Critics Say Super Mario Bros. Wonder Is One Of The Best Games Of 2023

Mario Wonder Elephant Yoshi

2023 has been a huge year for games, with some absolute bangers released. From The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Metroid Prime Remastered to Baldur’s Gate and Spider-Man 2, there’s been a fresh supply of high quality games throughout the whole year. Not content with two smash hits in 2023, though, it looks like Nintendo’s set to rack up a third with its latest Nintendo Switch game.

Reviews have dropped for the next game in the 2D Super Mario series, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and it looks like a lock for end-of-year awards discussions. Based on 80 professional reviews from just about every gaming outlet under the sun, Nintendo’s latest game has achieved a weighted metascore of 93/100 on review score aggregator Metacritic.

Of those 80 reviews, all but one are listed as positive reviews, offering a score of 80/100 or more. The remaining review gave the game a 70/100 — still a fantastic score in the grand scheme of things, and as the lowest score of the bunch, still represents a quality floor much higher than most games released this year.

For the sake of comparison, Tears of the Kingdom scored a 96/100, as did Baldur’s Gate 3, while Metroid Prime Remastered just barely beat out Wonder with a 94/100. The fantastic Resident Evil 4 remake scored a 90/100, which is also where Spider-Man 2 reviews ended up when they dropped.

We’ve previously written about why Mario fans are excited for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but it largely boils down to what came before it. The New Super Mario Bros. series ran for over 15 years, and by the end of it, everyone was just a little bit sick of it.

It sounds like this new game is different though, as we saw when Nintendo held its Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct. We saw a look at a fresh, new art style, inventive new level design, and a gimmick that genuinely seemed delightful. Reviews seem to confirm that all of these things are not only true, but deliver one of the best 2D platformers in decades.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder will be released on the Nintendo Switch on October 20, 2023.