Mario has been bouncing his way to this moment for some time. Developer Shigeru Miyamoto created the character, an unassuming Italian plumber with a knack for saving princesses and jumping really high, four decades ago. Following a series of successful games on early Nintendo systems, Mario got his first movie in 1993—a puzzling, staggeringly bad live-action flick with little resemblance to the growing franchise.
Wonder, because there’s a host of new people that are just experiencing Mario for the first time, and now they want to experience it in a video game.” It’s a game for new and older fans, many of whom now play with their own kids. Wonder includes 12 characters to pick from, including five—four Yoshis and Nabbit—that won’t take damage, and make it easier for inexperienced players to get through some of the game’s more difficult levels.