Review: Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park

The original Nintendo Switch is home to many top-notch exclusives, so when Nintendo Switch 2 came around, it was a no-brainer for Nintendo to upgrade and repackage some of their most acclaimed last-generation titles. Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which we gave a perfect review score when it launched in 2023, is now the latest to receive this coveted “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” treatment, which includes a content expansion dubbed “Meetup in Bellabel Park.” If you already own the base game and are wondering if getting the upgrade pack is worth it, this review is for you, but if you’re new to Super Mario Bros. Wonder, you should check out our review of the original base game first.

At the start-up menu of Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, you’ll be asked if you want to launch the Switch or Switch 2 Edition of the game. This is handled differently than Super Mario Party Jamboree, which separated the Switch 2 Edition content and didn’t upgrade the entire base game. Thankfully, everything in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, including your old save data, is fully intact when selecting the Switch 2 Edition, adding 4K resolution support for TV mode, faster load times, GameShare, an Assist Mode, and more. It’s undoubtedly the definitive way to play no matter how you slice it, and while including the original version of the game may seem unnecessary, the option is there so you can play online with those still on a Switch 1, as well as to preserve the original voice of the Talking Flower, who has since been recast.

Just in time for the theatrical premiere of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Rosalina has been added to the character roster as part of the Switch 2 Edition, playable throughout all the old and new levels, and complete with her own set of standees to collect. Joining the cast alongside Peach and Daisy, this marks the first time all three major princesses are playable in a mainline Mario title. The wonderful Laura Faye Smith reprises her role as Rosalina once again with a new set of voice lines, including some that are cutely Galaxy themed, like saying “stellar!” when starting a level or “oh my stars!” when losing a life. An iconic yellow Luma follows Rosalina around and is visible during some of her gameplay animations, but an orange Co-Star Luma has also been added as a separate playable character. Co-Star Luma is inspired by P2 in Super Mario Galaxy, but much less restrictive, as you actually fully control the floating character with the left stick (also compatible with mouse controls, but surprisingly not motion controls), collecting coins and defeating enemies with a spin attack. You can only be Co-Star Luma when playing with at least one other player, and like Yoshi and Nabbit, they do not take damage or transform with power-ups.

If you’ve already explored everything else the Flower Kingdom has to offer, a resolution boost and new playable characters probably won’t be enough of a reason to replay the main game, and that’s where the “Meetup in Bellabel Park” expansion comes in. Accessible from a newly discovered entrance in Pip-Rock Plateau (World 1), Bellabel Park is just a mine cart ride away from the rest of the World Map. Bellabel Park has all sorts of new attractions, and while most of them have a strong multiplayer focus, there’s plenty that can be enjoyed solo. Although it didn’t affect our review score at the time, and the overall reception of Super Mario Bros. Wonder was still overwhelmingly positive amongst critics and fans alike, the biggest disappointment was the lack of variety for the boss fights. Nintendo has listened, bringing about the return of the Koopalings.

The Koopalings

When you first arrive in Bellabel Park, you’ll find all 7 of the Koopalings (Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig) riding together in one Clown Car, attempting to steal the park’s uniquely musical treasure, the Bellabel Flowers. In a tutorial-like sequence, you’re introduced to a brand new power-up, the Super Flower Pot, sporting your character with an adorably floral outfit that equips you to flutter-jump (similarly to Yoshi) and throw upwards rising flowers as an attack. Using this against the Koopalings, you’re able to stop them from stealing the largest of the Bellabel Flowers, but there are still 7 they got away with, not-so-coincidentally, one for each of them, and now it’s your mission to get the rest of the Bellabel Flowers back home.

Captain Toad and the Poplins have set up brigade tents across the Flower Kingdom, with reports of each Koopaling’s location being sent there by the brigade’s newest recruit. Finding the next brigade tent is made quite simple, as a Poplin located in Bellabel Park can point you to exactly which World to head to next. At the tents, you’ll begin a Showdown level, starting off with a remixed platforming section based on an area of that World, and leading into a boss fight with one of the Koopalings. Staying true to the 2D Mario formula, learning and dodging attack patterns and attacking back when vulnerable, these are some of the best boss fights in series history, made in part by the Koopaling’s unique and creative Wonder transformations.

Toad Brigade Training Camp 

Back at Bellabel Park, the Toad Brigade Training Camp offers a few hours worth of gameplay in the form of training courses, challenging you to take on levels from the base game in new ways, unlocking more as you progress. While the word “training” might scare some expert Mario players away, these courses are assuredly not a tutorial, feeling more like the Challenge Mode in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. There are five categories of training courses: collect coins in time, defeat enemies in time, clear course in time, clear course and stay invincible, and extra training. As an “expert Mario player” myself, I was pleasantly surprised by the difficulty curve, with the later courses taking me more attempts than I’d like to admit. Which Badges can be equipped is dependent on the challenge, with some pre-determined, and others having a limited selection. 

Completing a training course earns you Bellabel Water, with a bonus amount given the first time you beat each one (and more if you play with others). Bellabel Water can then be used to water seedlings, one at a time at first, but it won’t be long until you unlock a fountain, where you can then water multiple at once. Watering a seedling causes it to grow instantly, rewarding you with different types of flowers, such as Dual Badge Flowers (combining the abilities of two different badges), Greeting Flowers (more emojis you can use during multiplayer, including instruments), and many possible Decorative Flowers, used as a form of currency to purchase cosmetic decor around Bellabel Park. The Bellabel Water counter caps out at 999, so don’t make the same mistake I did by completing all the training courses before watering the seedlings. Even with that in mind, the training courses alone likely won’t earn you enough Bellabel Water to unlock everything, as the types of Decorative Flowers that grow are random, but specific types are needed to purchase decor from the shop. While there is a Flower Shop where you can buy specific flowers using Bellabel Water, there are only five types that update daily. A bit convoluted for solo players, as 100% completion would require replaying training courses, but Bellabel Water can also be collected by playing in Attraction Central.

Attraction Central

While the Koopaling boss battles and Toad Brigade Training Camp can be enjoyed solo or with up to four players, there’s an entirely separate area of Bellabel Park dedicated exclusively to multiplayer attractions. Known as Attraction Central, this area is split up into two sections, one for Local Multiplayer Plaza, which includes seven cooperative and ten competitive attractions, and another for Game Room Plaza, featuring an additional six competitive minigames that can only be enjoyed in an online Game Room, supporting up to 12 players (or 8 via local wireless). Each attraction features a variety of courses to experience them on (some more than others), and although many are from the base game, the gameplay here is different enough to feel fresh. As with the training courses, not all Badges can be used in every attraction, with only a few specifically curated ones to choose from, sometimes with Support Badges to make things easier for beginner players, and the option for no Badge at all.

The VS attractions in Local Multiplayer Plaza can be played free-for-all or in teams, including (but not limited to) minigames like “Coin Spree” where you compete to collect the most coins, “Battle Game” where you attack each other with power-ups, fighting for the most lives, or the chaotic “Phanto Tag,” a Prop Hunt-like game of hide-and-seek that has you avoid being tagged by shifting into objects. Co-op attractions, on the other hand, include minigames that have you working together, like passing a Bob-omb to each other to keep it from exploding in “Bob-Omb Relay,” counting everyone’s exact number of accumulative jumps (or collected coins) to be as close to the given goal as possible by the end of the stage in “Teamwork Time,” or placing Donut Blocks, Mario Maker style, to help your teammates platform their way to the end of the stage. As for Game Room Plaza, the aforementioned Phanto Tag is also available here, with the other five attractions being types of races that use distinct methods of movement, like riding a Propeller Flower, Roller Skate, or Bouncy Ball. It makes sense that races are only playable online or via local wireless, so the camera can follow you cleanly without the competition being left behind.

All of the attractions in Attraction Central can be played individually, but if making decisions isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for something with a little more pep, Attraction Tour allows you to play random attractions (Co-op or VS.) back-to-back. Three difficulty modes can be selected from, determining the stages (not attractions), and you can also select the number of rounds (1, 3, 5, or 10). In VS. mode, the player who wins the most rounds wins overall, and in Co-op, you only get one shot per attraction, no restarts, so the goal is to get through them all without failing. There’s an astonishing level of content in Bellabel Park, with the numerous attractions, I barely scratched the surface of, exceeding expectations of both value and replayability.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder proves that even masterpieces can be improved upon, adding worthwhile content to an already premium package without changing what made the game so great in the first place. Whether you’re taking down the Koopalings as the lovely Princess Rosalina in thrilling new boss battles, powering your way through the many Toad Brigade training courses, or gathering friends in Attraction Central for hours of competitive and/or cooperative fun, the Meetup in Bellabel Park expansion makes Super Mario Bros. Wonder a stellar Switch 2 Edition that’s worth the upgrade.

9/10

A copy of Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park for review purposes was provided by Nintendo UK.