In a way, Mario games have been designed for multiplayer since the very beginning; I used to pad-pass with my brother on the SNES, squabbling over who got to be Mario and who was lumped with Luigi. Modern 2D Mario games welcome four players on to the same screen, sprinting and leaping together through Mario’s abstract, colourful level-scapes, competing for twinkling coins and skedaddling power-ups.
This flavour of play is billed as family friendly but if you have ever tried to play something like New Super Mario Bros U with children, you will know that it is massively chaotic. Players get left behind as others rush off. Tantrums erupt over who gets to ride Yoshi, or who was highest on the end-of-level flagpole. Siblings jump on each other’s heads or push each other down holes and parents with Mario experience get so frustrated at all the faffing about that they feel tempted to throw either the console or one of the kids out of the living-room window.
Mario Wonder solves a lot of this, removing a lot of potential conflict in multiplayer. I completed the entire game with my six-year-old son; he cried when it was over. This is very much a classic left-to-right, run-and-jump Mario game, easy to pick up and hard to master, with levels ranging from cheerful strolls through green fields with sleepy Goombas, to fist-eatingly difficult gauntlets with disappearing platforms that would test anyone’s skill and patience. But a combination of clever character balancing and badges that either ameliorate or enhance the challenge make it conquerable and enjoyable for learning players and Mario-literate adults.
Instead of getting in each other’s way, it feels more like you’re working together. Yoshi can carry other players through levels if needed, gobbles up unsuspecting enemy creatures, and doesn’t take damage, making him an ideal choice for an inexperienced player – but he also can’t use the power-ups that allow Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy and Toad to chuck fireballs or bubbles or transform delightfully into chubby little elephants, spraying water from their trunks and struggling to fit their adorable bulk through pipes. Badges let you bounce once out of pits, or give you a floatier jump. Characters can revive one another if someone falls foul of a Bullet Bill or flaming pit, making the game much easier to get through as a team.
There’s still plenty of chaos in the form of mid-level transformations triggered by finding each area’s hidden Wonder Seed. These madcap moments turn pipes into squiggling worms, or summon buffalo stampedes that Mario and friends must ride into the sky, or turn players into Goombas or jumping spike-creatures or blobs of goo. You never do know what’s going to happen when you touch a Wonder Seed – in one early level the chomping Piranha Plants all started singing and dancing, which reduced me and my child to delighted giggles.
Mario games are known for their wild creativity, for throwing out brilliant, fun ideas that are gone again within a minute or two, and Wonder is stuffed with these moments of delight. There are a few unmemorable levels, but no true duds, and many standouts. The aesthetic here is subtly different from previous Mario games, a little more approachable and a little more psychedelic; there are gorgeous little animation details everywhere, such as the way characters peek around before they emerge from pipes, or the evident consternation on Yoshi’s face when he’s being ridden by an elephant, the expanding snot-bubbles of sleeping Goombas and excitable talking flowers with big surprised Os for mouths.
There’s no story to discover, no complex rules to learn; just instant, appealing fun. It’s fun you’ll have already experienced if you’re a Mario fan, but with enough novelty and unexpected twists to prevent it from feeling over-familiar. And for those new to Mario – kids just ageing into video games, friends or family members tempted into a multiplayer session – this is a wonderful introduction to the fizzy creativity and attention to detail that has made Mario a family staple for nearly 30 years.
• Super Mario Bros Wonder is available on Nintendo Switch from 20 October
