Summary
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces new power-ups like the Wonder Flower, which changes the level and can have various helpful or harmful effects.
- Badges in the game offer unique abilities and improvements, similar to power-ups, and allow players to customize their playstyle.
- New power-ups include Stretchy Mario, which grants the ability to stretch and change forms, Bubble Mario, which uses bubbles as platforms and weapons, and Drill Mario, which can destroy enemies and drill through surfaces.
The newly announced Super Mario Bros. Wonder has many excited Mario fans talking, and the announcement trailer shows all sorts of silly and exciting new powers that Mario and his friends can equip to transform and get crazy new abilities. Naturally, the Mario games are known for having fun gimmicks, such as the tanooki suit and cat suits, and this time around it appears players will even get to try out being an elephant version of the characters in this single-player or co-op game.
There are a lot of Super Mario games on the Nintendo Switch, but the last new entry to the franchise was the remake of Super Mario 3D World with Bowser’s Fury included with it in 2021. Because that was a remake, Nintendo is referring to Super Mario Bros. Wonder as the first new side-scrolling 2D Mario experience in over 10 years. Given a release date of October 20, 2023, the game is already available for digital pre-orders on the Nintendo eShop. A few of the new power-ups that Mario and his friends will utilize were shown in the official trailer, although not many details have been given just yet.
6 Wonder Flower
The Wonder Flower isn’t exactly a power-up in the traditional sense, but it is an item that can shake up gameplay quite easily. Touching a Wonder Flower changes up the level around it, which can have useful benefits in the vein of a power-up like making pipes move like worms or bubbles rising up from the bottom of the screen for extra vertical possibilities. The idea that it could also call hordes of enemies to charge at Mario sounds much less helpful, however, so the Wonder Flower might be best categorized as a level-changing gimmick than a “power-up”.
Wonder Seeds come hand-in-hand with Wonder Flowers, serving to end the wild effects of a Wonder Flower. Wonder Seeds can also be used to unlock levels in the various new worlds in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
5 Badges
Badges are another interesting component of Super Mario Bros. Wonder that flirts with the traditional nature of power-ups in the Super Mario Bros. games. Rather than being items that can be picked up for an immediate boost in strength, badges can be purchased or earned in the game. Each one offers unique abilities or improvements, some of which verge on being as interesting as power-ups. They also make it easier than ever to lean into different styles of play in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Many badges provide enhanced movement capabilities, from the Floating High Jump to the Parachute Cap. Others provide safety nets in gameplay, like the Safety Bounce badge that makes for a quick recovery from lava, or cut down on possible frustration, like the Sensor badge that makes it easy to find hidden items. One badge can be equipped at a time, making it impossible to abuse advantages in Super Mario Bros. Wonder boss fights by stacking these advantageous features.
4 Stretchy Mario
In the original trailer for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, there is a shot where Mario and a goomba are both silhouettes of themselves in tall, stretched-out forms. This could possibly be a unique power-up or come as the result of one of the random transformations of the world from touching a Wonder Flower. No precursor to the scene was shown in the trailer, so no actual power-up item was seen being grabbed by Mario prior to his shadowy tall form. Whatever this feature ends up being, it’s an interesting new experience for Mario.
3 Bubble Mario
The Bubble power-up makes new use of the oversized bubbles first introduced in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, allowing Mario to blow them without the use of a wand. These bubbles drift toward nearby enemies to encompass and defeat them. The most exciting feature of bubbles is the ability to use them as midair platforms, adding a mobility feature reminiscent of Super Mario Odyssey‘s Cappy and opening up exciting new possibilities for movement tech. As the bubbles aren’t stationary, however, it will take some skill to master this aspect of the power-up.
2 Drill Mario
The drill hat may not make the most coherent fashion statement, but it does prove to be a useful power-up in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Jumping with the drill hat sets it immediately spinning, giving the destructive powers of Mario’s jump attacks a little extra oomph. Spiky and hard enemies that would usually be impervious to attacks from below can be taken down with ease by Drill Mario, making it the perfect fit for cave levels.
The drill hat can also be flipped around while ground-pounding, making it possible to break through hard surfaces beneath to find rewards. Both directions allow for burrowing into surfaces and traveling beneath the ground or ceiling, which can make it easy to bypass difficult enemies or reach isolated platforms. Like the bubble power-up, the drill hat establishes a pattern of new power-ups in Super Mario Bros. Wonder providing both combat abilities and movement possibilities.
1 Elephant Mario
The power-up for Elephant Mario quickly took the internet by storm after the reveal trailer showed Mario transformed into a cartoon elephant wearing Mario’s clothes and hat, complete with a mustache under his trunk. While in elephant form, Mario can swing his trunk to attack enemies, destroy blocks, and bounce projectiles back at foes. In the trailer, the item that gives Mario this ability looks to be a red and white fruit with ears and an elephant-like face on it with a green leaf sticking out of the top.
Mario’s extra size with the elephant power-up lets him break more blocks at once and dash across larger gaps. When swimming, Elephant Mario can suck water into his trunk that can be used to water plants. Luigi, Peach, Daisy, the Toads, and Toadette can all take on elephant forms in Super Mario Bros. Wonder as well.
Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube