Super Mario Bros. Wonder: Every Orange Action Badge, Ranked

Super Mario Wonder is one of the best-received 2D Mario platformers in decades, and a big part of the reason for this is how willing it is to shake up the formula. One of the main ways the gameplay of a traditional Mario platformer has been twisted is by adding badges as optional gameplay changes that can help or occasionally hinder your progression through the levels.

The Easiest And Hardest Mario Games

The Super Mario Bros. games range in difficulty. We take a look at which are the easiest and which are difficult.

The main type of badge that will make the most noticeable changes are the orange action badges that will give you extra moves to change how you platform. So, which are the best to choose from?

9 Floating High Jump

The Floating High Jump badge has its place, but, unfortunately, there are other action badges like it that will do what it does better, and you do not have to wait long to unlock them. This badge will let you float in the air for a little longer when you are jumping, and this is a skill that can help with certain sections of levels, but it can end up feeling more like a hindrance.

The timing of your jumps is part of what makes the platforming in Wonder so satisfying, and the extra air time this adds can throw off your instincts when it comes to how you land, and you can end up with more lives lost than necessary.

8 Fast Dash

Fast Dash is a simple ability doing exactly what it says, making your dash faster, as well as making you faster when walking across sand. You would think this ability would be more useful, but similarly to Floating High Jump, it can just end up messing your timing and causing accidents.

It has its uses, like in the Wiggler races if you are really struggling, but even in these, with how precise the fast platforming is, it might just end up making the process even harder.

7 Grappling Vine

The Grappling Vine is perhaps one of the more satisfying abilities to pull off, with how it can help you speed around certain levels, and can save from some falls.

Best Platformer Games Of All Time

The platformer is one of the oldest and most beloved genres of all time. If you're a fan of them, these are the titles you NEED to play.

However, it is held back by how late it is obtained in the game, as well as how niche its usage is. It will mostly help in more vertical levels, but even then, the issues it solves are often better solved with platforming instead. When you do find a good chance to use it, the sensation is amazing, but with how often it goes unused, you might never want to bother equipping it.

6 Timed High Jump

Timed High Jump is one of the more useful jumping abilities, but similar to Floating High Jump, it has better alternatives throughout the game that do what it does better. With Timed High Jump, subsequent jumps will automatically be higher, similar to the triple jump in the New Super Mario Bros. games.

However, it lacks the satisfaction factor that ability had, since this time the timing is far less important, and you can essentially mash jump to get higher. The problem is how obtrusive the ability can be; it doesn't feel as natural and lacks the precision you get with other jumping badge abilities.

5 Crouching High Jump

Crouching High Jump is the more controlled version of Timed High Jump, and since you obtain them at similar times, this is the one you will more likely want to choose. The jump you get from it will be about the same height, only this time it is activated with a crouch instead of subsequent jumps.

While this is more likely to break your momentum working through a level, it will lend you more precision since you can line up exactly where you will want to land.

4 Wall-Climb Jump

Wall-Climb Jump will feel incredibly overpowered when you unlock it, with how it lets you jump up the side of any flat wall, essentially being a better and easier wall jump. This is one of the more useful badges, if you regularly keep it equipped and remember to use it regularly, since it can save you from some avoidable falls.

Super Mario Wonder: All Power-Ups, Ranked

Check out the new and amazing power-ups available to you while playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder!

However, if you are more likely to switch between badges often, this ability can sometimes throw off your timing, and might end up causing some falls rather than preventing them.

3 Parachute Cap

Parachute Cap is definitely the safest bet for a badge to keep equipped in the early game, and is also one of the easier to use. Whipping out the parachute when you are trying to make a longer jump, or using it to control your trajectory, actually replaces a lot of the uses of some of the other badges, and this one tends to be a lot less punishing too.

There are some more useful action badges in certain scenarios, but this badge can still help even in late game levels, saving you from some near misses.

2 Dolphin Kick

A common issue with previous 2D Mario games was how tedious some of the swimming sections could be, but in Mario Wonder, they are made much simpler and satisfying with the Dolphin Kick badge. Not only does this make moving through the water smoother, but also gives you more offense options, with the kick being able to destroy bricks.

This badge is of course held back by being useless outside water-based levels, but for how useful it can be, it ranks very highly.

1 Boosting Spin Jump

There is a reason why Boosting Spin Jump is kept until quite late in the game, and this is simply for how useful it is, and how it trivialises a lot of the other badges as well. The ability lets you add a spinning boost to your standard jump, and this is incredibly versatile.

What makes it better than the other jumping abilities is how un-obtrusive it is to use, not needing specific timing, or breaking your momentum. This makes it a great choice for picking up collectibles that might otherwise be out of reach.

Next: Super Mario Wonder: Biggest Changes From The New Super Mario Bros. Games