Yes I know, I'm a couple months late, but I wanted to add my thoughts for posterity. To be honest, I don't think it's that much better than NSMBU, at least not in the parts I care about. But that's ok, because I really liked NSMBU! Yes, the presentation is much improved, but that never bothered me. And yes, there is a lot more creativity in Wonder, but to be honest that's part of the problem.
Wonder has so many different new ideas, new enemies, new approaches, but there is never time for any of them to breathe. You see a new concept of an enemy and the entire level is about that new concept and hey, that's neat. But the entire level is about it and then you never see it again. OK, fine, you probably will be seeing them again once or twice, but that's it.
To me, 2D Mario is about a level filled with several small, easy challenges that work best when all of those easy challenges are seamlessly blended together when played while on the run. Unfortunately, creating a bunch of new enemies and concepts means you need to slow down and learn them. And since you need to slow down and learn them, you don't get into a good Mario-esque rhythm the first time you see them. Yeah, we had to do that when with koopas and goombas when we were 5 years old, but that's the point about the "one and done" issue of the game. Having nothing but goombas and koopas meant that you can create all sorts of permutations of them with platforms that you can see and react to while running through it on the first time seeing them. Which gave a great rhythm and flow through the game.
I know, that sounds extremely unfair. Durr, new stuff is bad, just give us lots of old stuff over and over again! Yes, I fully understand that nothing but new creative ideas is something that most people would prefer and is a perfectly valid design choice. And don't get me wrong, I do like that new stuff was here. But while people can complain that NSMBU was just the same thing we've seen a dozen times over, I loved how they brought all the familiar items together in new, enjoyable levels. So while I admit that creativity was needed, I do have to lament it a bit, or more accurately lament that there seemed to be nothing BUT creativity and not a full examination of what they have.
And while people may dismiss my lament, I think they could have done more here without hurting the creativity. The "Break Time" levels were simplistic, short ideas that usually repeated a theme or concept (albeit in a completely safe manner). Perhaps they should have also included a "Challenge Time" level near the end of each world. This would be a traditional level (no Wonder seed) that would take a few ideas from the world and remix them. Put them in a dense environment with an emphasis on danger and avoidance rather than puzzles and slower interaction. Mix them up with traditional enemies and with each other. It doesn't have to be impossible, just 4-star difficulty. And it can be completely optional; don't change the number of wonder seeds required. But it would make the new ideas/enemies more memorable because we could actually see what they could do in a threatening environment. Besides, everyone agrees this game is too easy; tossing 7 new challenging levels in can't hurt.
So that's one complaint, albeit one that is based on a perfectly legitimate design choice. My second one though has less of an excuse. Back when it was first announced, I knew the one thing I was hoping for was for the game to surprise me with a multitude of weird secrets. Mario 3 was magical in that respect. Hammer Bros suddenly turning into treasure ships. Secret white toadstool houses appearing out of nowhere. Alternate routes filled with coins. Ultra rare powerups like the hammer bros outfit. I wanted a return to that. I wanted the levels THEMSELVES to be mysterious.
And that simply didn't happen. I kind of understand, it's sort of the nature of modern gaming. Secrets have to have content in them and be for progression; we can't just have weird stuff for weird stuff's sake these days. Coins aren't important, lives aren't important, so a secret that leads to a bunch of coins is just no fun. So we NEED to put a 10 star coin there to make the secret worth it. Except then, it's not really a surprise, is it? If you reach the midpoint flag with only one coin, you know you missed a pipe or a hidden branch somewhere. And since people want to 100% the game, you can't make them too obscure. You want to see the whole game, so warp whistles aren't a prize. And programming new powerups and character models for it with 7 different characters is just too much for a super rare powerup. Not cost effective. So we just can't have any surprises...
And no, wonder flowers don't count. For starters, you know there is one in every level, so it's not a surprise. You just don't know what will happen. And while different stuff did happen, very few were really surprising other than just remixing gameplay. And yes, there were a few secret exits. Which is ok, but not really what I was looking for. And the Secret World was nice. Short, challenging, gimmicky levels, very reminiscent of star road. I liked it! But there was one for each world, so finding them was more of a checkbox than a surprise. So much like how hidden paths have to contain a 10-star coin, it ruins the surprise and just makes it part of the goal of 100%ing the game. Oh, and the end of the Secret World doesn't hold a candle to the mindblowing experience of seeing what happened after completing Star Road the first time. But in fairness, I don't think anything can.
So two complaints, one of which is understandable. I liked the game overall, deserves 4 stars. But unfortunately, I just don't see it as the mindblowing, groundbreaking experience that some have claimed. Mario 3 still reigns supreme, and I am seriously doubting if it will ever be dethroned.
