When it comes to game releases in October 2023, two games made their mark as widely loved creations from popular franchises. Both Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man 2 play very differently, but even some of the best developers in the world know how outstanding these games are.
Nintendo game designer Masahiro Sakurai was blown away by Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Spider-Man 2, calling them both “masterpieces” in a translated Oct. 23 tweet. What is remarkable is that Sakurai has apparently finished both games already—only four days after they were released.
For those who aren’t aware, Sakurai is known for creating both the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series, and Nintendo fans will recognize him from previous Nintendo Directs where he gave news about updates and characters for Super Smash Bros.
His only complaint about Wonder and Spider-Man 2 was their launch times, which were essentially identical. Players across the world got access to the games on the same day—Oct. 20. Additionally, he completed both games almost simultaneously, meaning he must have spent a lot of time gaming this past week.
For context, it takes about 15 hours to just grind through the story of Spider-Man 2, and the game has plenty of fun side content to get distracted with. As for Wonder, that added another nine hours of game time to Sakurai’s plate.
Wonder is the release Sakurai has more connection with due to his relationship with Nintendo, and it certainly deserves the praise. Wonder is the culmination of the Super Mario Bros. franchise’s ease of access and mastery of the platformer genre, and we agree with Sakurai’s sentiment in our review of the game.
Where the statement both stands out and matches the overall reception is Spider-Man 2, which has received glowing reviews since its release. The franchise as a whole has never fallen below an 85 on Metacritic, with the rating only increasing as the games aged.
Spider-Man 2 currently has the highest rating out of the four games in the franchise at 90 (if you include the PC remaster of the original). Even if you were to include previous Spider-Man games, Insomniac’s latest is clearly the best of the bunch.
Fans as a whole are already familiar with the success of both games above, but with a developer who has two extremely successful franchises under his belt in Sakurai also confirming them as “masterpieces,” it’s hard to argue against it.
They’re two very different games, but both are some of the best games of the year and might be battling each other for that Game of the Year title later down the road—although it certainly is looking like a stacked list for the coveted prize.
