Super Mario Bros Wonder is coming to the Nintendo Switch. Find out when and what time in your local time zone can you start playing.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Release Date and Time
Releases Oct 20, 2023
It was announced during Nintendo Direct June 2023 that Super Mario Bros Wonder is releasing on October 20, 2023. Players who have pre-ordered the game can download the files ahead of time starting from the midnight of Friday, October 13, 2023, local time. Pre-load duration will last until the game's release and will also be available for players who pre-order the game during this period. The release time is yet to be determined.
Everything We Know About Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Story Plot
Mario and friends are invited to the Flower Kingdom by Prince Florian. However, Bowser, the King of the Koopas, interrupts their visit to steal the power of the Wonder Flower. By obtaining the power of the Wonder Flower, Bowser fuses with Prince Florian's castle and wreaks havoc on the Flower Kingdom. It is up to Mario and friends to save the Flower Kingdom from Bowser.
Following suit from all the older Mario games, it's no surprise that the villain for Super Mario Bros Wonder will be Bowser.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 2D side-scrolling game where Mario and his friends are playable. When Mario touches a wonderseed, his surroundings will change and may appear to be bizarre so players need to expect the unexpected.
It has the typical Mario elements with a twist, like Mario becoming an elephant.
Flower Kingdom Courses
The Flower Kingdom is a new setting surrounded by 6 distinct worlds, adding up to 7 different areas to explore. All of these worlds have their own distinct environment and theme, and each course has their own set difficulty. The adventure begins in Pipe Rock Plateau where tubular hills and a menacing looking enemy ram are featured. SMB Wonder also seems to use smaller courses as a transition between each world.
An icy area was shown and is revealed to be the foot of a frozen mountain that separates Pipe Rock Plateau and Fluff Puff Peaks, making a smooth and fun-filled transition between worlds and providing constant action for players.
The other worlds featured are:
Fluff Puff Peaks, an area with a heights theme, making jumping gameplays more thrilling and exciting;
Shining Falls, an area packed with cascading waterfalls and challenges;
the islands of Petal Isles that feature water-themed courses for some swimming action, and likewise cave-themed courses for spelunking adventures.
Talking Flowers
Talking Flowers are a new type of character that can be found throughout the courses. You cannot exactly interact with them, but once you get close to one, they’ll talk to you, commenting on the scenery or expressing their surprise and confusion at how you’ve reached a certain part of the course. They’re also able to give you hints and provide direction if you’re stuck somewhere in a course.
Another thing they can give is coins. In the August 2023 Direct presentation, Mario shoots a Talking Flower with water, for which the flower thanked him and dropped coins that were free to collect.
The flowers make for a livelier experience and provide for short fun interactions as you go through the course. Think of it as though you’ve come across a local in an area who’s not shy in expressing their thoughts to you as you pass through.
Do note that you cannot completely silence the Talking Flowers. Though the game offers you the option to either remove their text boxes or their voices, you won't be allowed to have both at the same time.
Super Mario Bros Wonder New Playable Characters
You’ll be able to play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Red Yoshi, Green Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Light-Blue Yoshi, and Nabbit. The Direct mentioned that all these characters “all play the same.”
The presentation didn’t go into the specifics, but we assume from what they’ve announced that all characters will have the same abilities and share the same Power Up Transformations, so the experience would pretty much feel like playing one character – just in a different skin.
On one hand, it sounds like the game won’t have the variety that comes with having different unique characters But on the other hand, it does seem like it’ll create a fair experience overall, as no characters will have an advantage or disadvantage over the other. Also, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on something if you keep playing the same character all throughout.
If that’s a good thing or not is yet to be seen. It would have been interesting to see each player have their own special ability, or at least their own unique animation.
It has also been revealed that while each character plays the same, there are some characters with a difference. Yoshis and Nabbit won’t take damage, but they won’t transform with power-ups. The game sounds like it puts a lot of emphasis on balance. While Yoshis and Nabbit are somewhat OP, like an indestructible turret, you run into the challenge of not being able to take advantage of power-ups. The Yoshis and Nabbit are a great choice for an easygoing experience and for those players who may be less skilled and need a leg up to finish the courses.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Enemies
There are various new enemies being introduced in the game. This includes Hoppycats, Melon Piranha plants, Condarts, Konks, Mumsies, Maw-Maws, and the classic Goombas and Koopa Troopas. These enemies also have different skills that will hinder Mario and his friends in saving the Flower Kingdom from Bowser.
Open Areas and Course Menu
Open Areas allow Mario to freely walk through different areas, choose courses and play them in the order they want. This means players can replay courses to their hearts’ contents, doing away with the linear path that the previous titles were set on. Each course has its own varying difficulties, so if you’re not quite ready yet to take on the challenge, you can simply go on the course menu and choose the course you’re ready to take on. Or alternatively, you can move around in each of the 6 new worlds via an overworld to select a course.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Power-Ups
Super Form
The ever-reliable Super form characters can take after obtaining a Super Mushroom is back, allowing them to survive one hit without getting incapacitated, break brick blocks, etc.
Elephant Form
All characters, apart from the Yoshis and Nabbit, can transform into an elephant. While in their elephant form, players can use their size and trunk to plow through enemies. Brick blocks can be quickly destroyed using the trunk, making it easier to get through obstacles and to collect items. The elephant form also allows players to store water in the trunk, which can be used to spray water on Talking Flowers and withered flowers, and potentially other uses.
Bubble Form
In Bubble Form, Mario and friends have the ability to blow bubbles. You can trap enemies in bubbles and turn them into coins inside the bubble. You can also blow 2 bubbles at once which helps with crowd control, as well as use them use as platforms.
Drill Form
Each character will sport a drilling headwear in the Drill Form. Being a literal human drill will make it easier to deal with enemies that are spiky and hard while also allowing you to drill down and burrow your way through courses. If you are overwhelmed with the sheer number of enemies on the course, you may use evasion tactics by burrowing underneath the ground, or even into the ceiling, then popping up the surface once it’s safe.
Fire Form
The classic Fire Form returns which allows you to shoot rapid balls of fire and take out multiple enemies at once.
Wonder Flower
The Wonder Flower, which this game seems centered around, is a power-up native to the Flower Kingdom and causes the “Wonder Effect” that changes the course unexpectedly. Courses can transform into a living animation, and things like pipes begin to wriggle like a worm or form waves.
The Wonder Effect affects all the worlds, but it doesn’t seem they are randomized; each Wonder Effect seems to adhere to each world’s design and are unique to each stage. You might expect a “sky freefall” Wonder Effect to only be present in space-theme courses or in a world like Fluff Puff Peaks.
Your character can also transform using the Wonder Flower. You might turn into anything between a spike ball and a goomba, the possibilities can be endless. These effects can be cancelled by using the Wonder Seed, which also functions as a collectible.
Badges with Abilities
Badges are new in-game items that give players special abilities. There are a variety of badges, such as the Parachute Cap, Wall-Climb Jump, Dolphin Kick, Crouching High Jump, Grappling Vine, Safety Bounce, Sensor, Coin Magnet, Invisibility, and Jet Run. These badges help the players to complete a course with ease depending on the obstacle presented. Players can only equip one badge per course. There are a total of 24 badges in the game, which include nine Action Badges that endow new abilities to the characters, nine Boost Badges that have a wide variety of utilities, and six Expert Badges, which grant even stronger abilities than the Action Badges. Players can get badges by completing the new Badge Challenges. They’ll also be available for purchase at the shop.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Multiplayer
Local Co-op
Local Co-op is supported by up to 4 players. Online play is also supported. Players will be able to see the “shadows” of other players in the course, showing other people who are playing in real-time They’ll be able to share game items and place standees in a course to help other players.
Online Multiplayer
With online play, players can create rooms with friends and invite them to join. They can race against friends or complete an objective to win. Something called Heart Points can also be collected when a player helps other players online. It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to use those Heart points for something, or if it’s just there to show off what a good, helpful person you are.
Kevin Afghani Replaces Charles Martinet as Mario's Voice
On August 21, 2023, Nintendo announced that Charles Martinet would no longer voice Mario and would become a Mario Ambassador instead.
On October 17, 2023, Kevin Afghani announced via Twitter that he is the voice of Mario and Luigi in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder game. The gaming community met this news with excitement, as fans are eager to see how Afghani will portray these beloved characters in this new adventure. While Martinet may not be directly voicing Mario any longer, his legacy lives on as the character voice he created continues to be associated with the most recognizable game character in the world.
Super Mario Bros Wonder - What's The Buzz!?
Super Mario Bros Wonder Search Trends
Super Mario Bros Wonder generated massive search interest in the week it was announced at the June 2023 Nintendo Direct. Fans of the franchise praised the upcoming game for its new take on the classic Mario platformer experience, and a lot of fans were just happy that Mario was coming back after so long. Since then, however, interest seems to have settled down for a bit.
There is still much to learn about the game leading up to its release, as it has yet to receive a major marketing push by Nintendo. We expect that Super Mario Bros Wonder will experience another surge in interest and searches after more is unveiled about the story, gameplay mechanics, and possibly introduction of more playable characters apart from Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, and Toad.
Super Mario Bros Wonder’s Popularity Compared to Other Games
We took three other major release games namely, Starfield, Spider-Man 2, and Mortal Kombat 1, and compared them to Super Mario Bros Wonder’s search interest over the past 12 months to find out which among the games seems to have gotten the fans the most excited about.
- Blue = Super Mario Bros Wonder
- Red = Starfield
- Yellow = Spider-Man 2
- Green = Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1 ranks first in this comparison. The game is abuzz with anticipation as more announcements are made leading up to its release. Fans of the series are especially excited about the reveal of more new characters and the game’s full roster. The game is generating a lot of interest as Kombat Kast, an event where NetherRealm Studios reveals new characters and more about the gameplay mechanics and how each fighter will perform, returns in preparation for its September release. Moreover, the announcement of high-profile celebrities such as J.K. Simmons and John Cena being cast for different characters in the game is likely a factor in its increasing interest.
Starfield
Starfield ranks second in this comparison. It has generated attention and sparked heated discussions within the gaming community over the past year. The combination of Bethesda's reputation, the exclusivity deal with Microsoft/Xbox, and the anticipation of the game's release has fueled a significant amount of interest and conversation. The ambitious approach to Starfield’s design already has players believing that it will be a GOTY contender, even before its actual release. The excitement surrounding these aspects has likely contributed to the growing interest in the game.
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 ranks third in this comparison. Spider-Man 2 is one of the most highly-anticipated titles coming to the PS5, especially after the recent PlayStation Showcase event highlighted a significant amount of content related to it. More of Spider-Man 2 was revealed in San Diego Comic-Con 2023, including a brand new game story trailer, plotlines, and character dynamics. The casting of renowned actor Tony Todd as Venom has also intrigued many fans of the game. The wave of announcements and reveals have resulted in excitement and discussions within the gaming community, generating a lot of anticipation for the game.
Super Mario Bros Wonder
Super Mario Bros Wonder ranks last in this comparison. With the game being in direct competition with other high-profile releases, other well-established franchises being revived with new title releases, and that the game is only being released for Nintendo Switch can be reasons why Super Mario Bros Wonder is behind the three other games in this comparison. Likewise, it’s possible that Super Mario Bros Wonder has yet to find its footing amidst the already stacked lineup of releases within the latter half of the year.
Still, fans of the franchise are eager to see how the game will build upon its established formula while introducing innovative gameplay mechanics, level designs, and new storytelling elements.
We suspect the game may start to trend more as the release date gets closer and Nintendo does more of a marketing push.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Fan Reactions
One user seems to be excited with the new character transformation mechanic in Super Mario Bros Wonder. It has already been shown that Mario transforms into an elephant, and they wonder what the rest of the characters will turn into.
This user is dying for new information and content from the game. So far, little has been shown but we suspect more reveals and exciting news in the next Nintendo Direct.
This user finds it unbelievable that Super Mario Bros Wonder does not have online co-op/multiplayer. This is currently a hot topic among Mario fans.
One user expresses how in love they are with the overall design of the game and thinks the stylized game design makes Super Mario Bros Wonder stand out.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Hype Verdict
The timelessness of the Mario franchise and the promise of a fresh take on the classic platformer experience have really driven the anticipation and interest surrounding Super Mario Bros Wonder. Fans of the series are, overall, just thrilled to see Mario return in a new adventure.
The new elements in the game that were shown, such as the quirky power-up that turns Mario into an elephant, many other new enemies to defeat, livelier animations, unique character design, and new jaw-dropping level designs have pretty much captured and arrested us as well. Despite knowing little about the upcoming game, we are still extremely excited to experience the inventiveness and staggering creativity of Super Mario Bros Wonder.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Trailers
Super Mario Bros Wonder Direct Livestream
This livestream on August 31, 2023, revealed Super Mario Bros Wonder's plot and introduced the Flower Kingdom and its leader, Prince Florian. The Flower Kingdom is a new setting with 6 worlds and 7 areas to explore. It also explained the new features showcased in the game like power-ups, badges and badge challenges, multiplayer options like local play and online play. New Enemies will use different skills to hinder Mario and his friends from doing their task of saving the Flower Kingdom from Bowser.
It also revealed the special Nintendo OLED Mario Red Edition that will be released on October 6, 2023.
Nintendo Direct June 2023 Trailer
The trailer started with Mario going beside a flower that talks. It proceeded to show various areas that Mario can venture into, and eventually was able to get a wonderseed which changed the environment into something weird. In this setting, the tunnels move around, and seemed to have stange effects to both Mario and the surroundings.
It was also seen that Peach, Luigi, and Daisy are shown with Mario together, which indicates that this game has an option for co-op. There are new elements in the game that was shown such as a power-up that turns Mario into an elephant and many other new enemies to defeat. The game will be available on October 20, 2023 on the Nintendo Switch.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Pre-Order
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a Nintendo Switch exclusive and can be purchased on the Nintendo Store.
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
 Nintendo Store |
$59.99 |
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Trailers
Super Mario Bros Wonder Direct Livestream
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Product Information
 |
|
| Title | Super Mario Bros. Wonder |
|---|---|
| Release Date | October 20, 2023 |
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | 2D Sidescrolling Game |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | N/A |
| Official Website | Super Mario Bros. Wonder |
