Summary
The revealed changes thatSuper Mario Bros. Wonderwill be making to both its characters and their abilities have broken one of the series' longest-standing traditions which could make or break the game’s success. Despite its nebulous position within the official franchise, it was thanks to its earliest games likeSuper Mario Bros. 2that helped lay the groundwork for characters to have their own unique gameplay styles and abilities. But while these abilities were carried through to recent games likeSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser’s FuryandNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe,Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s new featuresseem to scrap this approach.
With a stacked roster of twelveplayable characters inSuper Mario Bros. Wonder, the gameseems to be aiming above and beyond when trying to provide as many possible choices for its character selection. However, in the latest Nintendo Direct, it was confirmed that each character would play exactly the same as any other inSuper Mario Bros. Wonderwith the Yoshis now sharing Nabbit’s “easy mode” invulnerability. As a result, the previously established character-specific abilities such as Princess Peach’s Floating Jump or Toad’s faster run have been removed altogether withSuper Mario Bros. Wonderoffering its own badge-based alternative.
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Super Mario Bros. Wonder Swaps Up Character Abilities
As theSuper Marioseries has grown and evolved over the many years, so too has its approach to character selection with most if not all of its recent games including multiple playable characters. Even games such asSuper Mario Odysseyor theBowser’s Furyexpansion toSuper Mario 3D Worldoffered options for co-op play through Cappy or Bowser Jr. It’s clear then that Nintendo has always tried to balance offering something for every player with ensuring that no player feels left out. Therefore, this andSuper Mario Bros. Wonder’s new online multiplayerfunctionality could be the reason why it has now removed character-specific abilities.
However, this would be the first game in the series' long history where each character plays identically to the next. Consequently, there is significant skepticism ahead ofSuper Mario Bros. Wonderas it removes these traditional character-specific abilities despite many players seeing them as core elements of the franchise. But while Luigi’s higher jump, Toad’s speed, or Princess Peach’s slow fall may no longer be character exclusive,Super Mario Bros. Wonderinstead offers game-changing badgesthat players can equip which grant similar or all-new abilities like the Parachute Cap or the Jet Run.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s New Approach to Abilities Could Be Good
Though it might be difficult for players to acclimatize to, especially olderSuper Mariofans who are accustomed to this particular tradition,Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s new approach to abilities could mark a positive change for the series' future. In keeping with Nintendo’s aim of delivering a gameplay experience everyone can enjoy, removing specific character traits helps even the playing field between all players and removes any potential bias. For example, players can no longer exploit Toad’s faster running speed while others might have wanted to play as Luigi before now but were frustrated by his slightly decreased traction.
Additionally, by removing character-specific abilities, Nintendo would no longer need tolimit abilities and power-ups inSuper Mariogames by the number of playable characters. Based onSuper Mario Bros. Wonder’s trailers and gameplay clips so far, it will potentially have twenty-four badges players can collect which will be double the number of playable characters it has - even when including all the color variations of Yoshi. In doing so, Nintendo would have the creative freedom to introduce many new abilities as well as avoid needing to include any character-specific abilities in anySuper Mariogames in the future.
Super Mario Bros. Wonderwill be released on Jun 01, 2025 for the Nintendo Switch.
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