Koopaling Battles and Bellabel Park Multiplayer Feature in the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch 2 Edition Demo

It feels a little strange to walk into a store and see a demo for a game that has already been available for nearly three years, but that is exactly what is happening with the upcoming Switch 2 edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Retail kiosks in places like Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and GameStop are now letting players try a short demo of the updated version. If you find one of the new Switch 2 demo stations, there is a good chance you will be able to jump in and see a small portion of the extra content that is being added.

What you are playing in this demo is not an entirely new game. Instead, it feels closer to an expanded version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is almost like a large DLC-style update built specifically for the Switch 2. The demo lets you try a mixture of familiar gameplay along with a few of the additions Nintendo has introduced for this version. Even though the base game is already well known, the demo gives you a first look at how the new missions and multiplayer features are structured.

One of the biggest additions shown in the demo is a Toad Brigade mission designed for the single-player side of the game. This particular mission allows you to experience the first Koopaling encounter from beginning to end. Nintendo has already confirmed that there will only be seven of these missions in the full release, with each one centered around a different Koopaling.

The demo essentially acts as a preview of how those encounters will play out across the game.

The structure of the mission is a little different from what some players might expect. Instead of building up to a boss fight through several levels in a world, the entire encounter is packed into one remixed stage. You enter a single level that leads directly into the Koopaling boss battle, meaning the stage and the fight are tied together as one continuous sequence rather than being separate experiences.

The stage itself appears to draw inspiration from one of the existing levels in Wonder, something that resembles the Piranha Plant on Parade area. However, it has been changed enough that it does not feel like a straight copy. While playing through it, the level still gives the impression that it is something new rather than just a reused map from the original game.

Instead of exploring a traditional stage filled with puzzles or secrets, you spend most of the time chasing Wendy through the level. She moves ahead of you while occasionally spawning enemies to slow you down, creating a chase-style layout where the focus is simply reaching the end.

Those enemies come in the form of new purple Cheep Cheeps that fly out of ring portals she places throughout the stage. The portals appear in several locations while you move forward, launching the fish enemies in different directions. They are meant to disrupt your progress, but in reality, they rarely cause much trouble.

Most of the time, the purple Cheep Cheeps fly far above you or far below you, which means they do not really block your path. Instead of creating serious obstacles, they mostly act as background hazards while you continue running through the level. Because of that, the stage never feels particularly dangerous or difficult.

Another thing that stands out is the lack of collectibles and hidden elements.

Unlike many Mario Wonder stages, there are no purple coins to search for and no secret pipes tucked away in corners. You are not exploring the environment or checking every part of the map for hidden rewards. The goal is simply to move forward quickly and reach the flag at the end of the stage. The difficulty level of the stage reflects that simplicity. It is listed as a two-star difficulty mission, and it definitely plays like an early introductory level. If you decide to rush through it without slowing down, the entire stage can be finished rapidly.

In fact, it would probably take only one or two minutes to run from the beginning to the end if you sprint through it. Even when you take your time and experiment with the level, it still feels very short. The quick pace is one of the most surprising parts of the demo, since the entire single-player mission can be completed in a very short amount of time.

Once you reach the goal at the end of the stage, the boss battle against Wendy finally begins. Instead of fighting her in a traditional Koopaling fight, the battle introduces a strange transformation. Wendy turns into a giant Cheep Cheep-like creature and begins jumping in and out of portals around the arena.

The boss fight itself is simple and straightforward to understand.

Wendy slowly moves across the stage, occasionally appearing from portals before landing on the ground. Because of her large size and slow movement, she becomes an easy target for you to jump on. Landing hits on her rarely feels difficult. She is big enough that it is hard to miss when you jump, and her attack patterns are easy to predict. Even players who are not paying close attention would probably have little trouble finishing the fight.

Wendy does have a couple of attacks that she can use during the battle. At times, she dashes toward you across the stage, and occasionally, she fires rows of those same purple Cheep Cheeps from earlier in the level. Despite that, the attacks never feel threatening enough to create much tension.

The number of hits needed to beat the boss is one change that stands out. Wendy now needs six hits to be defeated, instead of the usual three hits that are used in many Mario boss battles. The fight has two parts, and the second part starts after the first three jumps.

During the second phase, Wendy becomes more aggressive and slightly larger with every hit you land. The visual change makes the battle feel a bit more dramatic, though it does not significantly raise the difficulty. Even as she grows in size, the fight remains simple and easy to manage.

By the time you reach the final hit, Wendy becomes extremely large and drops down to a lower part of the stage.

This gives you one last opportunity to land the finishing jump and end the battle. While the encounter is still very easy overall, the longer structure makes it feel a bit more memorable than some previous fights. In some ways, the boss battle even brings to mind the Cheep Skipper fight from New Super Mario Bros. DS. That fight also involved a giant Cheep Cheep enemy jumping around the stage, which makes the comparison feel fitting.

If the other Koopaling encounters follow a similar approach, they could end up being some of the most creative boss battles in a 2D Mario game. The interesting part is that Super Mario Bros. Wonder originally had a reputation for having fairly weak boss fights. With these new Koopaling encounters, the series could end up going in the opposite direction and delivering some of the better boss battles the 2D games have seen.

However, the demo also hints that the single-player content might not last very long. Since the entire stage and boss battle together can be finished in roughly two or three minutes, it raises questions about how quickly players will complete the full set of missions. If there are truly only seven Koopaling stages in the final game, it is possible that the entire single-player portion could be finished in a relatively short amount of time.

Music continues to be another highlight of the experience. While the soundtrack may not reach the level of some of the biggest 3D Mario titles, the tracks still sound energetic and catchy. The Koopaling stage music fits the chase-style gameplay well, and the boss battle theme stands out even more once the fight begins.

Some of that music has already appeared briefly in trailers and Nintendo presentations, but hearing it during actual gameplay makes it feel much more memorable. The Morton boss battle that Nintendo previously revealed also looks interesting, especially with its strange puppet-themed design.

The Koopalings themselves seem to lean into the weird and playful tone that Mario Wonder is known for.

Even so, it still feels like there is room for more creative ideas during the fights. One interesting possibility would be letting players battle the Koopalings in their normal forms after defeating their giant transformations. For example, you could imagine hitting Wendy enough times to knock her out of her giant form before fighting her again with her usual hoop attacks. Morton could switch to hammer attacks, and Roy might use a Bullet Bill launcher during a final phase. Even without those extra mechanics, it is still exciting to see the Koopalings return to the game in this way.

The demo does not stop with single-player content. It also includes a preview of Bellabel Park, a multiplayer-focused area that features several mini-game-style activities. These modes feel more like party games than traditional Mario levels, offering short challenges that players can complete together.

One of the competitive modes has players running around with Baby Yoshis while collecting apples. The gameplay is easy to understand, but it feels very similar to something you might see in a Mario Party mini-game. Another mode works as a tag-style game where one player wears a Phanto mask and tries to catch the other player. The player being chased can hide by transforming into objects such as flowers scattered around the stage.

The mechanic feels similar to the Prop Hunt mode from Call of Duty, where hiding in plain sight becomes part of the strategy.

There are also cooperative modes that focus on teamwork instead of competition. In one of them, one player places blocks while the other player attempts to reach the end of a level. Players who remember New Super Mario Bros. U on the Wii U might recognize this concept, since a similar feature appeared in that game.

Another cooperative mini-game revolves around passing a bomb between players while running through a stage. The bomb must constantly be tossed back and forth while the players race toward the finish line. If the bomb is left on the ground for too long, the timer runs out, and the level ends.

Altogether, the multiplayer section reportedly contains more than seventy missions that can be completed alone or with friends. That number suggests there will be a good amount of content available. However, it is still unclear how long those mini-games will keep players coming back. They seem perfect for casual gatherings or occasional game nights with friends. At the same time, they might not be something players revisit constantly after trying each one a few times.

For now, the demo offers only a brief glimpse at what the full Switch 2 edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder will include. The game launches in about a week, which means players will soon find out how the Koopaling missions, multiplayer activities, and extra content come together in the final version.