Overview
What is Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park?
The Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is an enhanced iteration of the 2023 side-scrolling platformer. This version includes several technical improvements, including a resolution increase to 4K in TV mode, faster load times, and a consistent framerate of 60fps. This edition also expands the playable roster to include Rosalina and Luma. New gameplay mechanics are also integrated, such as dual-ability badges and the Super Flower Pot power-up, which allows characters to flutter jumps and vertical attacks.
Meetup in Bellabel Park is the game’s expansion, which serves as a multiplayer and challenge hub. Accessible via a new area on the world map, Bellabel Park features Attraction Central, a suite of 17 cooperative and competitive minigames supporting up to four players locally and 12 online. Additionally, the expansion introduces the Toad Brigade Training Camp, which offers over 70 bite-sized challenges and a new story arc involving the Koopalings.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park features:
⚫︎ Optimized for the Nintendo Switch 2
⚫︎ Includes Rosalina and Luma
⚫︎ New Hub Area in Attraction Central
⚫︎ 17 New Multiplayer Minigames
⚫︎ Toad Brigade Training Camp
⚫︎ New Super Flower Pot Power-Up
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Switch 2 |
|||||
| $79.99 |
Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park Review: Essentially Inessential
A Long Name Only a Mother Would Love
Setting aside the idea that Super Mario Bros. Wonder — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is competing with Kingdom Hearts in terms of sheer absurdity in game names, this 2026 re-release of the 2023 side-scroller is just one of many ports of beloved Switch titles to Nintendo’s successor console. It is a return to the hit that originally revitalized the 2D Mario formula by giving it a surrealist aesthetic and an expressive art style that, quite frankly, has been missing from many recent 2D Mario releases.
This new version arrives with a noticeable bump in visuals, expanded local and online multiplayer, two playable characters, several boss fights, a new power-up, and a lot more. However, even though the additions are certainly a nice for returning players, I am not convinced they do enough to be an essential purchase.
Seven Flowers, an Abandoned Park, and a Movie Tie-In
Do note that this review is going to focus almost exclusively on the new content found in the Switch 2 Edition and the Meetup in Bellabel Park expansion. I won’t be spending much time on the base game, as that ground was already covered back in 2023. If you want to know our thoughts regarding it, I suggest reading our original review from that year.
But for context, the base game involves Mario and his friends visiting the Flower Kingdom, only for Bowser to emerge and merge with Prince Florian’s castle. They must then collect Royal Seeds and thwart Boswer’s evil plans.
With the DLC, the story expands ever so slightly once you finish the first four levels of the main campaign. At that point, Captain Toad shows up and invites you to Bellabel Park. This is an abandoned area hidden away within the Flower Kingdom. When Mario and his friends arrive, they see that the park is powered by seven magical Bellabel Flowers that sit on a massive stone arch. However, the Koopalings have stolen them, which leaves the park dim and lifeless. In addition to stopping Bowser, you must now also track down the Koopalings across the different worlds of the Flower Kingdom to get those flowers back and restore the park.
That is pretty much the extent of the plot. Like most, if not all, 2D Mario games, the story isn’t trying to be deep or complicated. It gives you an objective: find the bad guys and take back the items they stole. It establishes the stakes quickly and pushes the player toward the creative level design with little dialogue or cutscenes.
It works for what it is, but I’m not going gaga over it. I would have appreciated a more solid reason for Rosalina and Luma’s inclusion, beyond the fact that the Switch 2 Edition launches just a week before the Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It would've been great if they’d found a clever way to justify her presence, much like how Captain Toad managed to insert himself here and into the previous 2D Mario games.
Co-Star Luma is Overpowered
To find the new content in each world, you first need to track down Captain Toad’s Toad Brigade tent on the overworld map. These tents are the gateway to the new boss encounters featuring the Koopalings. Bowser has used Wonder Power to transform them, leading to some inventive scenarios. For instance, Wendy takes the form of an oversized Cheep Cheep that attempts to ram you, while Lemmy throws explosives that you have to toss back to knock him off his balancing balls. One of the more memorable fights involves Morton, who is controlled like a giant marionette by two Lakitus in the foreground.
The levels leading to these bosses are designed to match their specific themes, which helps build some anticipation. However, as fun as these stages are, they are really just remixes of areas you have already played in the base game. They use similar layouts, just with some new mechanics that match the boss’s aesthetic.
The fights themselves, while creative in concept, rarely offer a challenge. Most of them still follow the traditional Mario rule of three bonks on the head.
This lack of difficulty is even more apparent if you are playing with a second person. Local co-op adds Co-Star Luma. This character seems specifically designed for younger siblings or less experienced players. Luma is essentially invulnerable; it takes no damage, can fly freely across the screen, and uses a spin attack to hit enemies. This ability applies to the boss fights, which can make already relatively easy encounters trivial. Mind you, using Luma is a separate option from the game’s Assist Mode, which prevents damage for all characters.
Really, the only struggle for a Luma player might be finding a comfortable grip in Mouse Mode, which mimics the infrared pointer from the original Super Mario Galaxy—the game where Rosalina and Luma originated. You can, of course, hold the Joy-Con sideways like a traditional controller, but pointing at the screen feels like the intended way to play. It can become cumbersome during long sessions, but I’ll leave that for your little brother or sister to worry about.
The Minigames are Just Okay
Despite these gripes, the technical leap on the Switch 2 is immediately noticeable. The game now runs at a locked 60fps with full HDR support, which makes the expressive art style look more vibrant. It’s no secret that Super Mario Bros.
Wonder is already a pretty game, but the colors that were already bright now look even more pristine on the Switch 2. This is joined by several other gameplay additions that aim to flesh out the package.
The central hub for this new content is Bellabel Park. This area is your home base, where you can access the various new modes added for the Switch 2 Edition. As you play through the game, you collect Bellabel Water, a currency you use to purchase flowers and other decorations to gradually restore the park.
However, to see the majority of what Bellabel Park has to offer, you really need to play with other people. Located at the back of the park is Attraction Central. This is a separate area dedicated entirely to multiplayer games. There is a decent variety of activities here, with 17 minigames available for local play and six that can be played online.
Many of these games have multiple versions to keep things from feeling too repetitive immediately. The tasks range from racing to the finish line while collecting the most coins to matches where the goal is to push your opponents off a platform. The ones I enjoyed most were the ones that required my younger brother and me to cooperate, like the one where one player draws platforms for the others, or the mode where you must pass a ticking time bomb before it explodes.
These activities are essentially bite-sized distractions. If these exact games appeared in a title like Super Mario Party Jamboree, they wouldn’t feel out of place at all. I played through all of these with my younger brother, and although we had a good time, the enjoyment felt a bit superficial. A lot of the fun came from us just goofing around and making our own entertainment rather than the actual design of the minigames themselves.
Taken on their own, many of these challenges are somewhat bland. They follow very basic premises that don’t really take full advantage of the Wonder mechanics of the base game.
After spending a few hours in Attraction Central, we both found ourselves wanting to go back to the standard side-scrolling levels. The problem is that many of the minigames feel as though they are only meant to be played once or twice. Once the novelty wears off, there isn’t much reason to return to them.
As nice as these minigames are, I couldn’t help but think that the development time spent on these Mario Party-esque diversions could have been better used elsewhere. We would have much preferred to see a completely new world to explore or more inventive, original levels built specifically for the Koopaling boss fights.
These multiplayer additions are harmless and provide a nice break for families or younger players, but they don’t feel like a substantial enough addition to the Mario platformer. They are inoffensive, but they don’t quite match the high bar of creativity set by the rest of the experience.
Toad Brigade Training Camp Adds Some Much-Needed Challenge
In contrast to the somewhat simple minigames found in Attraction Central, the Toad Brigade Training Camp is an engaging addition to the Switch 2 Edition. It functions as a series of challenge stages that focus on specific badges and power-ups. You are, then, forced to use them in ways that the main campaign rarely demands.
Each trial in the camp is built around a single concept, such as avoiding coins or mastering the new Super Flower Pot power-up. They are somewhat similar to the Special World levels from the original 2023 release, where the game stops holding your hand on your way to the flagpole. It was easily the most rewarding part of the new content for me. There is a real sense of satisfaction in finally clearing a stage that seemed impossible on the first few tries.
These challenges, though, reuse levels you’ve already been to before, and this is on top of the stages you play through during the DLC’s main campaign on your way to fight the Koopalings.
Is Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park Worth It?
No, There Isn’t Much Here to Justify Its Asking Price
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is already an excellent 2D platformer that’s well worth the $60 asking price. However, the $20 upgrade is harder to justify. Unless you are specifically looking for a few more hours of content or want some much-needed challenge, the value proposition feels a bit off when you consider how quickly you can blitz through the new additions.
Most players will likely exhaust the DLC in under ten hours. This left me wishing Nintendo had offered these updates as $10 standalone purchases. It’s unfortunate that the Switch 2's visual upgrades are bundled exclusively with the Bellabel Park content, especially since the expansion itself feels like something the original Switch could have easily handled.
It’s a decent update to a great game, but because of this, it ends up being quite an inessential. It provides a reason to return to the Flower Kingdom, yes, yet it never quite justifies why this Bellabel Park needed to exist in the first place.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park FAQ
Is Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park Multiplayer?
Yes, the game has multiple multiplayer options. It supports 2-4 players locally and up to 12 players online within the new Attraction Central hub.
Game8 Reviews
