Gaming Influence: Thoughts - Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct
Hello everyone,
Welcome to Gaming Influence, a reboot of the same name I created in WrestleCorp. However, not only will I be giving my thoughts on certain video games and video game series, but also video game movies, video game anime, video game digital presentations, etc.
For this edition of Gaming Influence, I'll be giving my thoughts on the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct that happened on August 31, 2023.
Anyway, let's get started!
With this game coming out in two months, did Nintendo do enough to satisfy the Super Mario Bros. fans as well as players who never played the series before? Well, let's find out and talk about what they've shown.
Intro
The presentation started off with a cutscene with a narrator narrating what was going on in the cutscene as Mario and his friends were celebrating in the Flower Kingdom which is run by Prince Florian. Everything was going well in the Flower Kingdom until Bowser showed up and grabbed the Wonder Flower from the Flower Kingdom which caused the whole kingdom to turn into chaos as he became the Flower Kingdom himself. As a result, Mario and his friends have to work together to defeat Bowser and return peace to the Flower Kingdom.
As expected, Bowser is the main villain, but instead of stealing someone else's castle, he became the castle itself which is quite interesting. Prince Florian seems to be an interesting character and glad to see a different kingdom to be explored in Mario so we'll see how this adventure for Mario and hs friends will turn out.
The Flower Kingdom
The Flower Kingdom consists of roughly sixty-six areas with seven areas to explore including Pipe-Rock Plateau, Fluff-Puff Peaks, Shining Falls, and Petal Isles. In addition, the player can go to any area in any order you want. Once a course is completed, the player can replay that course by simply going to the course menu by picking it. The Flower Kingdom also consists of talking flowers that will sometimes give the player an idea on how to solve certain puzzles throughout the game as well as give you coins.
I like how the Flower Kingdom has different environments and areas that isn't very common in 2D Mario games which is very nice to see and different as well. I like how there's an option for players to replay courses that they enjoy if they want to replay or try to collect all of the collectibles in that certain course before moving on. Plus, the talking flowers just add so much personality to this game which I really appreciate it so hands off to the development team on creating a new kingdom to explore in the 2D Mario landscape.
Characters
There are multiple characters that players can play in Super Mario Bros. Wonder including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, and Nabbit. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, and Toadette all played the same with no special abilities. Yoshi can flutter jump, eat objects, and spit them out to deal damage and won't get damaged when playing as Yoshi, but will lose a life when falling through a hole. Nabbit suffers no damage when being attacked from enemies, but will also lose a life when falling through a hole. There are new enemies in this game including Hoppycats, Melon Piranha Plants, Condarts, Konks, Mumsies, and Maw-Maws as examples. In addition, familiar enemies from past Mario games have returned including Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Boos, and Lakitus to name a few.
I love how there are so many playable characters in this game which is a lot more compared to past 2D Mario games. I'm still shocked that Daisy is a playable character in this game which is insane and cool to see Toadette, Yoshi, and Nabbit being playable as well. Granted, Yoshi and Nabbit are basically characters for easy-mode for players, but still cool that they're there to be playable. Love the new enemy variety as well along with the classic enemies so very interested to see how this will affect the game overall.
New Power-Ups
There are new power-ups in this game. One of them is the Elephant power-up where the player transforms into an elephant that can use their trunk to attack, spit water, and lift certain objects up in the air. The Elephant form can also break blocks easily as well as go through large gaps with no issues while dashing. Another new power-up is Bubble where players can throw bubbles at enemies to defeat them. In addition, Bubble form can also be used to throw bubble as platforms to get to high areas a lot easier. Finally, there's the Drill power-up where it can be used to defend against enemies with spikes or that are hard-shelled as well as drilling through blocks below and burrow underground or the ceiling. The Fire Flower power-up makes its return and players can now swap between two different power-ups using the Item Balloon to help the player do what they need to do in the course.
Really love the new power-ups in this game where they all seem very unique and love the forms that they take with the characters that they use it with especially with the Elephant power-up. Also, the idea of having an Item Balloon that allows the player to switch out power-ups anytime is great as well. I love how they continue to evolve these power-ups in these 2D Mario games which is impressive.
Wonder
The Wonder Flower is a big part within the Flower Kingdom and in Super Mario Bros. Wonder as the Wonder Effect takes effect when touched as the following can happen: pipes start to move, a stampede of enemies start to roam, terrain may tilt, player might experience a freefall, a bunch of bubbles might appear, player may experience a top down view, float through space, transform into an enemy, or transform into a balloon and float. Once players collect a Wonder Seed, everything goes back to normal. Certain courses need Wonder Seeds to be playable. In addition, Wonder Seeds can be collected when completing a course.
God dang! The use of Wonder Flowers/Seeds in this game is quite interestng as it changes the dynamic of this game of how that course will play and so forth. It really gives that random and unexpected factor to the game which I really appreciate as it should be a lot of fun to experience. Love how diverse it is and it's definitely something welcome to all players playing this game.
Badges
The game also consists of badges that players can collect in the game as these badges have special abilites for the players to use in the game to help them do certain techniques in courses. For example, the Parachute Cap badge can help players fall carefully as the cap is being used as a parachute. the Wall-Climb Jump badge can help players to jump on walls easily, the Dolphin Kick badge can help players to swim faster as well as break blocks underwater easily, the Crouching High Jump badge can be used to jump very high and knock out enemies that are very high, the Grappling Vine badge can be used to grapple on walls to traverse through the course, the Safety Bounce badge can help bounce back up even if falling through a gap, the Sensor badge can detect items, the Coin Magnet badge can grab coiins easily, the Invisibility badge can make the player invisible. and the Jet Set badge can dash very quickly and glide as well. Badges can be equipped in the world map or before starting a course. Some badges can be earned by doing badge challenges, Badges can also be purchased at Poplin Shops by exchanging Flower Coins which can be collected in the courses being played.
Oh my god! These badges are somewhat similar to the badges that are used in the Mario RPG series which is quite cool. Love how the badges are being used to create different situations for the players to experience that can give them the advantage. Love that they're doing something different with the 2D Mario platformers by adding badges to it will make the experience a lot more fun and interesting as I can't wait to see how that will play out in the game.
Playing Together
There will be a local co-op play with four players at max to play at the same time. When a player is defeated, they will turn into a ghost and have to be rescued in a certain amount of time so they can be revived. There will also be online play where players can play on their own along with other players online, but they'll be viewed as live player shadows where they do exist on the course you're playing on, but won't get in your way unlike in local co-op play. Players can be revived by touching live player shadows. Players online can greet each other with emotes and give special items to each other. In addition, players online can use standees in courses to revive ghosts. Standees can be purchased through Poplin shops. When players pass through live player shadows or standees, they can view heart points from the player which indicates how much they help other players. To get heart points, players must either revive ghosts, give special items to other players, or finish the courses in the game. Players can also create rooms for friends to join in where they can play normally or race with Friend Races. Friend Races can not only end by finishing the course, but also getting a Wonder Seed, or beating a boss.
Oh my goodness, the way they did online for players is definitely different for what they did in the past. Originally, players online all play together visibily at the same time which can cause a lot of friendly fire where in some cases, it's fun, but also create chaos. With players online now showcasing other players through live shadows show that players online are there, but they won't get in the player's way which is neat. Loving the ideas they have here for online play and hope the online works properly when the game is released.
Overall, this was an excellent presentation from Nintendo. I knew that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is going to be a great 2D Mario platformer, but the fact that this game has more content and variety than I expected really shocked me as this could be the best 2D Mario platformer in a long time since Super Mario World on SNES which is saying something. I'm glad to see that the Super Mario Bros. franchise is finally taking a different direction since the New Super Mario Bros. series which started in 2004 on the Nintendo DS so I'm glad to see Nintendo doing something different and I appreciate it. I really like how this game has a lot of personality and so many unique mechanics that makes it different from other Super Mario Bros. games which makes it exciting. Finally, that OLED Switch Mario Red Edition looks sick especially with the coins inside the dock as it'll be coming out on October 6, 2023. Wonderful! I can't wait to experience this game which comes out in two months.
You can catch the full Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct yourself with the link below:
Those are my thoughts on the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct. Did this presentation convince you to purchase the game?
Let me know in the comments below and thank you for reading.
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