Wunderling

Genre: Auto-Runner

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: Since the original release, this game received a free update redubbing it as “Wunderling DX”, featuring additional content. However, the core game remains largely the same, as does my assessment of it.)

Wunderling is a Platformer where you play as a heroic carrot looking to save the beautiful Princess Pea from an evil witch… wait, no, just kidding… Wunderling is actually an Auto-Runner where you play as one of the first low-level goons that carrot stomped on his quest, resurrected by the witch to hunt down the carrot in her media campaign to win over the hearts of the vegetable denizens of the kingdom. So yeah, pretty much right off the bat, this game will have players grinning with its silly plot and delightful wit.

The presentation here uses colorful pixel art graphics with an appealing whimsical style and decent animation, with cartoony sound effects and a nice, catchy soundtrack. And while all of this is pretty good on its own, what really sells the presentation here is this game’s fantastic writing, which is clearly doing a tongue-in-cheek riff on the Mario games, turning the formula on its head to have you basically taking the role of this game’s version of a Goomba hunting down this game’s version of Mario because this game’s version of Bowser thinks it’ll score her political points.

Before moving on to the gameplay, let me start by saying that if you’ve been following my reviews of the genre, you may have noticed that I am not a fan of Auto-Runners. I will give just about any game a chance as long as it’s good, but I tend to find that Auto-Runners more often than not use a high difficulty in place of quality gameplay, and they usually suffer from repetitive, boring level design. Searching my memory for exceptions, the only games I can think of that have truly broken free from this trend are Nintendo’s own Super Mario Run and maybe Jetpack Joyride (if you can even consider that an Auto-Runner).

So, having said that, consider me delightfully surprised to say I now have to add Wunderling to that short list. This game is an absolute delight, with superb level design that challenges the player to think about how to proceed, and clever game mechanics that bring some delightful twists to the gameplay. Much as with Mario in Super Mario Run, your mook will keep walking in a direction until hitting a wall, then walk the other way. However, this game takes that as an opportunity to lay out the levels almost like a Platform-Puzzle, where players need to judge the layout to determine where they need to jump to work their way past obstacles.

As the game progresses, players will also encounter new level mechanics and new abilities that add extra nuance to the game, too, and some of these new elements are really inventive, such as floating balls of goo that drop you straight down when you touch them, and wings that allow you to endlessly fly until you touch the ground… but you can’t change directions until you do. This game constantly found new ways to make me smile at its cleverness, and how each of these new elements gets you to reconsider its mechanics.

For complaints, I don’t have much. The game has a few difficulty spikes, but nothing insurmountable, and while initially some of the 100% challenges in each level seem impossible, being observant generally reveals what needs to be done. I will say that having your character die after going a length of time without a pickup seems a bit harsh, and I wish that the game simply incorporated a level timer or something for players wanting to challenge themselves to complete the levels speedily.

Overall, I found Wunderling to be a delight and a surprise on the Nintendo Switch. This is a game that uses excellent game design and superb level design to deliver a truly special experience to Switch owners that rises above most other entries in its genre. If you’re a fan of Platformers, you should definitely give this game a try.

tl;dr – Wunderling is an Auto-Runner that has players in the role of a Goomba-like creature hunting down this game’s stand-in for Mario. The concept here is clever, and the story surrounding it even more so, but what’s really fantastic about this game is its excellent level design and well-crafted gameplay. If you enjoy Platformers, Wunderling is definitely a game you should try.

Grade: A-

.

This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Platformer – I really struggled with this one. I absolutely loved A Short Hike as a moving, emotional experience, I thought Ori was a gorgeous and immersive Metroidvania, and Horace was full of so much wit and charm… but when I think back to the game that I had the most fun doing the actual platforming, against all odds I have to give the award to Wunderling, a game that manages to take a sub-genre I hate, Auto-Runners, and turn it into a joyful deconstruction of the genre through clever level design. And while I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s the best game on this list, it is my pick for best Platformer.

The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award – I try not to let my personal biases show in my reviews, and I try to give every game a fair chance, but I’ll be honest… I hate most Auto-Runner games. I think they’re lazy, tedious, and I always feel like I’d be much happier just playing a normal Platformer… but not Wunderling. Wunderling takes a genre I hate and uses clever level design to transform it into a series of fantastic puzzles, all while wrapping it up in a marvelous presentation that pokes fun at Mario-style games. I went into Wunderling expecting to hate it, and came out of it absolutely loving the game. No other game in 2020 exceeded my expectations like this one did.

Runner-Up: Funniest Game

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}