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Back when Nintendo revealed the Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park upgrade pack, it noted it’d be $19.99 for the update or $79.99 for the game alone. That’s a jump from the $59.99 Switch version. After spending hands-on time with the Bellabel Park area, going through both cooperative and competitive multiplayer, it feels like this is more an additional minigame collection that plays by the rules of the platformer added on to the original title.
My adventures in Bellabel Park began in the local multiplayer area going through a cooperative series of challenges that first appeared in the latest overview trailer. One series of challenges involves at least one person using the Joy-Con 2 in mouse mode to draw donut paths through a stage while at least one person uses those to race through to the goal. In our situation, there were two people on donut duty and two heading through the stage. The first challenge was a more straightforward, one-star difficulty one that was more of a test of the mechanic. (People playing as characters could choose badges to assist with traversal.) There were a limited number of donuts for each “maker” on that task, which means you need to be thoughtful about placement. Especially if you want to get additional collectibles.
In the second attempt in this Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park section, which was a two-star difficulty stage with Spikes tossing balls, things got more challenging. It wasn’t just about getting the player characters to the end via strategic donut platform placement. It was also about creating paths for Spike’s spiked balls to get through obstructions. It felt like the early cooperative stages were about getting used to the idea, with latter ones about troubleshooting more thought-provoking situations.
The competitive sections felt a little more varied, as well as more dependent on how you’d be playing. It seemed like local options offered more variety, while the online ones I tested were more about racing through stages to be the first to get through a course. For example, one local versus stage involved the Psaro masks from Super Mario Bros 2. Two players wore masks at the start, while two didn’t and would attempt to hide from or outrun the folks who were masked. While it seemed relatively simple, since we were limited to a single screen and it seemed obvious where the out-of-place “flowers” were or which clouds were flying outside of set patterns, it ended up being genuinely challenging considering the mask would swap who was “it.” Another local stage involved being the one with the most coins at the end, all while a King Boo would occasionally wake from sleeping and freeze you, causing you to lose coins, if you moved when he was awake.
Meanwhile, two of the online multiplayer competitive stages I got to test out in Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park involved trying to be first through a level. In one, each person had the floating parasol and needed to navigate successfully to get through the maze-like stage first. In another, Hoppos were everywhere, and each person had to try and bounce their way through. While entertaining, in the two sample situations I experienced, they didn’t feel as interactive and directly competitive as the local options. But again, I did only get to sample a handful of the total situations.
From my initial hands-on opportunities, it feels like the local Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park multiplayer options feel most exhilarating. Both the co-op and competitive options when all in a group together playing seemed to really play with what’s possible with the framework of the game. The two online segments did provide an incentive to try my best. However, both of the situations I tested felt a bit similar and like they involved racing, and I’d be curious to see if the full assortment is more varied.
Super Mario Bros Wonder is on the Switch now, and the Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Parkrelease and upgrade pack debuts on March 26, 2026 alongside new amiibo.
