Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Direct details Dark Souls-esque online multiplayer
And shows us Elephant Peach.
Wahoo! Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been shown off in a dedicated Nintendo Direct, which revealed its Dark Souls-esque online multiplayer.
When playing online, Super Mario Bros. Wonder lets you see other players - both friends and random people - running through courses beside you. Online players can plant standees to act as revive points and gift players items.
There's also a karma-style system in play where helpful players are rewarded. This all works if you're playing with friends in a lobby together (where you can see which courses everyone is in) or if you're simply seeing other players you don't know.
Local multiplayer is also possible, and lets you revive friends who initially become ghosts upon death. You can even ride around on the back of someone playing as Yoshi (giving our beloved dino pal no shortage of back pain when you are transformed into an elephant).
Super Mario Bros. Wonder features seven areas, and a world map where you can wander freely. Courses now have star ratings, suggesting their difficulty, and you have the ability to skip past levels to play others in any order. Courses you've completed already can also be accessed and replayed easily through the Courses menu.
The game lets you play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad and Toadette - who all play the same. Additionally, you can play as a number of Yoshis or New Super Mario Bros. U character Nabbit, who don't take damage.
That first group of characters can transform through power-ups into three forms. Elephant Mario lets you swing your trunk to attack and return projectiles, and spray water to unlock secrets. He's also, y'know, massive.
Bubble Mario lets you capture and defeat enemies from afar, including tough ones like Dry Bones. Then there's Drill Mario, who uses a drill (not the music genre) as an attack and as a way to clear quartz blocks. You can also drill into floors and ceilings. And, of course, you can do the same as Drill Luigi, Drill Peach, or Drill Toadette, etc.
You can further customise your character before each course by applying an in-game badge to access abilities or level-changing effects. These can include a parachute effect, a wall-climb ability, or a cool-looking grappling vine badge. There's also a coin magnet and an invisbibility effect.
Finally, we got a look at the game's trippy Wonder Flowers, which change levels dramatically by turning Mario (or whoever you're playing as) into a goomba or spike ball, shifting a level's perspective, or more.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder launches for Nitnendo Switch in October, and will feature a new voice playing Mario, following the departure of Charles Martinet.