Within the last year, Nintendo has managed to go from basically the laughingstock of the console market (thanks to the underperforming WiiU) to the top of their game, essentially competing with themselves for Game of the Year between two Switch titles. In March, they released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a title that has been hailed by many to be one of the greatest video games ever made. And on October 27, 2017, they released Super Mario Odyssey, an absolutely charming romp for the face of the company that will likely revolutionize the genre in a similar fashion to how Super Mario 64 did back in the day.
The story of Odyssey is pretty par for the course for a Super Mario title – Bowser has once again kidnapped Princess Peach, but this time he plans on legitimizing the whole thing by marrying her for real. Bowser’s hired the Broodals, four rabbit-like creatures, to act as his wedding planners as well as provide an obstacle for Mario to get past. Mario ends up teaming up with the appropriately-named Cappy, a hat-like ghost who can possess Mario’s various headwear, in order to rescue Peach before any nuptials can take place. The two take over an airship called the Odyssey in order to chase after Bowser across various kingdoms all over the world (and beyond).
Super Mario Odyssey, like all other games in the main franchise, is primarily a platformer. Mario retains many of his abilities and tricks from previous titles, but with Cappy at his side, the gameplay is blown wide open. Mario can toss Cappy onto enemies to “capture” or otherwise possess them and use their unique abilities to reach otherwise out-of-reach areas of the map or to defeat enemies in a specific fashion. Cappy can also be thrown like a boomerang in order to defeat other enemies. While other recent Super Mario titles have focused primarily on platforming action, Odyssey instead is focused on exploration of each kingdom.
The goal in each kingdom is to get enough “Power Moons” to fly on to the next area to keep chasing Bowser; while it’s fairly easy to get the minimum amount needed to move on, a bigger challenge lies in getting every possibly available Power Moon in each stage. This basically means that Odyssey is only as difficult as the player wants it to be – it’s far more difficult to complete each stage 100% than it is to simply finish the main storyline – which means it’s great for gamers regardless of their skill level or familiarity with Mario titles.
Besides the gameplay being fun and easy to get into, the overall atmosphere of the game is just fantastic. There’s so much clever humor packed into every inch of the game and each kingdom in the world is rendered beautifully and uniquely. Easily my favorite part of the game is the area of New Donk City – a huge metropolis with none other than Pauline (Mario’s girlfriend from the original Donkey Kong game) as its mayor. New Donk City serves as somewhat of a halfway point for the storyline, and it feels very much like a fun reward to just jump around the city after the first bout with Bowser.
Super Mario Odyssey feels like a celebration of how far Mario and Nintendo have come over the last few decades. There’s plenty of references to old titles strewn throughout Odyssey, which are fun little Easter Eggs for longtime fans who appreciate them. It’s easily one of the most well-rounded and fun Mario games out there, and if you’ve got a Switch, there’s really no reason not to pick it up. If there’s any doubt that Odyssey exists to celebrate all that Mario and Nintendo have done over the last 30-plus years, just listen to the vocal theme song for the game: “You know that we’re all superstars / We’re the ones who’ve made it this far / Put a smile on that face / There’s no time to waste / Oh, let’s do the Odyssey!”
-Carrie Wood
