So between our in-depth preview and gameplay videos, we’ve given you a pretty in-depth
look at Super Mario Odyssey from our recent hands-on time with it.
And yet, there are still some things Nintendo said we can’t show you--at least directly--but
they didn’t say we couldn’t draw them instead!
So here we are to literally paint you a picture, and illustrate 7 cool Super Mario Odyssey
details that we otherwise can’t show you, as interpreted by our very own Tom Arnold.
So one of the areas that we COULDN’T show y ou was anything in the Cap Kingdom, or how
it’s been left in ruins by Bowser’s attack, with smoke bellowing out the damaged airships.
And as part of that, one of the cool details we couldn’t show off is if you go stand
in that smoke for a moment, it’ll cling to Mario and he’ll begin smoking himself--hey
Mario!
didn’t anyone ever tell you that’s a disgusting habit!
But don’t fret, it’ll wear off after a few moments of fresh air.
Have you ever wondered what Mario would sound like as a frog, and not just dressed up as
one?
Well, you’ll find out as soon as you Capture your first one in the Cap Kingdom, because
when Mario looks down at his froggy body, you’ll hear him ribbit and croak in shock.
It's incredibly adorable, you can Toad-ally hear Charles Martinet’s enthusiasm come
through for the part.
Another thing we can’t show you is anything that takes place outside of a level, which
means that t he loading screens are off-limits.
And honestly, you’re not really missing too much--except for a pretty freaking cool
8-Bit version of the Odyssey that sails across the screen.
Yep, even though this is his latest epic 3D adventure, Mario never loses track of his
roots.
Something else that Nintendo wasn’t letting us show was any sort of cutscene--or really--any
sequence where you’re not in direct control of Mario.
But during most of the mid-level cutscenes, I noticed was that I could use the Right Control
Stick to slightly turn the camera, for a better look at the area.
Neat!
So since Nintendo won’t let us show off any cutscenes, that also means we definitely
can’t you the game’s opening cinematic.
But Nintendo has shown parts of it off before, including in the official reveal trailer.
But what you may not know is that those Nintendo lied to us then--because the final versions
of those scenes look a little different now--even beyond the obvious visual upgrades in the
time between the two.
Now one of these you may have already noticed yourself, being that the Princess’s Tiara--is
now a living being also named Tiara.
Whereas in the original trailer, it appeared to be nothing special--although in hindsight,
the Tiara’s loops totally look like a pair of eyes, which is exactly where they end up
going
But that’s not the only lie told in the opening--and it’s this 2nd one that we can’t
show you.
So in the reveal trailer, we can see Mario getting hit by Bowser’s hat.
But here’s the thing--in the final version, Mario doesn’t isn’t wearing his hat here
at all--because it had just been knocked off by Bowser’s hat when it grazed Mario on
the first pass.
So why did Nintendo intentionally lie to us?
Well probably to hide the fact that the hats play an important role in the game.
Peach’s sentient Tiara would have been a dead-giveaway after all , but Mario’s missing
hat isn’t nearly as revealing...but then again, maybe Nintendo was afraid of what the
old analysis machine might have found?
It did completely nail the game’s beginning after all.
Now since we can’t show you the opening cutscene, that obviously means you can’t
hear it either...so you’re going to have to take me at my word, about Bowser’s words...in
that he actually talks this time...No, no, no, not like that--although it is closer to
it that than it’s ever been since.
Okay, so Bowser still mostly talks in snarls and growls with captions appearing at the
bottom of the screen--much like he did in the Galaxy games.
But this time, if you listen closely, he actually pronounces the character’s names, properly
saying “Mario,” and “Peach,” just in his own snarly gruff way...It’s a pretty
neat bridge between saying too much, and nothing at all--almost like Bowser’s speaking a
foreign language, punctuated by the occasional proper noun.
Buckle up, because this one’s going to be a long ride.
So in our preview, we mentioned that we explored 3 different kingdoms: Cap, Luncheon, and Seaside.
But what I didn’t mention is that we may have technically saw a fourth too...because
the game opens with a title card that says “In the skies above Peach’s Castle”
and sure enough, we can actually see Princess Peach’s Castle directly below Bowser’s
Airship--which I just realized is something else Nintendo lied about, because you can
only see clouds in the original trailer.
Which means that the game technically begins in the Mushroom Kingdom, which was a Kingdom
that had previously been confirmed to be in the game via leaked via an amiibo box.
So that’s a neat detail by itself--but there’s a larger point I want to explore.
Because in GIant Bomb’s gameplay of the Luncheon Kingdom, they came across a Portrait
of Peach’s Castle--which we also encountered ourselves during our playtime with the game.
Now we’ve already seen similar portraits in the recent trailer, and appear to act as
an instant-warp to that Kingdom--which likely means the one here would take you right to
Peach’s Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom.
So some people online have speculated that the portrait here is not only a direct reference
to Super Mario 64--a game was all about jumping into portraits-- but also perhaps a sign that
you’ll actually visit a level from that game, similar to how Super Mario Galaxy had
an updated version of Thwomp’s Fortress from Super Mario 64.
It’s a super exciting idea.
And going off that idea, I can provide a few more
details on based on the opening of the game that might provide evidence either for or
against it--I’ll let you be the judge
Okay, so here’s the thing.
Obviously the castle in the portrait looks similar to one from Super Mario 64.
But that’s not exactly shocking seeing as how almost every portrayal of Peach’s Castle
since that game has been based on that same design, with only minor tweaks to it that
change game to game.
And in this instance, the castle appears to be contained entirely within the moat, as
opposed to only half of it in the original game.
The towers also appear to be a little more independent than usual, hanging off the sides,
suspended over the moat, with the castle’s sides curving outward toward them, which I’m
pretty sure is an entirely new design element.
Again, it’s still obviously based on Super Mario 64’s template, just like every other
version of Peach’s Castle, but if it were meant to literally be a callback, one might
expect it to adhere a little more rigidly to the original design.
And on that note, the area surrounding the castle seems to be missing some key details
from Super Mario 64 as well.
Instead of a split path that leads both left or right from the castle, there’s only one
now that travels directly to it.
Oh, and the waterfall and mountain to the left appear to be gone too.
And we also saw no sign of the bridge on the right either--but it is possible it was just
off-screen.
Then there’s the tree-filled garden in Super Mario 64, whereas we didn't spot a single
one in Mario Odyssey’s.
Which is especially odd considering the portrait of Peach’s Castle actually does show a couple
of trees, and they do look quite similar to the bubbly ones from Mario 64, so it’s possible
they’re still there, but perhaps in fewer numbers and obscured from the camera?
So what I’m getting at is, if this castle is literally meant to be the one from Super
Mario 64, the developers definitely took some creative liberty with it--and to be fair,
the castle has had 20 years of design iterations since the original game, so it would make
sense to modernize it.
Oh, and there is one more possible detail that supports the idea of this being an intentional
callback--there does appear to be a body of water in front and to the right of the castle,
very similar to the one from Super Mario 64.
But then again, that’s something we’ve seen on iother Mario games too--like Galaxy.
Hmmm.
And there you have it.
The 7 Cool Details in Super Mario Odyssey that we couldn’t show you!
If you enjoyed this video, make sure to click that Like and Subscribe buttons, as we’ll
have a ton more on the game in the coming weeks.
Thanks for watching and make sure to stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Super Mario
Odyssey and everything else Nintendo Switch as well!
Alright Tom, thanks for helping us out here man.
“No problem.”
And you know what that means.
“I get a gold star?”
Ha, it’s time to get back into your cage.
See you next year.
“No, don’t take me away!
DON’T TAKE ME AWAY.”
Wow, I gotta say Tom, it’s pretty impressive you managed to draw that while being dragged
away.