Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup In Bellabel Park Review - Wonderful
We’ve had a few years now to sing the praises of Nintendo’s return to Mario 2D adventures since Super Mario Bros. Wonder released in October of 2023, and in the 2.5 years since, few platformers have reached similar heights. Now, in March of 2026, the game returns, bigger, better, and more beautiful than ever before courtesy of a remaster, and new content in Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup In Bellabel Park, and while the additional content may not necessarily be to your liking, or simply just not what you’re wanting from a Mario game, the core product alone is worth the investment, regardless of whether you’ve bought it on Switch previously.
One of the great challenges in review writing is the evolution of ideas, and the expansion and improvements of the product we’re critiquing. Opinions change, and in this day and age, the games that we’re examining do too, and so often there’s a fear that what we’ve written months or years prior might have aged poorly after you return to the title down the road. Fortunately, having gone back to Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s core campaign as a part of my review of the Switch 2 remaster, I quickly came to realise, that my review, like many of Nintendo’s titles both new and old, held up despite the passage of time that had gone by.
My thoughts don’t deviate from 2023, and the core product doesn’t change much either, however there are small sprinkling of mild improvements that make the game more accessible as well as add some additional rationale for existing fans to invest in the upgrade. Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s campaign adds the very much in-vogue Rosalina and Luma (who can even be controlled in Mouse mode) as playable characters, while there are a few more Koopalings to uncover as well. As a new gameplay mechanic, Mario can now transform into a flower, which will allow him to toss flowers into the air that both harm enemies and break nearby blocks, while the costume will also grant Mario a double jump ability. This addition, paired with the new ability to pair multiple different badges in gameplay, has significantly transformed the flow of gameplay for those who can get the best out of the perks of each badge. Some favourites included the ability to merge a Wall Jump Climb with the Grappling Vine to extend my reach, prolonging the flow of movement, and the pairing of an Auto Super Mushroom with the All Elephant Power badge to make the game comically easy. It’s also possible to pair badges in a way that ratchets the difficulty up as well, but continued experimentation and mixing-and-matching will undoubtedly unlock some inventive speed-running and customised playthrough opportunities that the hardcore will adore. The additions across the board are superb, broadening the reach of an already very accessible game, while giving the players who look for a challenge, magnitudes more to push their limits with.
That then takes us to the Bellabel Park component. It won’t take players long to be introduced to Bellabel Park and its ‘Attraction Central’, which then splinters off into a range of multiplayer pillars, built for either local or online multiplayer. Players can head to ‘Local Multiplayer Plaza’ (inclusive of local Game Share play), where up to four players can come together, and choose from any of 17 attractions in Versus or Co-Op play. Game Room Plaza is geared more toward online play, where 12 friends can play together, and there are six additional games to play as well. You can choose any of the games available yourself, or even select the ‘Tour Plaza’ option, where you can chain together a series of attractions in cooperative or competitive play. Finally, there is also the Toad Brigade Training Camp (or Camp Central), where players can choose levels from the main game to practice their runs, better their skills, and even climb the ranks of the Toad Brigade. As you partake in all of the above options, you’ll earn Bellabel Water, which you can use to grow a range of plants and flowers, and decorate Bellabel Park to your heart’s content.
I must admit that I was of the mind that this Switch 2 version of the original release was simply going to be a bit of lip service. A title with a small sprinkling of new content to justify the decision to re-release the game and sell another few million units. Thankfully, I can report that Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup In Bellabel Park is even better than it was before. It is loaded with fantastic additions to both the core game as well as to its previously quite limited multiplayer suite, and for players both experienced and inexperienced, there is an abundance of additional content to chew on. While we desperately await the next 2D or 3D Mario platforming adventure, this is a title to return to.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup In Bellabel Park was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 with a code kindly provided by Nintendo.
