New Super Mario Bros. Wonder Details Confirm Game's Villain

New details on Super Mario Bros. Wonder have been revealed, and in the process, the game's villain has been confirmed. The details come the way of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, also known as the ESRB, the organization that rates games for release in North America. To the surprise of no one, the new Mario game has been rated "E" for everyone, warning only of "mild fantasy" and "violence." There is also mention of in-game purchases. 

In addition to this information, the ESRB also provided a "rating summary," which is supposed to provide a glimpse into the type of content that players can expect. To this end, it's confirmed that the game's big baddie is once again Bowser. The rating also mentions large boss fights featuring fire breathing and scenery smashing. 

"This is a platformer game in which players control characters from the Mario universe as they try to stop the villain Bowser," reads the rating. "Players traverse whimsical environments while jumping on enemies' heads, throwing shells/objects at them, or tossing small fireballs to knock them off-screen. Boss battles contain more involved combat against giant enemies that breathe fire and smash parts of the scenery."

For those that don't know how these ratings work, the developer is expected to send any part of their game that would be of interest to the ESRB. The rating board does not play the game to find this information. It's provided by the developer, and, obviously, purposefully withholding information would land you in trouble. 

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is set to release worldwide on October 20, 2023 via the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch only. When it releases, it will cost $59.99. 

"The next evolution of 2D side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. games is headed to Nintendo Switch! When you touch a Wonder Flower in the game, the wonders of the world unlock-pipes could come alive, hordes of enemies may appear, characters might change their looks, for example-transforming the gameplay in unpredictable ways. Excitement and different surprises await in each course. Super Mario Bros. Wonder features Princess Peach, Princess Daisy and Yoshi as playable characters, in addition to familiar characters like Mario, Luigi and Toad. Plus, Super Mario Bros. Wonder sees the debut of Mario's newest power-up, which allows him to transform into Elephant Mario! What other wonders could this game contain?