Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch, 2023): A Dad’s Family-Game Review

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What It Is

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 2D platformer developed by Nintendo EPD and published by Nintendo for the Switch in October 2023. It is the first original 2D Mario since New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (2019’s re-release) and the first wholly new 2D Mario since New Super Mario Bros. U (2012). The game is set in the Flower Kingdom rather than the Mushroom Kingdom, features a redesigned roster of playable characters (including Daisy, Nabbit, and Yoshis), and introduces the Wonder Flower mechanic — a mid-level transformation that rewrites the rules of each stage for 30 to 60 seconds.

The specific design ambition is what makes this game special. Every level has its own Wonder Flower, and every Wonder Flower is wholly different from every other. One level turns Mario into a blob. Another makes the background Piranha Plants sing in rhythm. Another is a top-down stealth section. Another sends you running from a giant sentient fence. There are around 100 levels in the base game, and the development team committed to every single one having a unique Wonder idea. That commitment is felt in every stage and is the reason the game has the reputation it does.

Why This One Matters To Me

This is not a retro game. This is the current 2D Mario. But it belongs in any serious conversation about dad-era family gaming because it is the game I recommend to every parent I know who has kids aged 4 to 14 and a Switch. It is the most useful single family-gaming purchase available in 2026, full stop.

The four-player co-op is the real revelation. Previous multi-Mario experiments (the New Super Mario Bros. series) had co-op, but it was more chaotic than co-operative — players would body-block each other, accidentally kill each other, and generally reduce the fun. Wonder’s co-op fixes this. Players can pass through each other where needed, lives are shared sensibly, and the revive system encourages actual co-operation rather than individual glory. Four of us can play together without anyone crying.

The Wonder Flower mechanic is the design breakthrough that gives the game its name. It should not work. The idea of completely changing the rules of a level mid-way through is the sort of thing that in lesser hands would be chaotic and annoying. Nintendo EPD make it work by putting enormous care into every single transformation. You trust the designers. Whatever happens next, it will be thought through.

What the boys love most is how weird the game is willing to be. A boss fight on a runaway train. A talking flower cheerfully describing your imminent demise. A level where you play as a sentient balloon. This is Nintendo at its most playful — not the calculated family-friendliness of Mario Kart, but genuine creative exuberance. After a decade of increasingly safe AAA design across the industry, Wonder feels like someone finally let a team of brilliant people be silly on purpose.

Gameplay Screenshots

Wonder is a colourful toy-box platformer, and its enemy expressions, stage gimmicks, and Wonder Flower chaos all land better when you can actually see them. This one needed a proper visual run-through in the middle of the review.

The Dad Filter

Worth Full Price?

Buy. Nintendo first-party games essentially never go on sale. Wonder has been around £40 to £55 retail since release and will probably stay there. Accept this as the cost of a Nintendo family game that will get genuine use over years.

Second-hand Switch copies are available at modest savings. The digital version locks to a single console without Nintendo’s family-sharing setup, which is worth understanding before buying.

Kid Appeal

Essential. My boys request this game above almost anything else. The level design is varied enough that they never tire. The difficulty curve is gentle for younger players and genuinely challenging for the 100% completionists.

Nabbit (a playable character who cannot take damage) and the easier Yoshis are a god-send for younger or less confident players. My seven-year-old plays as Yoshi and never gets frustrated. My ten-year-old plays as Mario and is invested in getting every flower and every secret exit.

Parent Tolerance

High. This is a game where the parent is genuinely engaged, not just babysitting the child. The level design is clever enough that adults find their own satisfaction in the 100% run. The music is actually good. The visual design is charming without being saccharine.

The pacing is perfect for parent energy levels. A level is 3 to 6 minutes. You can do two and walk away. Or you can play for an hour and not feel it.

Family Play Value

Essential. This is the headline reason to buy the game. Four-player local co-op, one TV, joy-cons shared or split. It works across a range of ages — 5 to 50 — more reliably than any other modern game I have tried.

The co-op is designed to be friendly rather than chaotic. You help each other. You revive each other. The game quietly assumes you are playing with people you love and tunes itself accordingly. This is excellent design.

Time Respect

Excellent. Level-based, cloud save, modern UI. You can play a single 4-minute level, save, and quit. No live service. No daily login. No season pass chasing.

For a family after-dinner hour, Wonder is shaped exactly right. Three levels is enough to feel satisfied. Five is a proper session. Anything beyond ten starts to feel greedy, and that is a good pacing signal.

Replay Chances

High. The 100% run (collecting every flower coin, every wonder seed, every secret exit) doubles the campaign length. Special World unlocks after completion and is genuinely harder. Badge combinations (power-ups you equip before levels) invite replay with new strategies.

Two years after release, this is still the game my boys come back to when they want to play something familiar and rewarding. It has lasted better than most of their other Switch games, and I expect it will be on the ‘still current’ pile when the next console lands.

The Verdict

Buy. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the best family game available right now. Not the best Mario — that is a separate argument — but the single most reliable family-gaming purchase for a household with kids aged roughly 5 to 14. The Wonder Flower concept is a genuinely new design idea applied with enormous craft. The four-player co-op is excellent. The production values are Nintendo at their consistent best.

If you do not own a Switch, this is not quite the game that makes the case for buying one on its own (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe probably is). But if you already have a Switch and you do not have Wonder, you are missing the best headline family-gaming title the platform has produced in its current generation.

Unlike most games on this site’s retro list, this is not a nostalgia pick. This is a current-to-2026 recommendation for actual current family use. Buy it. Play it together. The Wonder Flowers do not disappoint.

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