During today's Super Mario Bros. Wonder showcase, we got to learn a ton of new information about the iconic plumber's latest adventure.
The presentation was announced just a couple of days ago, and now it's here, we've got a better idea of where Mario's newest journey will take him.
The game takes place in the Flower Kingdom, where Bowser has, uh, merged with the castle of local ruler King Florian after touching a Wonder Flower.
What follows is an odyssey (no pun intended) through seven zones, each with a variety of different courses including deserts, forests, lava worlds, and more.
Zones include Pipe-Rock Plateau, Fluff-Puff Peaks, and Shining Falls, and there are more that Nintendo hasn't yet revealed as well.
Just like Super Mario 3D World, the world map will be freely explorable. Courses can be taken on in any order, and they've got different difficulty levels, so you can choose when you want to tackle the harder ones.
Once you get into a course, you and your buddies can play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, two Toads, and Toadette.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder also has an easy mode in the form of Nabbit and several playable Yoshis, who have special abilities.
Nabbit and the Yoshis don't take damage from enemies, but they can still die if they fall into pits. Additionally, Yoshis can eat enemies, flutter jump, and ride one another, and players who aren't playing as Yoshis can also ride the ones who are.
Today's Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct also showed off a ton of new enemies, including the seed-spitting Melon Piranha Plants, the leaping Hoppycats, and the Mumsies, which you can unravel if you position correctly.
Of course, we also got to see some new powerups, chief among them the Elephant, which all players can use.
The Elephant can break blocks, knock projectiles back at enemies with its snout, and dash across small gaps, among other boons.
Other new powerups include the Bubble, which defeats enemies and can be used as a platform, and the Drill, which allows you to burrow into the floor and ceiling, as well as breaking blocks and hitting spiked enemies more easily.
The Direct also divulged more information about the Wonder Flowers, which are effectively the unique hook of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Collecting one of these flowers makes things get real weird. You could, for instance, shift perspective to a sort of pseudo top-down movement style, or the level might start tilting.
Alternatively, you could find yourself floating through space, transformed into a Goomba, or subject to all manner of other weird occurrences.
These effects end when you collect a Wonder Seed, which you'll get at the end of each level, as well as earlier on in some stages.
One particularly intriguing-looking system is the new badge feature, which gives you additional moves to help you clear levels.
These moves include a wall climb jump that augments your standard wall jump, as well as the ability to recover from a dangerous drop, a coin magnet, and the ability to swim faster and break underwater blocks more easily.
Badges can be earned through challenges, and they can also be bought via several Poplin Shops on the world map.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder can be played in 4-player co-op, and each character plays the same, so you won't need to worry about drawing the short straw.
The game also supports online play of sorts; you'll see other player ghosts if you connect online, and they can save you from death, give you powerups, and talk to you.
Playing directly with friends online isn't possible, but you can create a room so you can exclusively see your friends' ghosts, and you can even start races with your friends as they play if you like.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the latest Super Mario Bros. sidescrolling platformer. It's due for release on Nintendo Switch on October 20th.
