The Digital Foundry tech review.
These are good games, but for some of us they never fully clicked.
Of course, we’ll cover the technical landscape as well - this is Digital Foundry after all.
Let’s begin with the core gameplay mechanics.
The speed and precision possible in this game remains captivating even today.
Running across the game’s worlds feels great.
I initially discovered that the standing jump is virtually identical between Wonder and New Super Mario U.
In short, Mario maintains momentum much longer in the New Super Mario Bros games versus Mario Wonder.
It is specifically this element which lends the New series that heaviness people complain about.
In older sprite-based games, artists would create a series of individual frames that would play at fixed intervals.
When Mario jumps in Super Mario World, you could see this cycle in action.
What do I mean?
Well, the designers clearly poured a lot of time into posing and key frames.
When Mario jumps, he assumes a pose reminiscent of classic box art Mario, for instance.
The animations there lack specific poses to accentuate Mario’s movement.
The devil is in the details.
It’s a fun little addition that changes the feel of the game in a positive way.
The bright purples, burnt oranges and deep greens really pop.
Scenes are full of life with blowing particles and effects.
Levels often boast unusual geometric shapes and designs too.
So what about the tech powering it?
The game runs at 1080p native in docked mode and 720p in portable.
I’d expect no less from a side-scrolling Mario game, but it’s nice to confirm it.
It all coalesces into something superb.
That leaves us with the remaining two criteria: level design and sound.
Great music can enhance the sensation of action, build atmosphere and strengthen your feelings on a game.
Music is emotional but also personal - which means not everyone will necessarily agree, but hear me out.
New Super Mario Bros is notorious for its uninspired music, but there are really two problems with it.
Firstly, the melodies themselves, while not necessarily bad, just aren’t that interesting or varied.
The other problem lies in the instrumentation - the samples used in creating the tracks themselves.
It does not sound good to my ears.
So what’s changed?
The more significant change, however, is the instrumentation - and this is critical.
It’s a great melody that sticks with you too.
Moreover, the sound team also made the decision to re-do all the key sound effects.
All of these are refreshed in Mario Wonder, lending the game a new energy.
Whether they’re actually spoken lines or something else entirely, it’s good stuff.
That brings us to our final topic - level design.
Super Mario Wonder, however, pushes things forward in a few key areas.
The map features a mix of fixed paths and freeform areas.
The Shining Falls is a perfect example, with its angular peaks and gleaming waterfalls.
It doesn’t really fit the typical Mario level archetype, which is brilliant.
Collect it and this initiates a complete transformation.
You haven’t seen anything yet.
It’s that good.
It also demonstrates what’s possible on low-spec, “outdated” hardware.
