We have done our utmost to avoid any major spoilers in this video and will only be showing
gameplay of officially revealed Kingdoms.
But while we’ve tried our best to avoid anything major, you may consider some of what
follows a spoiler.
You’ve been warned
Mario sure does know how to make an entrance.
So what you’re looking at is the actual footage of some of my earliest moments with
Super Mario Odyssey.
And I’m not showing it for what it is--but because of what it meant for me.
Between the lovely visuals, the whimsical music, and the vast world that lied in front
of me--my eyes began to tear up.
I was overwhelmed with feelings--this is the sequel to Super Mario 64 I’ve been waiting
20 years for, and it comes together beautifully, delighting and surprising at almost every
turn--pulling it off with a confidence that seemingly only 30 years of experience could
deliver.
And it’s clear from the very start that Super Mario Odyssey is a little different,
as it begins how most any other Mario game would end--with Mario already fighting Bowser
to rescue Peach, And while the story from this point is pretty conventional, the gameplay
that comes afterward iis anything but.
I mean, you’re literally playing as a mustached frog a few minutes later.
That’s right, because Mario’s latest traveling companion is a magical hat named Cappy and
it enables Mario to capture almost any creature or object that he throws it at in order to
take control of them--with all their abilities & weaknesses intact.
And this is game changing.
Every single creature that you can capture handles entirely uniquely.
No two creatures feel alike, or anywhere close, and it’s in this mechanic where a big part
of Super Mario Odyssey’s magic lies--the sense of discovery in not just what you can
Capture, but what you can then do with them afterward.
Bullet Bills become the key to crossing chasms, Tropical Wiggler’s can stretch like an accordion
for precariously placed collectibles, and Cheep Cheeps provide a means to exploring
underwater without the risk of running out of air.
Yeah, Super Mario Odyssey isn’t just a journey of the body--but of the mind--Mario’s mind.
And with so many things to Capture, the gameplay is constantly changing.
Capture a tank--appropriately called Sherman--and the game temporarily becomes a shooter--which
is really weird when you think about it, and yet, it works.
Every capture target offers a unique style and learning curve to master, without ever
feeling confusing or cumbersome.
Let me tell you, I have a newfound respect for Hammer Bros--trying to hit enemies with
arcing projectiles isn’t nearly as easy as it looks!
And that Capture ability also ties into something else I didn’t expect from Super Mario Odyssey--the
mere act of getting around is fun.
Take the Gushen enemy for example, which when Captured, allows you to rocket around as long
as your water-supply holds out, or how the out-of-control Jaxis make crossing the vast
desert of the Sand Kingdom an absolute blast.
Even the wonderfully integrated 2D segments are often just a super stylish--and fun--
way of getting from Point A to Point B. And side note: I really can’t stress how freaking
cool it is to see these 2D-styled levels mapped onto 3D geometry.
Even Mario himself handles at least as good as ever, with his new momentum-based roll
in particular being a joy to use, especially on hills--weeee!
*cough* Excuse me!
The controls are tight and rarely leave room to blame anything but yourself for messing
up.
And there’s perhaps no better showcase for Mario’s core jumping skills than the brand
new Metro Kingdom, or New Donk City, which has quickly become one of my favorite 3D Mario
levels ever.
A concrete jungle is so mind-bogglingly perfect for Mario, it’s a wonder we haven’t seen
something like this sooner.
It’s so freaking fun to bound off of taxis and onto lamp posts that you can then swing
from, before clambering up the nearby buildings with wall-jumps, which you can then jump between
with some seemingly death-defying leaps.
Who would have guessed some of Mario Odyssey’s most compelling gameplay would be in a world
completely free of enemies?
Unless those honking taxis count...jerks.
Hey, I’m walking here!
And New Donk City is just one of more than a dozen new Kingdoms that come in a variety
of shapes and sizes, with each one looking and feeling completely different from the
next...with a couple of exceptions, but more on them later.
During your journey, Mario will venture across vast deserts, explore a Lost region, clamber
up steel structures in a forest, or swim through the tropical locales of the Seaside Kingdom.
And most of them are simply wonderful.
Each Kingdom is packed to the brim with Power Moons--being the main collectible to find,
which powers your airship, allowing you to access later levels.
It’s almost a little ridiculous how many Moons there are in total to find--think around
Korok seed numbers.
But unlike those seeds, the Moons are integral to the experience and actually feel rewarding
to find.
Particularly with the variety in which they can appear, whether as a reward for beating
a boss, or landing an impressive shot with a Chain Chomp, or winning first place in a
race against a roaming band of Koopa Troopas, or perhaps just by breaking the right box,
or maybe ground-pounding a glowing spot on the ground, or catching a wiley rabbit, or..well,
you get the picture.
It is seriously impressive how creative Nintendo got when it comes to tracking down Moons--and
they’re exactly why exploring in Super Mario Odyssey is so damn fun.
It encourages you to look in every nook and cranny and to try unconventional things.
Yeah, there probably is something at the top of the tallest building--but hey, doesn’t
that manhole look a little different from the others?
Like Breath of the Wild, it can almost be tough to stay focused on a single task because
of how many things there are that compete for your attention.
Luckily, the game does a brilliant job of helping you keep on the main story path--if
you so choose--by marking the next major objective with a persistent shining beacon.
But you’re always free to explore and complete the story at your own pace.
And in a neat twist, the levels evolve as you play, like how The Snow Kingdom is covered
in a dense fog that’s almost impossible to navigate, until it eventually clears up
revealing the level in full.
But for as great and well designed as most of the kingdoms are, they’re not all home
runs.
I came to dread returning to the Luncheon Kingdom, as it consists of a confusing series
of landmasses surrounded by lava--and while capturing a Lava Bubble will allow you to
swim through it, it’s not a particularly fun kingdom to get around.
And it doesn’t help that the art style here did nothing for me.
And while I loved the Seaside Kingdom, a second water-based kingdom felt dull and cramped
by comparison--which wasn’t helped much by the lack of engaging things to Capture.
And then there’s the unlockable post game challenges...don’t worry, I won’t show
them, but I will talk about them in extremely vague terms.
Okay, so here’s the thing: You can technically finish Super Mario Odyssey in about 10-12
hours if you focus on completing it with the bare minimum amount of moons--and that entire
journey is simply fantastic, being a whirlwind of unique sights and challenges.
But even after “beating” Super Mario Odyssey--you’ve really only just begun, as there are still
at least 4 times as many Moons to find.
And that will easily take you another 50 hours, at least--I know because I just barely managed
to find them all in time for this review.
And that is absolutely MASSIVE for a Mario game.
And even more impressive, I still had a blast for most of that time.
Sure, the gameplay loses just a little of its luster with the main plot already wrapped
up, but tracking down all of those moons remained engaging thanks to the endlessly creative
ways Nintendo found to hide them--that is until maybe the final 5% or so, where they
were so deviously hidden that looking for them sometimes felt like looking for a needle
in a haystack.
And as a result of that, the levels began to lose just a little bit of their magic once
I had explored them so exhaustively.
I was actually starting to get a little sick of them.
Oh, and some of the Moons are annoyingly tied to harder versions of tasks you’ve already
completed--I have a feeling trying to jump this stupid rope 100 times is going to annoy
more than just a few people.
Thankfully, the game does provide a couple of assist features that can help in tracking
down some of those Moons if you find yourself truly stuck, such as a parrot that provides
a clue--sometimes barely--and a Toad that marks their location on your map, although
neither will help you in tracking down the 100 coins to be found in each world, which
are also required for 100%’ing the game.
And even in the post game, you’ll continue to unlock additional challenges--the first
of which is pretty fantastic--even if I wish it went just a little bit farther with its
concept.
You’ll know what I mean when you get there.
But as for the others...well, let me just say when I saw the title of the final one,
I thought the game was joking--even if it’s still fun in its own right.
Now you’ll unlock that final challenge just a little over halfway through the entire adventure--which
as you might have guessed, means the reward for 100’%ing the game is pretty underwhelming.
And as such, I would only recommend finding all the moons to the most hardcore of gamers,
otherwise I’d suggest just playing up to the point where you feel content with the
amount you’ve played,, before you reach the point where finding them becomes more
frustrating than fun.
But considering that my main complaint so far involves not just the post game--but the
final 5% or so of it is almost more commentary on how how truly wonderful the rest of Super
Mario Odyssey remains.
This is a truly beautiful game, both to play and behold.
There are moments where you’ll want to take a break just to take it all in, whether it’s
the flowing falls of Cascade Kingdom, or the rippling waters of Seaside--there’s even
a certain beauty to the cityscape that is New Donk City.
Although that also does showcase one of Super Mario Odyssey’s shortcomings, because while
the game mostly runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, there are some notable framerate
hitches at times, most prominently in New Donk City.
I never found it to be too distracting, but it was one of the few blemishes in a fantastic
game.
The music is also great throughout, with the Cascade and Wooded Kingdom tracks being particular
standouts.
Oh, and when I heard Jump Up Superstar within the full context of the game--well, let’s
just say that was another eye-tearing moment.
Super Mario Odyssey is pretty much everything I had hoped a Super Mario 64 sequel would
be--in addition to things I never thought it could be.
The return to open-ended levels invites and rewards exploration in ways that no Mario
game since Super Mario 64 has quite captured--and speaking of which, the capturing mechanic
is brilliant, switching up the gameplay to a degree far beyond the power-ups of past
games, and making for a persistently fresh experience where the mere act of getting around
is fun in and of itself.
Super Mario Odyssey is something truly special.
It’s one of those Nintendo games that comes along maybe once every 10 years that, even
if it’s not quite perfect in every way, is pretty freaking close.
And I found it to be truly mind-blowing with just how good it is for the bulk of my 60+
hours with it.
Savor it--games like this don’t come along very often.
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and everything else Nintendo as well.