Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup In Bellabel Park does the impossible by finally giving Nintendo Switch 2 mouse mode a reason to live

A reason to mouse?

05 Feb 2026, 23:30 · TechRadar

Opinion By Josephine Watson published 5 February 2026

(Image credit: Nintendo)

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At a recent demo event, Nintendo gave me and some peers the chance to try the new Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel park, which adds a litany of new features that make multiplayer mode a whole lot more fun and launches the game firmly into my best Nintendo Switch 2 games list.

Growing up as an only child, you can develop a real penchant for party games. Sure, you can only play them when your pals come over or with your parents under duress, but being that kid who has cool multiplayer games at home softens the blow of terminal loneliness.

Just me? Fine, but at the very least, you can’t deny that Nintendo has more often than not had it made when it comes to multiplayer gaming. From Mario Kart to Super Smash Bros., Splatoon to Wii Sports, most of my formative memories of multiplayer gaming exist thanks to Nintendo.

That’s why the hit-or-miss nature of Nintendo’s more recent party games can feel so disappointing, and the regular Super Mario Bros. Wonder certainly fell into this category for those who wanted to play with friends in private online multiplayer rooms or who found couch co-op’s quirks too frustrating to navigate. With its litany of multiplayer features, the Nintendo Switch 2 finally unlocks the full potential of Mario Wonder.

New ways to play

(Image credit: Nintendo)

I spent half an hour playing with industry peers, and while it was chaotic to say the least, Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Meetup in Bellabel Park breathes life into a game I’d personally written off. I enjoyed dabbling in the single-player campaign and found the Mario Kart-esque ghost online play charming, but it never felt like a must-have game to me.

The new expansion adds not only enhanced graphics and gameplay improvements to the game; there’s a whole new area called Bellabel Park, which will be your de facto social hub to play a range of minigames and generally wreak havoc upon the Flower Kingdom.

There are two main plazas for Local Multiplayer and Game Room setups, allowing you to play with up to four players locally in competitive or co-operative minigames across 17 attractions, or you can play six attractions across multiple systems online with eight players locally or twelve online.

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