Game Info
Game Name: Super Mario Odyssey
Developer(s): Nintendo EPD
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Platform(s): Switch
Genre(s): Platformer
Release Date(s): October 27, 2017
ESRB Rating: E10+
The glory of the original Mario returns in style!
Princess Peach has been taken by Bowser, and with Peach, Bowser has stolen a living tiara from the Cap Kingdom. Mario finds himself teamed with Cappy from the Cap Kingdom, and Cappy and Mario set out across the world to rescue Peach and Tiara. From the Stone Age to New Donk City, Mario and Cappy must fight Bowser and his hordes of minions. Bowser has plans for Peach, and she soon could be his forever…as his bride!
Super Mario Odyssey is an open-world platformer for the Nintendo Switch. Following the mobile game Super Mario Run in 2016, the game was released to critical acclaim and often topped the “Best Of” lists of games for 2017 (often rivaled by Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild).
It’sa me, Mario Rex!
Any time a new system by Nintendo comes out, I get pretty console hungry. The new system generally means a new Mario game and Mario games are generally top of my list of all-time favorite game plays (even from the original Mario Bros.). While Nintendo sometimes stumbles (like Super Mario Sunshine), Nintendo outdid themselves with Super Mario Odyssey.
Though the game is incredible, I do have one complaint. Much like Breath of the Wild doesn’t feel like a Zelda game, it doesn’t necessarily feel like Super Mario Odyssey is a Super Mario game in the classic sense. Jumping isn’t that important in most cases as opposed to “capturing” enemies with your hat and using them. When compared to something like Super Mario Galaxy (which did feel like a Mario game), Super Mario Odyssey feels more like Super Mario Sunshine…but a good version of it.
What the Hell are you?
The game manages to find a way to take Super Mario 64 to the next level while introducing new gameplay and multiple challenges. With hundreds of moons to collect, the game can be played for hours and hours after finishing it (which is somewhat short if you just pound it out). There are tons of hidden parts of levels to explore and multiple ways to do it. This combines with some online play and other variety that keeps the game fresh.
While the game does have marked improvements on the move to the Switch, I wish that the game would step up the audio which feels like it is stuck in the old format. The controls however are sleek and strong, but I am still adjusting to the light weight almost “breakable” feel of the Switch controls which don’t have the weight of something from Xbox or PlayStation, but they also don’t even have the strength of something like the original Wii…with sometimes frustrating levels, you might just break the controls before you break the game.
I know I’ve been demanding Bowser fight a hat with boxing gloves since 1985
Super Mario Odyssey also looks great. The details to the characters and the decision to mix classic 8-Bit Mario with modern Mario and “real” people in New Donk City (plus a return of Pauline and Donkey Kong) with the Nintendo video gaming version of a human adds to the visual candy. It is a fun game that despite all the classic tropes (ice levels, desert levels, fire levels, etc.) still has something to show you.
Super Mario Odyssey is a must if you have the Switch, and I’d argue that it alone is a reason to buy the Switch. It is the type of game that provides hours of play but simple enough to pick-up and put down with months in between. With reports already that the Switch could have an extremely long shelf life, I wonder if we might even get a second Mario entry on the Switch…if not, you still can play and play and play.
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