Since 2006, 2D Mario has been plagued with a word on all of it, making it difficult to discuss, new. The 'New' Super Mario Bros series began in 2006 as a return to the sidescrolling, two-dimensional Mario action, while foretelling of Nintendos naming difficulties to come. That ends today with Super Mario Bros. Wonder announced during the June Nintendo Direct.
Joining the Super Mario Movie as part of a busy year for Mario, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has a lot going on in the short trailer we saw, with the Wonder Seed sending Mario on what appears to be his craziest adventure yet as things like Warp Pipes come alive. Flowers are talking in the game, and we see Mario turn into an elephant at the end. In co-operative play you will be able to play with other characters. Nintendo has announced Princesses Daisy and Peach, along with Toad, Yoshi, and Luigi to be playable in addition to the jumping man himself. The Super Mario Bros. Wonder release date was announced to be October 20th, 2023, so you can expect to play this in the fall.
The last 2D Mario game released was New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, an updated version of the Wii U launch title for Nintendo Switch in 2019. This included the New Super Luigi U expansion for the game, and the introduction of Toadette and the Super Crown in this newly dolled-up installment of the 2012 game. While even in 2012 the game lacked in groundbreaking ideas, by 2019 only the excellent polish and precise design let this Mario adventure hold up, as it was feeling very safe. Some, like our reviewer Alex Santa Maria, hoped that the next 2D Mario game would "see another weird, experimental 2D Mario, one with the same playful spirit as [Super Mario] Odyssey". Whether Super Mario Bros. Wonder can truly deliver on that is an unknown as of yet but there are reasons to hope.
