Many people didn't see Super Mario Bros. Wonder coming, back when they announced and released the game in 2023.
People had already been writing off the Switch, noticing the amount of remakes and ports coming to the system, and deciding that Nintendo would be shifting it's major efforts to the consoles successor.
That being said, the excellent Pikmin 4 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had just come out earlier in the summer, so it's not like the Switch had no momentum, but it's holiday release schedule wasn't looking as strong, admittedly.
But then, Nintendo decided to come out guns-a-blazing for the Switch in October of 2023, dropping the newest and easily freshest 2D Mario platformer in decades, Super Mario Brothers Wonder.
And Wonder certainly doesn't disappoint, but 1 year in, does it still have the hype value that it once did back near initial release? Is it still being played to the same extent? Let's find out.
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So if we look at the classic Mario 2D platformers, we can still see people playing the original NES trilogy a good amount, Super Mario World is of course still played often, with speedruns and general appreciation of the game remaining strong.
But after Mario World, 2D Mario took a break until New Super Mario Bros. On DS, which kicked off the New series, which certainly had it's ups and downs.
The games aren't nearly as appreciated as Super Mario Bros. 3 or World are, but they do have their fans; myself included.
Really though for a while, it was Mario Maker 2 that people were playing when it came to contemporary 2D Mario, and even then, that's a fan level editor and sharer, meaning that it just doesn't quite have the same value as an original 2D Mario campaign.
Don't get me wrong, I love Mario Maker; I just don't think it's all that comparable to the core 2D platforming game series.
So then, Wonder comes out of nowhere and decides to blast the New series out of the water, choosing not only to incorporate plenty of new wacky power-ups, but also fundamentally change the overall design of the worlds and levels.
You collect a Wonder Flower and boom; now the level has an entirely new challenge or gimmick to engage with and complete, and for the most part, these sections are optional, though still important.
They usually involve new gameplay mechanics and changes in controls, alongside often trippy and bizarre visuals and sounds.
This added element makes every main level in Wonder leave more of an impact, especially when you think about the levels from the New series in comparison.
I can recall more specific levels and moments from Wonder than I can from basically any New series game.