Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Switch 2
Tested on: Switch 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park – Review
Let’s take things back to… hold on, 2023? We could’ve sworn that Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a more recent game. But no, the game really is that old. Old enough, in fact, that Nintendo decided that Super Mario Bros. Wonder was in need of a Switch 2 Edition. If you happen to have missed out on Wonder when it debuted, then you can read our original review to see what made the game so special, and why it’s a must-have title for every Switch owner. Is it worth the upgrade though?
Instead of a straight-up visual and performance upgrade like that of Xenoblade Chronicles X or Animal Crossing, Nintendo took a page from Kirby’s book and bundled the Switch 2 Edition of Wonder with a hefty amount of new content. It’s something that makes sense in more ways than you’d initially think. Wonder was always one of the best-looking and most optimized titles on the original Switch, and it didn’t really “need” that Switch 2 treatment. While the extra layer of polish is certainly appreciated here, the reason we’re all here is that Meetup In Bellabel Park DLC, of course.
Said DLC sees the Koopalings make their triumphant return to the mainline Mario series. Bowser’s favorite minions have stolen the Bellabel Flowers from the Poplins, and it’s up to Mario and friends to track them down. This isn’t as straightforward as you would expect from a typical Mario game, but Wonder has always been the one Mario title that wasn’t afraid to break the conventions of the formula. In Bellabel Park, you won’t be able to take on each of the Koopalings in a boss fight before you find Captain Toad’s tent in said Koopaling’s overworld area. Talking to the Captain will reveal in which level the Koopaling is hiding, and once you return there, you’ll find that the level itself has taken on a different form to match the boss now waiting for you at the end. It’s not just the level itself that has been transformed either, as each Koopaling now has a Wonder Effect of their own, resulting in boss battles that feel a lot more varied than the classic “jump on their head three times to win” requirement.
While the addition of the Koopaling story is perhaps the most prominent element that Bellabel Park has to offer, the DLC also expands on the base game with two new modes. The first of these, Camp Central, presents you with a set of challenges that task you with revisiting existing stages with a twist, like avoiding all enemies or staying within a specific timeline. For seasoned Mario players, these give you an incentive to revisit Wonder, and serve as a reminder of how good a Mario platformer it really is. The other new mode is called Attraction Central, and it focuses on multiplayer. It’s perhaps most suited for local play, although you can hop online to get some party action in as well. And when we say “party action”, we mean it. Attraction Central offers a set of minigames and even a tour mode where you take on a chain of these, resulting in a Mario Party-style version of Wonder. You’ll be competing against other players to grab the most coins or working together to pass a Bob-Omb across a level. Attraction Central rewards you with water droplets, which in turn let you customise your very own Bellabel Park with flowers.
It all adds up to a sizable amount of content, although a good chunk of your time spent in the titular park or in the base game will feel like it’s just rehashing what you’ve seen before. Having fan-favourite Rosalina return as a playable character and the addition of the new Flower Pot power-up come across as neat but inessential additions. In fact, that’s how we’d describe Meetup in Bellabel Park as a whole: neat but inessential. That’s not a slight on the DLC, because in and of itself, it’s fine enough. It’s just that the base game was really, really good, and the DLC doesn’t top it. Taking Animal Crossing or Xenoblade Chronicles X as the baseline, Nintendo is charging €5 for their straight-up upgrades, meaning you’re paying €15 for the DLC content. That still feels fair for what you’re getting here, although if the Switch 2 upgrade, which adds HDR-support and a bump in resolution, had been offered separately, we’re not completely sure if we’d have recommended getting the DLC instead of just that.
Conclusion
There is plenty of new stuff to be found in Meetup in Bellabel Park, but it sticks so close to the base game that it feels like you’re just getting variations on things you’ve seen before. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to revisit Wonder, then you can’t go wrong with the DLC. On the other hand, if you’ve completed Wonder already, we’re not going to tell you that you absolutely have to get this, as the base game feels complete as is.
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