As anyone who’s ever played a 2D Mario game would know, the palace and flying battleship stages are often the ultimate test of your platforming skills.Super Mario Bros. Wonderkeeps this proud tradition alive by having some of the most creatively rich palaces and battleships in the entire series.
From Mario turning tall and stretchy to time itself being altered, these levels live up to the series’ precedence of being some of the most memorable in the entire game. Whenever you see a palace looming on the horizon or a flying battleship suddenly appears, you know you are in for a treat.
8Pipe-Rock Plateau Palace
Moving Down The Pipeline
As the very first palace in the game, you can forgive Pipe-Rock Plateau Palace for not being the game’s most challenging or imaginative. After all, the developers wouldn’t have wanted to show their entire hand this early in the adventure. Even so, this palace still ups the stakes after everything else you have experienced so far in the game, but there’s still far more to see from here.
The Wonder Effect for Pipe-Rock Plateau Palace augments the movement of all the stage’s pipes — of which, there are heaps. The pipes suddenly move up and down, side to side, and in seemingly random patterns that makes you wonder if Bowser discriminates against all plumbers, or just Mario and Luigi?
7Fluff-Puff Peaks Flying Battleship
To Be Played Every Fourth Of July
In similar fashion, the biggest crime Fluff-Puff Peaks Flying Battleship commits is that it is the first of its kind in the game and everything that comes afterwards is simply better. There is one really cool thing going for this level and that’s its fireworks enemies. Using these little explosive critters to blow up crates and other enemies never gets old.
Like with all the other flying battleship stages in Super Mario Wonder, Fluff-Puff Peaks Flying Battleship has a giant Bowser using a sniper-like target to hit Mario as its Wonder Effect. When this obstacle is paired with having to clear a path using the fireworks enemies, it makes for a sequence that is simultaneously tense and entertaining.
6Deep Magma Bog Palace
A Blob In A Bog
Deep Magma Bog Palace turns up the heat with a lava-filled obstacle course that keeps you well and truly on your toes. At this stage of the game, it isn’t afraid to amp up the difficulty with some tight platforming sections and a growing sense of urgency that never lets up.
If anything is holding Deep Magma Bog Palace back, it’s that its Wonder Effect isn’t that unique. Transforming into a blob that can crawl up and around walls and ceilings is fun, and the level design suits your sticky abilities. But the blob form had already been used a few times in World 6, leading to a somewhat anticlimactic effect when it’s used in theworld’s final stage.
5Fluff-Puff Peaks Palace
How Tall Can You Go?
Fluff-Puff Peaks Palace cranks up the challenge by magically inserting fireballs and walking piranha plants wherever it so desires. It forces you to take a more considered approach through the stage as at any moment, you may have to duck for cover.
Turning into a mega tall, stretchy, silhouetted version of your character is one of the coolest Wonder Effects in all the palaces. It also makes for one of the more prickly gameplay sequences as every movement and jump easily runs the risk of bumping into something. Especially when those pesky hammer brothers show up…
4Deep Magma Bog Flying Battleship
Tug Of War
There’s something malevolently genius about designing an auto-scrolling level with obstacles that force you to stand still. Such is the case with the Deep Magma Bog Flying Battleship which is littered with fire breathing Bowser statues that can only be extinguished by pulling on a rope for a few seconds.
This rope-pulling mechanic becomes even trickier once Bowser starts to send his scope after you. Spend too long trying to turn out a fire, and you’re basically as good as a sitting duck.
3Petal Islands Flying Battleship
Cloudy With A Chance Of Bullet Bills
Petal Islands Flying Battleship takes full advantage of the fact of being aMario sky levelby letting you ride on clouds for most of the stage. It would be so whimsical hopping from cloud to cloud while soaring through the atmosphere if it wasn’t for the barrage of bullet bills that are constantly trying to knock you down.
This stage only gets more challenging once Bowser tries to shoot you out of the sky himself. Dodging his attacks is one thing, but dodging his attacks while threading through increasingly narrower obstacles makes for a thrilling flight.
2Sunbaked Desert Palace
Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey
Sunbaked Desert Palace has everything you could ask for in a palace level — thwomps, firebars, bottomless pits, and lots of sand just for good measure. And if all of that wasn’t enough, there’s also the occasional spiked ball that magically appears from nowhere. Fun times.
The Wonder Effect in this palace messes with the flow of time by switching between speeding up and slowing down the entire stage every few seconds. This means you have to constantly adjust the temp of your movements to accommodate the shifting time jumps. Whether you’re speeding along like you’re Sonic or inching forward at a snail’s pace, this sequence is simply timeless.
1The Final Battle! Bowser’s Rage Stage
Chained To The Rhythm
While it technically doesn’t have the word “palace” in its title, it’s hard to argue that Bowser’s Rage Stage doesn’t deserve to be on this list. This final level of the main game is a captivating gauntlet of everything you have learned up until this point, all leading up to one of the mostdramatic final showdownsin all the Mario games.
There are several Wonder Effects at play in this level. From the stage tilting left to right to riding on the back of a dragon, every moment of Bowser’s Rage Stage is just as thrilling as the last. You couldn’t ask for a better finale to the main story of Super Mario Wonder.
