10 things I learned while playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder

6. The Wonder Flower changes up more than just the visuals

While subsequent play-throughs might not have the, no pun intended, wonder…I was really blown away but how many unexpected things would happen when I snagged the weird Wonder Flowers.

While the first stage did all the pipe wackiness I expected from the trailer with the pipes going up and down and one coming to life and crawling around the landscape like an inch worm, each stage seemed to offer something unique.

I was playing in a different stage and grabbed the Wonder Flower and the representative went “you’re going to try to stay on them”. I was like, “stay on wha…” as a massive herd of weird blue bull like creatures stampeded across the screen creating a moving platform. Each time you grab a Wonder Flower, the game changes into almost a mini-game like scenario in which you’re trying to grab several items as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, I never got to find out what they do, but it’s incredibly fun trying to snag them all.

My personal favorite was one that tilted your characters so that while the stage looked the same, you were running around in it like it was an old school Zelda dungeon, able to move up and down as well as left and right. It was a really cool shift in dynamic.

There was a large collection of stages you could choose from and we didn’t get to try all of them during the time limit but watching other people play in the massive arena…

I did notice a couple other people go to one where all the characters got turned into Goombas. I couldn’t really see what all they benefited from but it looked adorable and I loved how Yoshi Goombas are just Goombas wearing a busted Yoshi shell on their heads.

5. Prince Florian is ALWAYS with you

Prince Florian, the ruler of the Flower Kingdom who requires your aid, and, thankfully, is not the Prince Florian of the old Nintendo mangas (that were absolutely wild) clings to your character’s back at all times though not always visible.

While it seems like it might just be a plot device allowing him to explain things about the world, he actually serves a purpose. Any time you collect a power-up WHILE powered up, the Prince stores them god knows where. He can store up to four power-ups.

When you hold down A, the Prince takes the first power-up in the lineup and produces it floating in a bubble. This way, if you’re playing multiplayer and one of your teammates gets dinged, you can drop a bubble for them to collect.