When Super Mario Bros. Wonder arrived in 2023, I called it the “most creative 2D entry in nearly 30 years.” Even now, two and a half years later, I still relish the creativity at play, as well as the thoughtfulness the developers clearly put into the game when designing not only the stages and boss fights, but the game-defining Wonder Effects. To this day, it’s my favorite 2D Mario game since Super Mario World in 1991. That said, I had my reservations coming into Wonder’s Nintendo Switch 2 Edition’s bonus content, Meetup in Bellabel Park. Thankfully, after playing through everything on offer, I am confident in calling it a worthwhile addition, even if the emphasis is on the wrong parts of the package.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park upgrades the package to Nintendo Switch 2 resolution, hitting up to 4K at 60 FPS when playing in TV mode, but the main attraction is the new content it brings. The additions initially present itself in Bellabel Park, an all-new area unlocked with the purchase of this upgrade. Here, you learn the Koopalings are back and have stolen the treasure of Bellabel Park: the Bellabel Flowers. The adventure expands out to the other worlds of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, giving you reason to revisit these areas even if, like me, you achieved 100-percent completion when the game first arrived (your save automatically loads from the Switch 1 version). And with the new Flower Transformation power-up that lets you toss flowers upward or flutter jump, you can approach even the existing stages in new ways.
After making off with the Bellabel Flowers, the Koopalings scatter throughout the Flower Kingdom, with new boss stages in tow. Each of the new boss stages features a Koopaling, who has gotten hold of a Wonder Seed. If you were a fan of the chaos that comes with the Wonder Effects in the main game, these boss stages will likely be the most compelling piece of the package for you. Each Koopaling features a distinct transformation with a gimmick that permeates the entire stage, resulting in absurd obstacle courses that you must platform through before you finally take on an over-the-top boss battle.
On multiple occasions, once the gimmick was revealed for the stage, I dreaded the presumed implementation of that mechanic in a boss setting. However, Nintendo’s creativity shines through, providing some of the best boss fights in the entire Super Mario Bros. Wonder package. I can’t (nor do I want to) spoil too much, but Nintendo has found more ways to surprise and delight players using the infrastructure of Super Mario Bros. Wonder in ways that expand on the ideas at play throughout Wonder’s campaign.
Outside of these boss courses, my favorite thing to do was take on the new Toad Brigade Training Camp, which nominally sounds tedious and boring, but in actuality, would be a shame to skip. While it almost makes it sound like a tutorial, Toad Brigade Training actually provides fun, specialized challenge-based levels with special conditions to amp up the fun, the difficulty, or, as is most often the case, both. In these courses, you run through familiar stages, but with special completion conditions, such as collecting a certain number of coins or defeating the enemies, before the time expires. Those are straightforward, but eventually grow to present real challenges, as time limits shrink and the placement becomes more insidious. As a Mario player since the NES days, I relished ramping up the difficulty to challenge my core abilities.
My favorite style involves staying invincible by collecting Starpoint power-ups that sometimes move as you run through the course. With a set time and specific paths dictated by the Starpoints’ movement, you need to not only speedrun these stages efficiently, but also think on the fly as they sometimes deviate from the most logical path. And since you’re invincible during the stage, the entire category capitalizes on that empowered feeling a well-placed Super Star delivers, even as you’re sprinting for your life and playing the later stages on repeat. If you want an even stiffer challenge, courses that require you to avoid all enemies or coins had me eagerly restarting as I rewired my three-and-a-half decades of Mario gameplay in real-time. One of the biggest complaints about Super Mario Bros. Wonder when it launched was that it was too easy; some of the later Toad Brigade Training Camp challenges feel like a direct response to that from the development team.
The third and final main pillar of this update is the multiplayer suite. You would be forgiven for thinking this is the most prominent piece of content in the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder; after all, most of the marketing has focused on it. And for that reason, I carried very little excitement towards the upgrade before getting my hands on it – I didn’t think I needed Mario Party-style games in my mainline platformer. Thankfully, these feel like fun multiplayer bonuses to an already strong package.
Local Multiplayer Plaza carries forward the already-strong local multiplayer options available in the base game with 17 versus and co-op modes, ranging from a hot-potato-inspired game involving a Bob-omb to a coin-collection frenzy. One of my biggest problems with the base game of Wonder was in its online multiplayer offerings, and Game Room Plaza helps assuage that, but not to the extent I would have liked. Here, you can play online with up to 12 friends across 6 game modes, including frenzied platforming-based races and tense games of tag. I enjoyed my time playing through these multiplayer modes, but I don’t see them being destinations for me going forward.
Using water you earn as rewards for both the multiplayer and Toad Bridge Training, you can water plants around the Bellabel Park overworld map, granting you bonuses like flowers to trade for cosmetic upgrades to the park, online greeting emotes, and new Dual Badges that allow you to equip the abilities of two Badges at once. While some Dual Badges – like one that combines the Spring Feet and Invisibility Badges – only serve to increase the difficulty, most are genuinely helpful and make for fun theory-crafting.
The Dual Badge that combines the Wall-Climb Jump and Grappling Vine makes me feel like Spider-Man, while my go-to combines the Auto Super Mushroom and Coin Reward Badges to ensure I’m always powered up when entering a stage, and always rewarded for defeating enemies. You can also use this system to allow a less experienced player to feel more confident in their jumps; for example, with Dual Badges such as the one that brings together the abilities of Parachute Cap and Boosting Spin Jump, you have much more say in where you land after leaving the ground.
Speaking of less experienced players, the final components of this package cater to them. Ahead of her costarring role in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Rosalina joins the playable roster of characters. She plays exactly like the main roster of characters, including the ability to use Badges and power-ups, but Co-Star Luma also joins the roster with the explicit purpose of approachability. Co-Star Luma can only be used in co-op play, allowing players to fly around to collect coins and defeat enemies without the fear of taking damage. You can also use mouse controls, allowing for multiple ways for new players to join the action. This new version of Mario Wonder also adds Assist Mode, which basically grants invincibility from enemies and pits across the entire game, regardless of which character you play as. Assist Mode isn’t the kind of experience I personally want, but for parents with small kids or anyone new to platformers, it’s a great addition.
If you played Super Mario Bros. Wonder back in 2023, Meetup in Bellabel Park provides ample reason to return. However, if you haven’t yet played through Mario’s latest 2D adventure, this package is the best way to experience my favorite 2D Mario game in many years. It does what every effective expansion should: improve the base game while adding new content that addresses any shortcomings of the base game. Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s biggest missteps involved difficulty and multiplayer, and Meetup in Bellabel Park adds new content to effectively address both of those. Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a joy to play through in 2023, and now, a few years later, it’s even better.
