Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the next 2D Super Mario title, showed off its in the Nintendo Direct today (August 31).
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is set in the Flower Kingdom, ruled by Prince Florian. The prince invites Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom friends to visit, but Bowser intervenes and touches the realm’s mysterious Wonder Flower.
The Wonder Flower merges Bowser with the castle and transforms the land into a poison and thorns as the villain remakes the kingdom in his own image. Players will travel through seven worlds in Super Mario Bros. Wonder as they try to stop Bowser – Petal Isles, Pipe Rock Plateau, Shining Falls and Fluff Puff Peaks were featured in the Direct.
The star of the show were the Wonder Flowers that are present in the levels. Hitting them cause Wonder Effects like slithering pipes, tilted terrain, a free fall, a swap to a top down perspective or zero gravity space. There’s no way of knowing what they’ll set off, and they can even turn Mario into a Goomba or a Spike Ball.
Nintendo confirmed that Super Mario Wonder includes both local and online multiplayer modes. For the former, the game supports up to four players with the option of picking Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, Nabbit, Princess Daisy, Princess Peach or Yoshi to play as.
In the online mode, live player shadows allow players to come back to life if they lose their life in their own multiplayer game. Shadows can also share in-game items and place checkpoints, and these actions gain heart points for the player.
New power ups include elephant form, which allows Mario to use his trunk to destroy blocks and large steps to dash over gaps. The player can store water in the trunk to use later to change the level and discover secrets.
Bubble form creates bubbles that let the character bounce on them like platforms to avoid enemies or ensure they won’t fall down a chasm. These bubbles ignore normal level limits too, trapping enemies through walls.
As well as the classic fire form, there is drill form too, with an ability to drill down into the earth to burrow through the ground or ceiling. Players might swap between these power ups based on what the level’s challenges are with the item balloon, that holds a power up in their inventory.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder launches on October 20 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, and pre-orders are available now.
Finally, Nintendo revealed the rumoured new “Mario Red” OLED model with a Mario silhouette and hidden golden coin decorations, expected to release on October 6.
In other gaming news, actor Dave Bautista shared who his favourite Mortal Kombat fighter was from his youth, and who he mains now.