With just a couple months left in 2023, the year has been a stacked one for the video game industry, featuring a number of critical and commercial success stories. This week will also see the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and it’s clear the Nintendo Switch title will prove a Game of the Year contender. In fact, Super Mario Bros. Wonder‘s Metacritic score is currently sitting at a 93, putting it ahead of Final Fantasy XVI (Metacritic 87), Starfieldย (Metacritic 83), and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Metacritic 90). It’s also tied with this year’s Resident Evil 4ย remake!ย
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A Banner Year for Nintendo Switch
It will be interesting to see how Super Mario Bros. Wonder continues to fare as more reviews come in. At this time, 80 different outlets have weighed-in on the game, with ComicBook.com giving it a 5 out of 5 rating. While 93 is a very impressive Metacritic score, it does come up shy on this year’s other massive Nintendo Switch exclusive, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Link’s latest earned a stunning score of 96, putting it well ahead. What’s even more impressive about these scores is that both Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Tears of the Kingdom are releasing incredibly late in the Nintendo Switch’s lifespan; the system has been on the market for close to seven years at this point.ย
It’s basically unheard of for a video game console to keep getting exclusives of that caliber after this long on the market, but Switch has been a huge success story for Nintendo. The company has been in no rush to put out a new video game system, as the current one continues to sell quite well. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Nintendo has supported the system with a steady stream of software, including AAA experiences as well as smaller games. That’s been a winning formula for Nintendo, as the company continues to release near-monthly first-party titles, even as PlayStation and Xbox have focused solely on bigger releases spread farther apart.ย
Game of the Year
Despite the fact that we’re already in October, it’s not any clearer what title will end up winning the overall Game of the Year from most outlets. Alongside the games previously listed, there have also been AAA titles like Diablo IVย and the Dead Space remake, as well as smaller critical darlings like Hi-Fi Rush, Pikmin 4, andย Bayonetta Origins;ย this month will also see the release of Alan Wake II, another highly-anticipated game. It’s hard to recall another year where the industry had so many terrific games across so many different platforms, and it’s going to make it very hard to choose this year’s best title!ย
Are you planning to check out Super Mario Bros. Wonder? What do you think of the game’s Metacritic score? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter atย @Marcdachampย or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!
