Summary

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces new worlds with traditional design and a touch of magic through the Wonder Flower that transforms environments.
• The game features a diverse roster of playable Mario characters, inventive power-ups, and enemies to keep gameplay fresh and exciting.
• Each world in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, such as Pipe-Rock Plateau and Shining Falls, offers unique themes, visuals, and challenges for players to explore and conquer.

From the very first World 1, Super Mario Bros. has been known for its variety of memorable areas, and the new worlds in Super Mario Bros. Wonder continue this legacy with a traditional design somehow made even more magical. Each Super Mario Bros. world usually brings a focus on a new kind of terrain, whether delving into the sea with water levels or climbing to new heights in a mountainous land. Super Mario Bros. Wonder hits on some of the classic elements, but it also brings a new flavor to shake things up through the new Wonder Flower that can completely transform an environment. Its worlds can also be navigated in a more freeform manner than usual, with some open areas that feature nonlinear level selection.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder moves on from the New Super Mario Bros. series while retaining core visual and gameplay elements. With a strong roster of playable Super Mario characters and a variety of inventive new power-ups and enemies, the newest 2D Mario game is anything but stagnant. The setting of the Flower Kingdom brings seven new areas to explore alongside the tiny Prince Florian with his magical badges that bring more customization and excitement to the game.

8 World 1: Pipe-Rock Plateau

Designated as World 1 in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Pipe-Rock Plateau keeps the focus on traditional Mario iconography, starting off an unfamiliar adventure in a way that should keep things from being too disorienting for the heroic plumber. Angular green hills are home to classic enemies like Goombas and new foes alike, including ovine enemies that can break blocks when they charge and tall creatures that will knock each other over as they fall. This Super Mario Bros. Wonder world gets its name from the rock formations in the background of some levels, which resemble classic Mario pipes in shape.

7 World 3: Shining Falls

Shining Falls, unsurprisingly, puts the emphasis on waterfalls, but the overall look of this world is vastly different from the water levels showcased elsewhere in the game. With golden waters and reddish earth, there's an unusual sort of beauty to this almost alien environment. This Super Mario Bros. Wonder world also focuses on geometry, with diamonds making up many of the environmental textures. The backgrounds feature isometric images of waterfalls that, despite being made of even cubic blocks, repeat this diamond shape thanks to the unusual angle of display.

6 World 4: Sunbaked Desert

The desert area of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an arid land that has a feeling of being more dessert than desert. Its warm environment introduces new enemies and badge challenges. The Sunbaked Desert is World 4 in the game and culminates with characters reaching the Sunbaked Desert Palace where they are faced with a greedy Bowser Jr. who apparently stole all the water from the land. The color differences between levels in this world are beautiful, and as is to be expected in any Mario game, the soundtrack is a perfect fit.

5 World 6: Deep Magma Bog

If the desert didn't bring on the heat enough, the Super Mario Bros. Wonder magma world should certainly do the trick. Deadly pools of magma are dangerously placed underneath parts of this world, while more solid ground can still feature blocks that can heat up to deal damage. Accompanying the Deep Magma Bog's environmental hazards are an extra heaping of enemies that can toss flames Mario's way, making this area the definition of a scorcher. Pots of water can help, but with all the rotating obstacles and deep pools of lava, these levels present a difficult challenge.

4 World 2: Fluff-Puff Peaks

The Fluff-Puff Peaks start off with a foray into Super Mario Bros. Wonder ice-level territory, forcing Mario to scale mountains that reach frigid heights amidst a setting of pink that should let Princess Peach feel right at home. The world may be slippery, but also includes a classic dose of jump-heavy platforming amid the clouds. The first part of this pairing features sliding action and beautiful background art, with snowmen and colored lights offering a helping of wintry cheer. The second might be equally cozy for anyone without a fear of heights, as the pink clouds and soft skies have an evident cotton-candy appeal.

3 Special World: Petal Isles

The Petal Isles sit at the center of the Flower Kingdom and exist outside the traditional Super Mario Bros. world numbering. Encoming a variety of small islands, the Petal Isles offer an unusual amount of variety within one distinct area. This world is also home to water levels, which, despite Mario's much better-than-average track record, will always be a somewhat divisive offering. In Wonder these water zones provide a chance to experiment with a new badge that provides the characters a Dolphin Kick ability to swim faster and break rocks in new ways.

An even more classic element of the Petal Isles is the inclusion of caves, which go all the way back to 1-2 in the original Super Mario Bros. Even though the Flower Kingdom is a major shake-up from Mario's familiar home of the Mushroom Kingdom, these environments show that they're not so alien after all. The Petal Isles may lack the complete cohesion that typically is seen in Mario levels, but that unusual diversity makes them stand out in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

2 World 5: Fungi Mines

Breaking some traditions, the forest area of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is made of up overgrown mushrooms rather than trees. Though giant mushrooms make for familiar Mario territory, they take on a slightly stranger effect here with their size and background art, although they work just as well as ever for platforming purposes. The strange liquid that roils beneath them has an ominous glow, making any slip even more threatening than usual, but also adds a beauty that cannot be topped.

1 Secret Courses: Special World

The Special World in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a secret area that is accessed by unlocking Flower Petal levels from each of the worlds on the map. These unique areas are different from the rest and take advantage of many of the badges that Prince Florian can equip. After completing every Special World, one final badge called Sound Off? is gained as a reward, which adds a memorable touch of humor when used anywhere in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube