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Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Meetup in Bellabel Park Review

25 March 2026

When Super Mario Bros. Wonder was released in 2023 on the original Switch hardware, it felt pretty complete. It hosted a fairly big campaign and had multiplayer out of the gate, and fans took to the varied level design that was predicated on surprises.

But apparently, Nintendo thought there was unfinished business, as they’re releasing the mouthful of a name Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, with some extras in tow. Are they worth it?

Meetup in Bellabel Park Is Multiplayer Focused

Wonder Already Played Great On Switch 1

It’s important to note that the Switch 2 edition, like many before it, includes the full version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. That means you’re getting roughly 150 levels (including all bonus stages and diversions) and Wonder‘s 12 original characters. If you’ve never played Wonder before, it’s a beloved mainline Mario entry for a reason.

While not every level is equally fun, Wonder‘s core gimmick involves Wonder Flowers, which drastically warp stages and create new concepts on the fly. As a sort of fever-dream theme, the entire stage may come to life in a weird way, constantly keeping you on your toes from a mechanical and audiovisual standpoint.

The Nintendo Switch 2 edition adds the following core features:

The Bellabel Park minigame area.
Extra boss courses featuring the Koopalings.
The addition of Rosalina as a playable character, and a “Co-Star” Luma.
Dual badge power-ups.
The Super Flower Pot item (a vertical-based power-up).
An assist mode (which avoids damage and rescues you from pits).

Everything but Bellabel Park is somewhat ancillary. While my family happily picked Rosalina on a rotating basis, Bellabel Park is the main “expansion” area, and the core reason why someone would upgrade beyond the base game.

Bellabel Park Is The Main Attraction

It’s Also Ideal For Families

If you opt to pay the upgrade price of $20 for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, though, you’d better do it for the minigame mode. Bellabel Park has three core activities:

Multiplayer games (local and online)
Aesthetic upgrades through the use of Bellabel Water (currency earned by playing games)

I had the chance to test the local modes extensively, which spanned 17 minigames, called “attractions” in Mario Wonder. While it may not sound like much, a chunk of those games have multiple modes of play and several stages, which adds variety beyond the raw number of games on offer.

With a few exceptions, most of the game can be referred to as “competitive Mario.” You’ll need to collect more coins than your opponents while avoiding hazards in one mode, for example, and in another, you’ll use bubble blaster items to push other players into a lava wall, akin to an arena battler.

Here are the games our group enjoyed the most:

Battle Royale: Survival Challenge (Old school Mario platforming)
Run, Hide! Phanto Tag (Prop Hunt)
Fast Cash: Tip-Tap’s Coin Spree

If you’re an old-school Mario fan and always wanted an arena to show off your platforming skills, Bellabel Park is your huckleberry. Even simple tasks like amassing more coins than your opponents were fun, and adding gimmicks like “don’t be seen by King Boo when he wakes up” or “help Baby Yoshis eat food for points” mixed things up a lot.

Since six attractions are co-op and 11 are competitive, there’s something for everyone, even if you’re playing with a youngster. For example, the Donut Block Maker attraction allows one person to create platforms for the team, while Bob-omb Relay forces players to work together to toss a hot potato explosive. There are also expert and beginner badges that can be selected for most attractions, allowing players to hamstring or boost themselves to even the playing field.

If you’re keen on playing the Mario Wonder baseline platforming experience, you likely won’t get bored with this suite of attractions anytime soon. You can also opt to play the “Tour Plaza” mode, which allows players to randomly experience sequential minigames. This has become an ideal way to play for my family, as we don’t really dislike any of the minigames outright: a rarity in a mode like this.

Mario Wonder Is Still Worth Revisiting

There’s A Lot To Like

Even if you’re not keen on the multiplayer aspect of Bellabel Park, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is still worth playing if you’ve never experienced it. With the addition of Rosalina, a few extra challenges, and the expansive multiplayer mode, you’ll have even more to work through in what is ostensibly a massive 2D Mario experience.

If you have played it before and intend to dive into Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Meetup in Bellabel Park by yourself, have a good think about whether you’ll get something out of the Switch 2 upgrade.