Super Mario Bros. Wonder: A Dazzling New Adventure with a Notable Online Multiplayer Shortcoming

While Super Mario Bros. Wonder is gearing up to introduce an array of exciting new features to its online suite, a persistent issue that has plagued Nintendo's online gaming experience appears to be reaching its pinnacle.

Following its announcement a few months ago, the launch of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is just around the corner. The game recently received its own dedicated Nintendo Direct presentation, providing fans with a glimpse of what to expect in this spiritual successor to the beloved New Super Mario Bros. series. Super Mario Bros. Wonder promises to deliver another classic 2D Mario platforming adventure but with a fresh and vibrant twist that extends to the gameplay itself. Virtually every level seems to offer an extra challenge based on the innovative Wonder Flowers, ensuring that gameplay remains engaging and dynamic.

The game is packed with a host of new features, including the introduction of intriguing power-ups and a badge system that enhances abilities and accessibility within the levels. Even Charles Martinet's iconic voice for Mario has been replaced, signifying Super Mario Bros. Wonder's endeavor to reinvent 2D Mario gaming for a modern audience. Of course, the famously chaotic four-player co-op mode from the New Super Mario Bros. games makes a return, though the online experience may not live up to players' expectations.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder's Indirect Multiplayer: A Double-Edged Sword

Rather than attempting to mirror the online and offline multiplayer experiences, Nintendo has chosen to take a different approach with Super Mario Bros. Wonder. This decision aligns with the overall design of the game and has resulted in the online experience becoming a distinct part of the package. Players can join randomly assembled sessions or lobbies with other players, all of whom appear as transparent entities to each other. In this mode, when a player dies, it mimics the experience of dying in regular multiplayer, allowing the player's ghost to be revived either by living characters or any standees they've placed.

Several other features are available, such as emotes, power-up sharing, and competitive racing against other players. However, the common thread in all of this is that every player remains essentially a phantom to one another. Unlike offline co-op, there's no interaction like bumping into, jumping off of, or grabbing others, which also diminishes the co-op potential, particularly for Yoshi characters. The intention seems to be ensuring smooth local gameplay even in the most chaotic or unstable sessions, but this choice left behind the signature co-op experience found in the New Super Mario Bros. series.

Nintendo's Need for Stronger Standards in Online Multiplayer

Since the GameCube era, Nintendo has faced challenges adapting to an increasingly online-focused gaming landscape. Network quality in their first-party titles has consistently fallen short of industry standards, and even Nintendo's hardware appears to struggle in this crucial area. Despite the wealth of new features in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, to the point where it seems to draw inspiration from Death Stranding's unique multiplayer, basic online functionality has been inexplicably neglected.

What makes this omission even more puzzling is that Nintendo has implemented direct online multiplayer in many of its games. Splatoon 3 continues to thrive with matchmaking quality comparable to Splatoon 1, and even Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury offered online co-op for its 3D gameplay. There seems to be no valid reason to restrict one of the defining features pioneered by modern 2D Mario titles, except for the possibility that the Nintendo Switch may face limitations in delivering the complete experience. With rumors of a new Nintendo console in 2024, it's hoped that such backward steps will become less frequent, allowing Nintendo games to keep pace with the standards of online multiplayer.