big a smile as the Pikmin brought, mind you. Yes, Pikmin . We spotted some Glow Pikmin cameos in an overview trailer a few weeks back, but let me tell you, there are many more variants scattered throughout the worlds, too. Do they add anything tangible to the game? They don't, but come on, I'll never say no to those little guys.
Otherwise, you're looking at a new Flower Pot power-up (only found in the new level remixes, but you can carry it over to the base game), and a handful of bonus 'combo' badges, which pair two pre-existing modifiers together. If the former feels like a less useful Bubble Flower, the latter feels like straight-up cheating.
Some welcome difficulty options are included this time around, with a new Assist Mode that prevents damage being taken by all characters (not just Yoshi and Nabbit, as in the S1 version), and a co-star Luma player option, which provides an Odyssey Cappy or Galaxy pointer-style way for less experienced players to get involved and help out.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) Bellabel Park isn't just home to the Koopaling side-story, mind you. This new area also holds the gateway to Camp Central and Attraction Central, the two biggest additions to the Switch 2 Edition.
Camp Central is a pretty light experience. Aside from being the 'hub world' where you can keep track of how many Koopalings you've defeated, it houses the Toad Brigade Training Camp, where you can put your skills to the test in 74 different challenges. It's a good job that Wonder feels so good to replay, because you're going to be doing a lot of it in this mode.
The challenges themselves are straightforward enough — complete the course within the time limit, avoid all the enemies, collect all the coins — and some are even quite tough on an initial swing. However, even more so than the Koopaling's remixed arenas, it does feel like you're just replaying stages that you've already sped through before, albeit with a couple more conditions this time.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) On the flip side, Attraction Central is all new, for good and for bad. It's here that you can take part in local co-op or online 'Attractions' (minigames) either in isolation or as a Party-style 'Tour' chain of one, three, five, or ten events.
The local Attractions have a decent enough variety, all contingent on your basic understanding of Wonder's jumping and running. Challenges task you with collecting more coins than your opponents, defeating more enemies, or eating more fruit as Yoshi, many of which will see you returning to the same areas you've played through in the base game and Toad Brigade challenges once again.
For a slightly less competitive session, you've got co-op games with objectives like passing a Bob-Omb to the finish line, jumping to the beat, or splitting movement/jump controls between players to guide Captain Toad through a course. Performing well in any of these Attractions or Training Camp rewards you with water droplets, which can be used to grow different flowers in Bellabel Park. Look, I love customisation options, but even I'll admit that this feels like a bit of a waste of time.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) The separate online options are slightly less varied. Five of the six events are a variant of 'Race to the Finish Line!', and while there's certainly tension to be found in sprinting through a course to best your opponents, each event is over so quickly that it's difficult to ever properly get into the spirit.
These are all perfectly harmless additions — the hide-and-seek 'Phanto Tag' attraction is inarguably the best of them — but their bite-sized appeal refused to tickle any competitive part of my brain. Being bolted onto the side of a platformer like Wonder means that the Attraction Central is never going to live up to a Mario Party or Nintendo Land -style multiplayer experience, despite the party format so clearly being the end goal for its inclusion.
While passingly fun, few of the Attractions had me itching to return and get one-up on my friends. I can't imagine who's going to be turning to Mario Wonder, of all games, for a party experience that's found much better elsewhere. It all whiffs of something that was cooked up with the sole intention of justifying a Switch 2 Edition price tag — something that could have been more aptly accomplished with an extra World or two.
Conclusion
Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is a mixed bag. On the one hand, we have an opportunity to replay Mario's best 2D adventure in years with some minuscule single-player adjustments and extra boss fights; it remains a joy from start to finish. On the other, we have all the new multiplayer content, which are perfectly fine on their own but feel out of place sandwiched between the base game's platforming and the Mario Party vibes they're clearly aiming for.
If you've never played Wonder before (or if you've been itching for a replay), this is a great excuse, but don't expect to be slotting any of the multiplayer extras into your game night rotation. Rosalina aside, the additions here are inoffensive but underwhelming. If you got your fill of Wonder on Switch 1, you're not missing much sitting out this particular Switch 2 Edition.
Wonder is (still) a joy to play through Assist Mode and Co-Star Luma mean even more players can get in on the fun New Koopaling bosses are the best in the game Training Camp brings some extra challenge, for those who want it Pikmin cameos!! Attraction Central minigames are a strange addition Neither co-op or online Attractions are fun enough to become a game night mainstay Single-player additions are minuscule You're going to be replaying old levels A LOT
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