Super Mario Bros Wonder features a new voice as the beloved main character Mario. Photo: Nintendo
Super Mario Bros Wonder features a new voice as the beloved main character Mario. Photo: Nintendo
Super Mario Bros Wonder features a new voice as the beloved main character Mario. Photo: Nintendo
Super Mario Bros Wonder features a new voice as the beloved main character Mario. Photo: Nintendo

Super Mario Bros Wonder review: Magic of side-scrolling games revived


Faisal Salah
  • English
  • Arabic

The newest side-scrolling Super Mario game has been released after much anticipation.

Super Mario Bros Wonder is the first traditional side-scrolling title since New Super Mario Bros U was released in 2012.

The hunger for a new Super Mario adventure has grown in recent years, especially after the release of the animated film in April.

After playing the game, here's what gamers should know.

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The magic is back

Anyone who has ever played video games has at one time enjoyed the thrill of a side-scrolling Super Mario title.

From the days of the first Nintendo through the portable consoles and the Wii, there has always been a Super Mario game to enjoy for all ages.

With the newest one, the simplicity and ease of play is back. Whether seasoned or sporadic in their gaming, players can enjoy playing Wonder and be reminded of the reasons they loved all those side-scrolling experiences of the past.

It melds familiar aspects of Super Mario gameplay with new additions that keep interest high and players wanting to complete levels.

A nice addition is a new ability for the characters in the game to use an elephant suit to negotiate the levels. The elephant suit turns a chosen character into a cute but capable elephant who storms through obstacles with ease.

The new suit has been in the forefront of Nintendo’s advertising campaign for Wonder and joins a long list of popular abilities such as the fire suit and the Tanuki suit.

Improved graphics

One of the first things players will notice is how beautiful the game looks. The backgrounds are lively, and the levels are colourful and energetic.

The characters have a lot of detail in their movements too, such as showing their facial expressions depending on the situation they’re in.

The music in the game perfectly complements each level and switches depending on how serious or lighthearted a stage is.

As usual with Super Mario side-scrolling games, the goal is fun but simple. Run through a level collecting coins and objects while avoiding or getting rid of enemies in the way.

There’s no real need to change a winning formula but Wonder still attempts to elevate this experience through new tasks.

A significant change to the game is the voice of Mario himself. The beloved Italian plumber had for decades been voiced by Charles Martinet, but Wonder is the first game in which Kevin Afghani takes the mantle as the new voice of Mario.

Verdict

Super Mario games are a firm favourite among gamers. It's hard to find someone who has not played a game in the long-running franchise from Nintendo.

The latest iteration shows a lot of love to the characters and creates a memorable experience that will please most. There's a familiar magic to these games that sparks nostalgia and fun, and Wonder does that in spades.

The Nintendo Switch adds another title to its large library of must-play games that can only be experienced on the console.

Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas

Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa

Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong

Rating: 3/5

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FORSPOKEN
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Street%20Fighter%206
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Diablo%20IV
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Baldur's%20Gate%203
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The%20Legend%20of%20Zelda%3A%20Tears%20of%20The%20Kingdom
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Marvel's%20Spider-Man%202
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Assassin's%20Creed%20Mirage
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Starfield
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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dr Graham's three goals

Short term

Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines


Intermediate term

Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations


Long term

A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness  

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

ESSENTIALS

The flights 
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
 

The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.

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India team for Sri Lanka series

Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan

Types of bank fraud

1) Phishing

Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

2) Smishing

The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

3) Vishing

The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

4) SIM swap

Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

5) Identity theft

Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

6) Prize scams

Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

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Updated: October 27, 2023, 7:26 PM`