Summary

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces multiple playable characters alongside Mario, including familiar faces like Nabbit, Yoshi, Luigi, Toadette, Toad, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy.
• Nabbit and Yoshi offer an easier gameplay experience, as they have special abilities that prevent them from taking damage, although they can still die from falling.
• The inclusion of Princess Peach and Princess Daisy as active heroines in Super Mario Bros. Wonder showcases their growing presence and sets the stage for more active roles in future games.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the brand-new side-scrolling adventure for Nintendo's legendary plumber, but Mario isn't the only playable character in this venture. Several familiar characters are available for this excursion, some with unique capabilities to make things easier for those who want to enjoy a more relaxed experience. The platformer bears some familiarity with the New Super Mario Bros. series while offering its own twists, introducing a little more strangeness across the course of its seemingly frenetic gameplay experience.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder isn't the first Mario side-scroller to feature multiple playable characters, following in a long tradition that dates back to Luigi's appearance at the inception of the series. Super Mario Bros. 2 expanded the roster to include Toad and Princess Peach, although many subsequent games would stick with the original duo. New Super Mario Bros. Wii offered simultaneous co-op in a way that the series never had before, adding in Toads for players to select alongside Mario and Luigi for a maximum of four players. Super Mario Bros. Wonder has a total of eight distinct playable characters in addition to recolored varieties to pad the lineup.

8 Nabbit

The biggest surprise character to Super Mario Bros. Wonder is undoubtedly the inclusion of the purple rabbit named Nabbit. Nabbit made his first appearance in New Super Mario Bros. U as a speedy little thief that Mario tracks down, and then later as a playable character in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe after he became a fan favorite. As was the case in his thieving days, Super Mario Bros. Wonder will give Nabbit a special ability to not take damage. This means that choosing this character will act as a form of an easy mode to the game, perfect for younger children or anyone wanting to speed through the game with less difficulty. He can still die from falling, however.

7 Yoshi

Like Nabbit, Yoshi can give an easier game mode for players in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Yoshi can be selected in either Green, Red, Yellow, or Light Blue color variations and will not take damage other than dying from falling into the abyss below. Yoshi and Nabbit are restricted in not being able to transform using power-ups like the rest of the characters do, but that is a small price for invincibility.

Interestingly, other player characters can still jump on Yoshi to ride him in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, even if they are in their massive Elephant forms or while playing as another Yoshi. Yoshi's iconic flutter kick also makes a reappearance, whether carrying a friend on his back or not, giving him a bit of extra air time as he masterfully resists the pull of gravity. Yoshi also continues with his ability to use his long tongue to eat objects and spit items back out at enemies.

6 Luigi

As the signature brother of the Mario duo, Luigi is the natural second choice for a playable character in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. A number of games see Luigi jump a bit higher than his shorter brother, but in Super Mario Bros. Wonder there will be no difference in his abilities versus Mario or many of the other options for characters. Luigi is occasionally the butt of the joke in Mario games, receiving ive-aggressive insults from the Toads in Super Mario 64 DS and having his fears put on display in Luigi's Mansion. Any doubters have been proven wrong time and time again, however, and Luigi earns a rightful place as a flagship character for the franchise.

5 Toadette

Toadette captured many hearts during her stint as a playable character in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and now makes a welcome appearance ing the selectable characters in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The pink Toad with questionable hair/hat pigtails also provides another female option in addition to the two princesses. Her peppy and plucky personality can add a lot of joy and smiles when overcoming the obstacles that the crew of friends sees in this side-scroller.

4 Toad

Toad is no stranger to the Super Mario Bros. games, and this is one area where Super Mario Bros. Wonder doesn't break the mold. Two color options for Toad are available for choosing, allowing two players to each enjoy playing the game as a little native of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad's shrill voice might not be for everyone, but the character's positivity and willingness to overcome his trademark cowardice make him endearing enough for many players to enjoy.

3 Princess Peach

Princess Peach is often the damsel in distress in Mario games, but Super Mario Bros. Wonder gives her the opportunity to go on the adventure of a lifetime herself. This isn't the princess's only outing as a heroine, with Super Princess Peach sending her on a mission to rescue the Mario brothers, and an Princess Peach game is planned to be released in March 2024 featuring the princess taking on many leading roles. In this case, however, she has plenty of company on her adventure. When considering her active role in The Super Mario Bros. Movie as well, Princess Peach is having quite a big year.

2 Princess Daisy

Princess Daisy's inclusion is one of the surprises in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. This secondary princess is often known for her appearances in Mario sports titles, getting a similar treatment to Waluigi as more of an accessory character than one of the prime players. With a cute color scheme and a memorable personality, she's arguably an overdue addition that could bring a lot of pizzazz to the mainline games.

Daisy is known for a more aggressive approach than Peach's more traditionally princess-like demeanor, and Daisy's Wario variant is evil in a way that Mario's greedy doppelgänger could never quite achieve himself. Despite her temper, the usual Daisy is still one of the good guys, and her appearance in Super Mario Bros. Wonder could pave the way for a more active franchise presence in the future.

1 Mario

Mario is the most obvious inclusion for Super Mario Bros. Wonder; as a game could hardly take on the Super Mario mantle without featuring the titular protagonist. Although there's nothing particularly new about seeing the red-capped plumber run and jump across platforms, Super Mario Bros. Wonder allows the character a new power to take on some interesting new proportions. A classic mushroom turns him into Super Mario as always, but a fruit that gives Mario, or any of the other playable characters, the features and might of an elephant is unlike any power-up Mario has seen before.

The roster of playable characters in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a general step up from previous 2D Mario games, bringing back the classic players while adding some fan favorites to the mix. Nabbit and the Yoshis offer an easier mode for players who need it, or who just want to play around in that style, while all the rest of the characters play identically. With a large cast assembled across its decades of popularity, Mario games have never been able to include every character that fans have seen before. The line-up in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, however, is unlikely to seriously disappoint.