Line #91 YMMV/SuperMarioBrosWonder


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2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: An extremely common interpretation among cynical adult gamers and streamers is that the various Poplins who ask for purple coins to "energize" themselves and [[BrokenBridge destroy obstacles or create shortcuts in the overworld]] are lazy scam artists demanding bribes from the player with transparent cover stories.
3	* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: One promo short has Bowser trying to woo Peach with a flower, only for her to transform into Elephant Peach when an Elephant Fruit passes by. Bowser immediately swaps the flower with a ''bouquet''. Is this because Bowser loves Peach no matter what shape she is, or is he more of a ChubbyChaser?
4	* AntiClimaxBoss: With the exception of the final showdown with Bowser, the boss battles are regarded as a weak point of the game.
5	** All the battles with Bowser Jr. are repetitive, for he is the only other character fought and only appears as the boss of four worlds [[UnderusedGameMechanic through the entire game]] and largely has the same strategy each time, just twisted up a little with some different kind of Wonder Effect.
6	** Each of the Airship levels ends with a pseudo boss battle against the factory production line itself: a very menacing-looking Bowser head that spits out obstacles down a conveyor belt. It has a very simple and linear way to defeat it: simply jumping over it and hitting the BigRedButton, ''once''. Like with Jr., each of its appearances involves a different obstacle to slightly spice things up, but each obstacle is too simple to really change how the fight plays. Even worse, the production line fights are greatly overshadowed by the Wonder Effect of the airships, [[spoiler:where Castle Bowser tries to kill you himself with his cannons]].
7	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The game's art style is ''gorgeous'', giving it a painterly direction while also giving Mario and his allies numerous expressions and tics that make them stand out.
8	* [[AwesomeBosses/SuperMarioBros Awesome Bosses]]: [[spoiler:[[Characters/SuperMarioBrosBowser Bowser]] once again never fails to disappoint, this time delivering an epic FinalBoss that serves as a culmination of the game's musical theming. You have to time your jumps in sync with the badass music track to land hits, while also dodging a barrage of fiery attacks and smashes from the Koopa King, with each phase escalating until you finally scale the arena and finish him off. After a series of lackluster battles against Bowser Jr., many players were delighted by just how much fun Bowser was able to bring to the table.]]
9	* [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Awesome Levels]]:
10	** [[JungleJapes "Piranha Plants on Parade"]] became an instant fan-favorite, as the sheer imagination of having an army of Piranha Plants ''sing'' for Mario and co. while marching around is as adorable as it is catchy. [[spoiler:The plants even get an encore in [[BrutalBonusLevel "The Semifinal Test Piranha Plant Reprise]]"!]]
11	** [[JourneyToTheSky "Cosmic Hoppos"]] is a memorable early-game level. For one, it's among the few vertical levels in the game, and you can cover ludicrous distances ''ludicrously fast'' through serial Hoppo-bouncing. The highlight is the Wonder Effect, which ''[[SpaceZone sends you into space]]'', where you can float around freely in a scenario resembling the Star Maze from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins''. It comes towards the end of a meaty secret path in World 1, and leads to the [[spoiler: first special world entrance]] after a quick badge challenge.
12	** Petal Isles houses unique level themes not found anywhere else in the game. Highlights include [[PalmtreePanic "Downpour Uproar"]], a lazy beach level with clouds whose rain you can swim in, [[LevelAte "Maw-Maw Mouthful"]], a candyland that becomes a StealthBasedMission when you're transformed into a slow, defenseless Goomba who must hide from ravenous Maw-Maws, and [[BleakLevel "Muncher Fields"]], a quiet level reminiscent of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'''s Piranha Plant courses where a soft rain falls and Castle Bowser observes you from the background.
13	** For those who enjoy challenging platforming, [[TemporaryPlatform "Jump! Jump! Jump!"]] and [[BrutalBonusLevel "Fluff Puff Peaks Special Climb to the Beat"]] are gloriously intense (and surprisingly [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic catchy]]) rushes to the finish line that will test players' skills without being too unfair.
14	** [[HalloweenEpisode "Upshroom Downshroom"]] and [[BigBoosHaunt "Light-Switch Mansion"]] both stand out due to their Halloween aesthetics; the former features a jack-o'-lantern-lit dance party and the latter features the surprise appearance of [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/LuigisMansionSeries King Boo]], who leads his ghostly subjects in an operatic music number as he chases you down]].
15	** [[LethalLavaLand "Pull, Turn, Burn"]] has you pulling handles to move the fire obstacles out of your way while avoiding the lava. It's a decent challenge all around, but the Wonder Flower in this level is the absolute highlight, as you gain immunity to fire, falling into the ruins below and searching for five Wonder Tokens, all while ''[[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid swimming in the magma and the lava geysers]]''. [[RuleOfCool How cool is that?]]
16	** [[LethalLavaLand "Dragon Boneyard"]] starts out as a fun, yet fairly typical lava-themed level where you have to jump between circular, rotating platforms made out of dragon fossils. Then you get the Wonder Flower, and one of the fossils ''springs to life'', turning into a giant blue dragon that gives Mario and co. a ride through the volcanic terrain. Even the Talking Flowers think it's awesome!
17	--->'''Talking Flower:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis This. Is. AWESOME!]]
18	** [[spoiler:[[FinalBoss "The Final Battle! Bowser's Rage Stage"]] and [[DiscOneFinalDungeon "The Final Test Wonder Gauntlet"]]]] are two huge conglomerations of several Wonder effects from all over the game, with the former containing an incredible final boss and the latter ending in a mad dash to the goal as tons of effects layer on top of each other.
19	** [[spoiler:[[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon "The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon"]] keeps up the series' tradition of ''extremely'' [[BrutalBonusLevel difficult]], yet ultimately fair and creative final levels, in the same vein as [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld "Champion's Road"]] and the [[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey Darker Side of the Moon]]. It also helps that CheckpointStarvation is averted, as there are two checkpoints to make dying [[AntiFrustrationFeatures less frustrating]].]]
20	* BreatherLevel:
21	** Deliberately {{Invoked\|Trope}} with courses labeled "Break Time!", which are incredibly short courses that can be completed in mere seconds, typically with no way to lose a life either, giving the player an easy-to-obtain Wonder Seed.
22	** World 3, Shining Falls, [[spoiler:is comprised of only six main levels, with the rest being mini-stages. There is no palace or boss, the least amount of Wonder Seeds in any of the main worlds, and the secret exit to the Special World is unlocked simply by talking to an NPC.]] The entire latter half of the game opens up on its completion, so that may be why.
23	* CheeseStrategy:
24	** When playing online, dying will turn your character into a ghost that can freely move through the air. This can be used to skip sections of levels should another player or a conveniently placed standee be close by.
25	** From the moment it was revealed, fans suspected that the Bubble Flower power-up could be used to cheese levels, and they turned out to be correct -- while it does require practice to get the timing down, the fact that the bubbles you blow can be used as temporary platforms with almost no cooldown makes it entirely possible to skip over massive portions of many of the game's levels. It also can deal with many enemy encounters through walls, so you will not be in danger.
26	** The Parachute Cap and Grappling Vine badges can be used to infinitely scale walls by wall jumping up them, allowing one to reach areas they're not supposed to reach or skip platforming segments if there happens to be a wall nearby. The latter even appears to be intentional, as [[spoiler:the Grappling Vine section of "The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon" requires you do this at the end.]]
27	** Using the emotes can let you see where your character is while they're equipped with the Invisibility badge. This makes the Badge Challenge levels using this badge much easier, especially [[spoiler:the final section of "The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon".]]
28	* DifficultySpike: World 2 contains several levels that are a step up in difficulty:
29	** Jump! Jump! Jump! requires perfect precision platforming for about a full minute relatively early in the game, and most methods for reducing difficulty such as rescuing ghosts or using an invincible character don't work at all.
30	** There's also the devilish Badge Challenge Wall-Climb Jump II, which is a long vertical level almost entirely comprised of single block-wide platforms and the risk of falling all the way back to the start. Towards the end is a very unusual setup with rotating platforms, which must be pre-emptively wall-jumped off of while vertical in order to be caught by the flat side as they turn around.
31	** The most infamous of these is Fluff-Fluff Peaks Special: Climb to the Beat. The platforming is now more precise and after getting the Wonder Flower, poison starts rising. The timing here, is '''very strict'''. If you're too fast at the beginning, you'll fall through the platform that hasn't yet materialized. Too slow, and you'll fall through the disappearing platforms. One wrong move and the poison will instantly kill your character, forcing you to start from the beginning.
32	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
33	** The Talking Flowers are widely popular for giving often [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} nonsensically silly]] commentary and being [[ButtMonkey the butt of much of the game's slapstick]]. It helps that their dialogue doesn't disrupt gameplay, and the audio can be turned off in the settings if the player wishes. Most choose not to, though.
34	** Babooms, a firework-like variant of Bob-ombs, became really popular despite only appearing in very few levels, thanks to their cute design and their unique mechanic that allows them to disassemble and launch fireworks upon being hit.
35	* EvilIsCool: Bowser once more fails to disappoint, with his new plan being the [[CrazyIsCool insanely awesome]] concept of him ''becoming'' Florian's castle. [[spoiler:Reaches its peak in the final boss fight where he schemes to have the whole universe jam out to his (admittedly awesome) musical beats with this now being [[VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS the]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy fourth]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 time]] he's planned to take over the universe.]]
36	* FanficFuel: As shown in the trailers, the Wonder Flowers can do anything, meaning that the possibilities for fan works based around it are nigh-endless.
37	* FanNickname:
38	** The game's title as a whole often gets shortened to "Mario Wonder" (most commonly) or ''Super Mario Wonder'' (less commonly), like how people shorten previous games' titles.
39	** Due to the flower motifs and surreal imagery, it's not uncommon for people to call the game ''Super Mario Acid Trip''. Others with a sense of the series' history have referred to it as ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy]]: The Game''.
40	** German Mario fans have taken to calling Elephant Mario "Benjamin Blümchen" due to looking similar to said children's audiobook character.
41	** Some fans have been calling Prince Florian [[Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach Kibidango/Haru]], as he greatly resembles him design-wise and is also the prince of the Flower Kingdom.
42	** [[spoiler:The final world lacks a proper name in-game, being considered part of Petal Isles, but fans like to call it Factory due to Castle Bowser's domain being akin to that setting.]]
43	** Fans often call Wonder Bowser Jr. [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Dark Bowser]] Jr. due to their extremely similar designs.
44	* FanonDiscontinuity: Even though the actual title of the game was called Super Mario ''Bros.'' Wonder to avoid creating confusion with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', fans choose to call the game ''Super Mario Wonder'', as its much easier to say and rolls off the tongue better. But then again, ''Super Mario Bros. Wonder'' is one acronym short of confusion with ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii''.
45	* FountainOfMemes: The reveal of Elephant Mario inspired a cornucopia of jokes, memes, and fanart.
46	* FridgeBrilliance:
47	** A Talking Flower lets off a frantic RapidFireNo when Mario hits a switch that darkens the level. Flowers thrive in sunlight, so of ''course'' they'd be scared of the dark.
48	** Why is Yoshi invincible except for bottomless pits and lava? Because in ''Super Mario'' games where he is a PowerupMount, he's completely immune to damage when nobody is riding him, and in the ''Yoshi's Island'' series, he didn't die unless he fell down a pit or touched lethal obstacles such as spikes. Yoshi getting hurt only ever ejected his rider off his back.
49	** In the airship levels, the Wonder Effect is the face of the airship appearing and attacking, instead of something random. Since these airships are summoned by Kamek, Kamek probably told Bowser that the heroes would be in the airship, and since Bowser has Wonder Power, he must have hijacked the Wonder Flower in an attempt to destroy Mario.
50	** Being female, Peach and Daisy's Elephant forms and Wonder transformations give them more feminine features to distinguish them from the boys. Toadette's transformations lacking the feminine features despite her being a girl may seem a bit odd until you remember that the Toads weren't initially designed with gender in mind.
51	** The Elephant Fruit being an apple seems like a weird choice, but it's likely a pun on a real-life fruit called the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillenia_indica Elephant Apple]].
52	* FriendlyFandoms:
53	** Despite the usual [[FandomRivalry rivalry]] stemming between both fanbases and franchises, ''Mario'' and ''Franchise/{{Sonic\|TheHedgehog}}'' fans are both equally supportive of this game and ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'', both of which were released within three days of each other. Both games are looking to be a very nice return to form after past [[ContestedSequel controversial]] 2D game entries (''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'' respectively) with very beautiful and expressive animation and art-styles while also having completely new and unique looking environments and areas and multiple different playable characters (with Amy and Daisy being the biggest surprises). Plenty of crossover art celebrating both games were made within hours of the game's reveal.
54	** Fans have noted that the game's release date of October 20, 2023 coincides with the release of ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'', which led to them affectionately imagining crossovers between the two, similar to the situation between ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' and ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons''. Bonus points, one of the badge power-ups for ''Wonder'' is a grapple vine, similar to Spider-Man's web slinging.
55	* GameBreaker:
56	** The Drill Mushroom stands out for its hat being lethal to almost every enemy in the game, while drilling into the ground lets you avoid hazards (including bosses) and travel along ceilings.
57	** Some Action and Boost Badges are PurposelyOverpowered and make the game ''much'' easier.
58	*** The Parachute Cap badge. Unlike past gliding power-ups, it carries your momentum, so it can be used to cross almost any gap and easily slick through an entire level. But the real kicker is that you can alternately wall-jump and glide back into the wall to ''scale it,'' hilariously invalidating the Wall-Climb Jump badge. You get it after ''[[DiscOneNuke World 1-3]]'', by the way.
59	*** The Boosting Spin Jump badge. This badge effectively gives you a double jump, not only trivializing numerous platforming challenges (vertical and horizontal), but 10-flower coins that are either above bottomless pits or just out of reach with a normal jump become much easier to get.
60	*** The Timed High Jump badge is essentially the Triple Jump from the ''New Super Mario Bros.'' series and 3D ''Mario'' games, except that it can be performed from a standstill and is much easier to time. It also goes about just as high as the Crouching High Jump badge (essentially the Power Squat from ''Super Mario Bros. 2''), making it feel redundant by comparison.
61	*** The Dolphin Kick Badge makes every water level much easier, especially the Wiggler Race, so it's useful in Petal Isles.
62	*** The Safety Bounce badge outright saves you from falling down bottomless pits by boosting you upward by a large amount just like Peachette in ''New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe''. It also recharges when touching ground, which you most likely will after jumping out of the pit. This essentially invalidates sequences that force you to jump on enemies to avoid falling into pits and makes it harder to die on most levels.
63	* GeniusBonus: The talking flowers dotting the levels as [=NPCs=] appear to specifically be a kind of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia Brugmansia]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura Datura]], both members of a family of flowers known as ''Nightshades'' that is known to cause hallucinatory effects[[note]]Datura and Brugmansia are poisonous on top of producing extremely unpleasant hallucinations[[/note]] -- tying into the game's whimsical, "trippy", and mildly ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''-inspired art direction.
64	* IKnewIt: Upon the game's reveal in the June 2023 Direct, viewers noted that Mario sounded slightly different in the trailer than in previous titles, which led to speculation that Mario is voiced by someone other than Creator/CharlesMartinet, who previously made public statements implying that his age was making it increasingly difficult to maintain the character's voice. On August 21, Nintendo announced that [[https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1693624002982314108 Martinet was retiring as the voice of the hero for the games]] and [[https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-confirms-charles-martinet-is-not-involved-in-super-mario-bros-wonder confirmed later that day]] he won't be voicing Mario and Luigi in this game.
65	* ItsEasySoItSucks: The game's bosses (besides the FinalBoss) have caught a lot of flak for this, as all [[UnderusedGameMechanic four]] of them are all near-identical brawls against Bowser Jr. that can be beaten in four hits at most. Worse, his moveset is largely the same as it was in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'', where he was merely a Tower mini-boss compared to said game's varied Castle bosses.
66	* JustHereForGodzilla:
67	** Many fans saw their interest immediately spike when it was shown that Daisy would be playable in a full-fledged 2D ''Mario'' game for the first time. And with Peach also returning as a playable character (for the first time in a mainline 2D game since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun''), many fans are excited to be able to have the Princesses finally adventure together for the first time.
68	** In a similar vein, the addition of Daisy left Luigi/Daisy shippers excited to be able to have the two playable together on an adventure for the first time ever.
69	* LowTierLetdown: The Invisibility Badge. Most Badges in ''Super Mario Bros. Wonder'' range from a very useful StatusBuff, to being [[HighlySpecificCounterplay highly situational]], to purely [[BraggingRightsReward cosmetic]]. The Invisibility Badge belongs to a separate group of Expert badges that give you an ability that is either hard to control or has a major drawback and is generally disliked among players for not doing anything else other than making you invisible for added challenge via FakeDifficulty on courses. Being unable to see your character often forces you to rely on a CheeseStrategy, like spamming emotes, or riding Yoshi (so the crown icon displays) just to get by. It's comparable to [[SelfImposedChallenge blindfolding yourself]] given that you're ''entirely'' invisible and there's not even an outline of your character, it's a good reason why the trope VisibleInvisibility exists. Given its status as the most difficult badge, [[spoiler:it is the final obstacle of [[BrutalBonusLevel The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon]] and the final obstacle of the whole game, with no checkpoint directly before it, though there are at least many clouds that disappear when touched [[AntiFrustrationFeatures which let you know where you are]]. Enjoy the pain of running foolishly off into the void, and repeat the other prior three sections, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck over and over again with your remaining lives until you nail it]]]].
70	* MagnificentBastard: [[Characters/SuperMarioBrosBowser Bowser]] once again aspires for [[TakeOverTheWorld universal domination]]. Merging himself with a Royal Seed and Prince Florian's castle, he sets up a barrier to ward off anyone from stopping him as he absorbs more Wonder energy, having Bowser Jr. and Kamek distract Mario and friends from getting the Royal Seeds necessary for destroying his barrier. Having finished charging his energy by the time they accomplish this, he throws them into multiple gauntlets made by him before revealing his grand plan to [[spoiler:hypnotize the universe with his Wonder-powered music. [[RottenRockAndRoll Treating the final confrontation like a rock concert]] while nonetheless fighting to the end, Bowser comes [[NearVillainVictory a hair's breadth]] from turning everyone in the universe into his "captive audience"]].
71	* MemeticMutation: Now has its [[Memes/SuperMarioBrosWonder own page]]!
72	* MemeticPsychopath:
73	** A particular Talking Flower shown in the August Direct is shown to wonder what Goombas taste like. With the reveal that there's a wonder effect that turns heroes into Goombas, this has spawned plenty of fanart depicting a Talking Flower ominously staring at a terrified Goomba Mario whilst questioning what he tastes like. Became HilariousInHindsight upon the game's release; if you pass by it while a Goomba, it'll question what ''you'' taste like, though after getting the Wonder Seed, it'll state it hopes the Goomba made it. In fact, the Talking Flowers' status as a MemeticPsychopath only intensified further once players discovered ''even more'' quotes throughout the game that involve tasting things and other similarly bizarre statements. Fans would latch on to these to make out the Talking Flowers as depraved [[NightmareFetishist Nightmare Fetishists]] with a touch of AxCrazy.
74	** Many fans compared Prince Florian to [[ForcedTransformation Kibidango]]/[[DieForOurShip Prince Haru]] from ''Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach'' anime film, leading to a ''ton'' of fan speculation ([[PoesLaw jokingly or otherwise]]) leading up to the game's release that Prince Florian would be [[BitchInSheepsClothing secretly the real villain]] in some way. It didn't help when ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' fans jumped in due to a history in their franchise of cute characters being introduced only to turn out to be [[BitchInSheepsClothing Bitches in Sheep's Clothing]]. Once the game was out, Prince Florian was shown to be [[SheepInSheepsClothing just as sweet as he appeared to be]], and also [[spoiler:not Prince Haru]], and reception of him warmed up.
75	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
76	** The "Wowie zowie!" that the characters let out when they turn into their elephant forms is always a delight to hear.
77	** The sound of picking up a Wonder Flower, along with the accompanying voice that shouts "WONDEEEER!", which signifies that something awesome is about to happen.
78	%%ZCE; why is it wonderful? ** The [[https://youtu.be/Flo_tMDAT6s?si=GKWDo1wDTQZRZrJf World Introduction]] tune.
79	* OlderThanTheyThink:
80	** Many fans began comparing the game to an acid trip, but these references actually go back to the [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 first game]] in the series. The mushrooms are based on the ones from ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', after all.
81	** This isn't the first time Daisy and Yoshi have been playable in a mainline 2D ''Mario'' game, because they already appeared in this capacity in ''Super Mario Run'', with Daisy being added in its September 2017 update six years prior. If counting 3D ''Mario'' games as well, Yoshi was also [[PromotedToPlayable playable]] in the [[VideoGameRemake remake]] ''[[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Super Mario 64 DS]]''.
82	** While the concept of grabbing an item that turns the level into a trippier version of itself is a major focus of ''Wonder'', something akin to that had been done in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' when touching Fuzzies. The parody series ''VideoGame/NormalSuperMarioBros'', while not something sanctioned by Nintendo, similarly took this idea and ran with it.
83	** This is not the first game to have Yoshi ride another Yoshi. ''VideoGame/YoshisCraftedWorld'' also allows Yoshi to ride another Yoshi in multiplayer.
84	** The ability the Bubble Flower powerup grants technically isn't new. Bubbles that trap enemies and can be bounced on originated in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', where the player could carry Bubble Baby Yoshis that could blow bubbles to perform the act.
85	** The gameplay mechanic of turning the entire level upside down seen in some Wonder effects isn't new to this game, that first appeared in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'' on the final castle level of the game.
86	** Yoshi carrying someone far bigger than he is (Elephant Mario in this case) isn't exactly new. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' had a freshly hatched baby Yoshi carrying Mario on his back despite Mario clearly being too large for him.
87	** Singing Piranha Plants actually originated ''decades'' before ''Wonder'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th7NtTOuUbg in a Japanese commercial for]] ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''.
88	** Grabbing an Elephant powerup isn't the first time Luigi has said "Wowie Zowie!", as he said the exact phrase upon seeing the (fake) Last Resort Hotel in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3''.
89	** Those segments where a character turns into a slime ball (Wubba) that can stick to walls and ceilings? Already done decades earlier in ''VideoGame/SmartBall''.
90	** Bowser using music to take over the world? He tried it before in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' where he used a magic music box to make everyone dance.
91	* PopularWithFurries: Elephant Mario was instantly beloved by the furry fandom thanks to him being an anthropomorphic elephant rather than an elephant-themed costume like the Frog, Tanooki, and Cat suits. Predictably, he would very soon be subjected to furry fanart with even the other playable characters following suit by being designed in similar ways as Elephant Mario, with the same popularity extending to the elephant forms of other playable characters after they were officially revealed in the direct. And to no one's shock, Bowser and Yoshi are in on the elephant fun as well despite neither having a canonical elephant form. Almost as if a nod to this popularity, a promotional short has Bowser try to woo Peach, only for her to use an Elephant Fruit. Bowser then replaces the single flower ''[[ChubbyChaser with an entire bouquet]]''.
92	* QuirkyWork: The June 2023 and August 2023 trailers prove that the game is going to have a surreal atmosphere, and by picking up a unique flower, the whole area becomes even weirder, with psychedelic imagery that wouldn't look too out of place from a drug trip, including a warp pipe inching along like a caterpillar, rollerblading mooks, and Mario turning into an elephant and a giant spiky ball.
93	* QuestionableCasting: With Kevin Afghani's debut as Mario and Luigi, it can feel off after the three decades with Charles Martinet's voice, so that might be expected from some people. While he was received mostly positively overall and his take on Luigi was praised, his Mario received a more mixed response by fans for some hit-and-miss lines and a few times here and there where his voice cracks, like in the March 2024 Nintendo Direct, which led some to say that Mario sounds like he's going through reverse puberty. Of course, he just became Martinet's successor and he didn't have much experience in voice acting before that, so his Mario voice is still in its early stages.
94	* SelfImposedChallenge:
95	** Getting all three 10-flower coins in one run of Fluff Puff Peaks Special: Climb to the Beat. As this is already considered one of, if not ''the'' hardest levels in the entire game, you'll need nigh-perfect timing on your turns and jumps to pull this off, as each 10-flower coin is placed in a way that forces you to lose your momentum to collect them. You can keep your speed intact on the first coin by wall jumping off of the one-block thick platform, but you'll have to collect the second and third coins the normal way, and the third coin comes right before the level drastically speeds up.
96	** All of the Expert Badges in the game (besides the Sound Off badge BraggingRightsReward) give you some sort of ability that is either hard to control or has a major drawback: the Jet Run badge allows you to run automatically at incredible speeds (similar to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' but faster) and float over small gaps but you cannot stop it, the Spring Jump allows you to jump higher than usual but makes you jump perpetually, and finally, the Invisibility badge is the least useful of the three, being extremely situational and mostly a pure challenge, it makes it impossible for enemies to spot you but makes you [[FakeDifficulty completely invisible without any (built-in) indicator that shows where you are]]. All stages in the game (other than Badge Challenges, where an specific one must be used on each one, alongside [[spoiler:the [[BrutalBonusLevel final bonus level]], where an specific badge must be used on each section]]) can be cleared while equipping these badges if you want to challenge (or depending on the level, torture) yourself.
97	* ShockingMoments: The Wonder Flower is all about surprises -- and yet, few could've expected that [[spoiler:the Metal Mario powerup would make a return as a Wonder Effect in the High-Voltage Gauntlet level, complete with a remix of its theme from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and the ability to electrify yourself to magnetise coins. A powerup giving you another powerup not otherwise in the game sure is surprising!]]
98	* SignatureScene: "Piranha Plants on Parade" became an instant fan-favorite thanks to its charm, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic catchy song]] and surprise CallBack to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNKXyr6YN8Y Japanese commercial]] for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG.'' Nintendo themselves must have been particularly proud of this level, as not only was it omitted from the demo to serve as a surprise, but [[spoiler:the penultimate Special World level is a much harder take on the same concept titled "The Semifinal Test Piranha Plant Reprise"]].
99	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
100	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGcSOEYEzIo The course clear theme]] sounds suspiciously like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvug5QpVkI The Gustavo and Brick Hour]] jingle from ''VideoGame/PizzaTower''.
101	** The intro to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiVWuT_VPxA "A Very Special March"]] sounds a lot like the opening notes of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rspzzsMRl-E The 20th Century Fox fanfare]].
102	* TaintedByThePreview: The August Direct revealing that the game would not have traditional online play (instead having a "Live Player Shadows" system) wasn't well received by the fanbase, due to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'' and the Switch port of ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', released prior to this this game, supporting traditional online play (even if their use of delay-based netcode, which was responsible for online freezes/lag, [[YMMV/SuperMarioMaker2 wasn't particularly well received itself]]). [[WinBackTheCrowd Fortunately]], the release of the game proved that, while not as much as the aforementioned games, the game's online play system still offers plenty of room to interact with others and is rather fun in its own right. The way it's implemented also helped it completely avoid the previously mentioned pitfall of online lag/freezes due to the use of delay-based netcode.
103	* ThatOneLevel:
104	** Fluff-Puff Peaks Special: Climb to the Beat is surprisingly difficult even among the Special World levels, as it requires a few quick and precise wall jumps near the end of the level. If you jump too slowly or too low, you'll be unable to reach the next wall in time. For the whole level in general, you'll have to perfectly time your jumps and keep up with the level's steadily increasing speed -- adjusting time as you progress -- in order to avoid losing a life and starting over.
105	** [[spoiler:The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon is widely considered one of the hardest levels in a ''Mario'' game by far. Consisting of a gauntlet of ten badge challenges one after another they will test your patience as much as your reflexes. Each section will force you to use a different badge to complete it, most of them require precision jumping and split-second decision making under time constraints and each one is hard enough that will take multiple sessions of trial and error to solve. And once you solve one good luck shaking the muscle memory for the next one, which will immediately require a different set of skills. It avoids CheckpointStarvation, but you have only three checkpoints, so if you lose a life you'll have to redo all the previous challenges between the last checkpoint and the current section. To add insult to injury, the last challenge (and the one that has the flagpole to end the level) requires the invisibility badge, aka, the hardest one to hit the top of the flagpole with. Don't even think about starting this level with less than 99 lives.]]
106	* ThatOnePuzzle: Search Party: Puzzling Park's second Wonder Token is incredibly cryptic. To find this token, you'll need to go to the lower floor, push the leftmost pipe to the right by around seven spaces, and hit an invisible Yellow Toad character block. There is no indication that you can push any of the pipes in this stage, so players may not realize that they need to do this to reach the hidden block (assuming they can figure out one is there to begin with). Given that this is the first Search Party level in the game, it's hard not to imagine that the difficulty is meant to be incentive for [[SocializationBonus engaging with the online multiplayer]], as each Search Party level starts with a recommendation that they be done with local/online multiplayer if the player is having trouble. If you leave and come back to the level, it's ''possible'' you'll get a loading screen message that mysteriously mentions how some pipes can be pushed, but there's otherwise nothing suggesting the solution to this puzzle, and the loading screen messages, while appropriate for the levels they're attached to, are still ultimately random.
107	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The recasting of Daisy has been met with some backlash, but not mainly about Giselle Fernandez (who has been praised for being near-indistinguishable from Daisy's previous voice) replacing Deanna Mustard. Rather, it's the timing of the recast and Nintendo's handling of it. For the former, the recast happening the same time Daisy finally gets to be playable in a mainline console game can feel rather disappointing to some fans who were looking forward to hearing a new performance of Mustard's voice alongside the game. For the latter, while it's not known whether Mustard chose to retire, Nintendo gave no such advance notice about the recast, unlike the announcement of Charles Martinet's retirement from the series in advance of ''Wonder's'' release. While this isn't the first time Nintendo has recast certain characters between installments, fans felt the silently sudden recast was unfair to Mustard, as she had voiced Daisy since 2003[[note]]which is far longer than the timeframes of Peach and Toad's voice actresses before their current ones[[/note]] and helped shape Daisy's personality the same way Martinet did for his roles. This has left some fans feeling conflicted, saying that at the very least, Mustard should have been given some kind of send-off (assuming the recast was Nintendo's decision and not hers).
108	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
109	** Master Poplin in World 3, Shining Falls tasks Mario and his friends with completing his trials to test them. With this in mind, and the fact that Bowser Jr. isn't present in this world, one would expect him to be the boss as the final trial. [[spoiler:But he doesn't show off any of his skills beyond poofing away and just gives the player the Royal Seed upon entering his mansion.]]
110	** King Boo is a stage hazard specific to Wonder effects and not a boss. This is especially disappointing considering [[spoiler:Bowser Jr. is the ''only'' boss in the game besides Bowser himself]].
111	** Kamek's only role in this game is summoning Battleships. He doesn't get a boss fight nor any lines of dialogue.
112	** In terms of playable characters, many have questioned why [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina]] wasn't playable for this entry, as she had previously been playable in the main series in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld''.
113	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Wonder Flower can do anything, so the possibilities for bosses are endless. [[spoiler:And yet, every boss aside from Bowser himself is Bowser Jr. in his new Wonder Bowser Jr. form, only varying in Wonder effects. It would've been interesting to see other iconic bosses throughout the Mario series similar to the original ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'', how they'd be affected by Wonder energy, or at least see Bowser Jr. and/or the playable characters take on different transformations during the battles like in Wonder effects on normal levels. But instead, these battles don't play much differently from the Koopaling/Boom-Boom bosses in the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series and prior games, though at least the ability to stunlock him after jumping on him has been removed. He (or any other boss) also could have been fought more times given that, despite being the only other boss in the game he is only fought ''four'' times throughout the entire game and airship levels lack a proper boss, unlike in previous games.]]
114	* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: Many were quick to equate ''Wonder'' as being a ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' game if it were made while taking LSD, owing to how it not only has plenty of [[DerangedAnimation psychedelic visuals]] of its own, but also has [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to other works known for having [[DisneyAcidSequence trippy visuals]], including the title and talking flowers being indicative of ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'', and the level "Piranha Plants on Parade" directly referencing ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' (along with Mario actually ''transforming'' into an elephant).
115	* UnderusedGameMechanic:
116	** The Dolphin Kick badge makes underwater movement a breeze, but there are only two dedicated water levels in the entire game (besides its own badge challenges) and very few pools, making this a near literal case of ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman.
117	** Yoshi's spit mechanic has a number of unique effects, such as spitting Hammer Bro hammers in an arc, a three-way projectile spread when licking up burning or bony enemies, or a rapid-fire BulletSeed from Melon Piranha Plants. This idea could be spun off into its own dedicated game, but the feature is generally treated as an afterthought; most enemies can't be spit or behave identically to being thrown, and the enemies that do have a spit effect aren't placed in ways that encourage making good use of the mechanic. The seed spit effect in particular -- which is a cool ''Yoshi's Island'' reference -- can only be used in exactly two levels and one KO Arena room, since those are the only places where Melon Piranha Plants show up.
118	** With the sheer variety in mechanics present and focus on new things, a number of quintessential Mario elements fall by the wayside and only see use in one level. Some examples are Bob-ombs, Pokeys, and Burners.
119	* UnexpectedCharacter:
120	** Very few were expecting Princess Daisy to be in the game, let alone [[PromotedToPlayable playable]], given that she's mostly been relegated to spin-offs following [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand her debut]], with her only other mainline appearance being ''Super Mario Run''.
121	** Even less were expecting Yoshi to be playable, as he's always been treated solely as a power-up outside of [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland his own spin-off series]], ''Super Mario 64 DS'', and ''Super Mario Run''.
122	** Fans were not expecting the ''Wonder'' direct to reveal Toadette and Nabbit[[note]]First playable in mainline entries in ''Super Mario Run'' and ''New Super Mario Bros. U''[='s=] ''New Super Luigi U'' DLC respectively[[/note]] as playable characters, since [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer they weren't featured in the initial reveal trailer or on the game's key artwork]].
123	** While not confirmed to be playable, one shot in the ''Wonder'' direct shows that Captain Toad is an NPC in the game, which took many fans by surprise since he hadn't been featured in the 2D entries[[note]]Outside of an Amiibo costume for Mario in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker''[[/note]] up until this game.
124	** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Hothead from ''Super Mario World'' and Nipper Plant from ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', both of which had been absent for over 20 years (counting [[UpdatedRerelease ports and/or remakes]] of said games) outside of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' and ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' series, as well as ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach''.
125	** Aside from Daisy, there didn't really seem to be a lot of returning main characters that hadn't appeared before in 2D ''Mario'' titles, which makes it all the more surprising that when you collect the Wonder Flower in Light-Switch Mansion, you get the familiar laugh, followed by the appearance of none other than [[spoiler:''[[VideoGame/LuigisMansionSeries King Boo]]'']], in his first mainline 2D appearance!
126	* WinBackTheCrowd: ''Super Mario Bros. Wonder'' is considered an excellent return to form after past [[ContestedSequel controversial]] entries in spite of any of its flaws. After many fans felt that the prior console 2D games, ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks reused too many ideas]] from previous games and [[MissionPackSequel introduced too few new ones]], not changing the core gameplay and aesthetics from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'', ''Wonder'' introduces a plethora of new creative ideas with its Wonder Effects, vastly expands the gameplay with its Badges, has diverse VideoGameSettings, features an entirely new artstyle and soundtrack besides intentional callbacks, excellent level design, and a diverse playable character roster.
127	* {{Woolseyism}}: The Talking Flower dialogue in the English translation is generally well-received, with many glad that they're funnier than was expected. For one specific example, there's one Talking Flower from "Wavy Ride through the Magma Tube". Only appearing if you hit a Roulette Block cycling between it and the Wonder Flower, [[GratuitousEnglish it just yells "WONDEEEEER!!" in the Japanese version]]. This would have come across as having a bit of an unclear punchline if translated literally; in the English version, they instead say "Look at me! [[BlatantLies I'm the Wonder Flower!]]", where the joke is a lot more obvious.

Context YMMV / SuperMarioBrosWonder