Super Mario games usually have a very simple plot that can some up in one sentence. Super Mario's quest to rescue the princess from Bowsers hands. Super Mario Odyssey does things different by having the plot sum up in the sentence, Super Mario and Cappy's quest to stop Bowser from forcing a Marriage on Princess Peach. Bowser kidnapped the princess and he is trying to force a marriage between them.
The italian plumber though, does not agree with this and tries to stop the event from taking place. Bowser and Mario fight on top of Bowser's airship and this time the hero is not only defeated by the enemy by being thrown of the ship but also gets his iconic cap torn into pieces by the ships propellers. Mario had falen down to the cap kingdom which is inhabited by the Bonneters. Little ghost like creatures
equiped with different hats. One of the ghosts, captures the piece of Marios hat and tries to give it to him but it runs of scared when Mario wake up. The hero chases after the ghost and catches up to it. The ghost introduces itelf as Cappy and explains how Bowser was just here in the kingdom and kidnapped his sister Tiara in order for her to be used as Princess Peach wedding tiara. The two decide
to join forces for the sake of the princess and Tiara. To celerate this newly formed friendship, Cappy transforms itself into Mario's cap and informs him that by throwing Cappy into any creature around the world they wll take control over them temporarily. The two then travel to a nearby kingdom called Cascade in order to obtain an airship called the Odyssey.
With Odyssey obtained the two heroes chase Bowser around different kingdoms. Each kingdom has something different for Bowser to obtain in order to formulate the perfect wedding, whether this is a gigantic wedding ring, the prettiest wedding dress, the colorful flowers and others. Will the heroes be on time to crush the Wedding save Tiara and the princess?
When it comes down to Super Mario the gameplay is usually very simple as it follows the same formula in which it found it sucesss. The players this time however get the control of Super Mario as he is technically the only playable hero in Odyssey. The players goal is to move around in the open maps in order to find and collect a certain amount of power moons. These power moons will then powerup the Odyssey in order to progress to the next kingdom.
The game is mainly a platformer and thus by default Mario's arsenal is consist of plenty of platforming abilities. First Things first Mario has his iconic triple combo jumb. Each time he jump the next jump leaps higher and higher. Another way for Mario to reach great heights is by spinning around uncontrolably and then press jump. In doing so Mario will Jump higher than his typical jump and at the same time it will take him more time to land as the
spinning adds him a hover effect. The last type of Jump for Mario comes in the form of Jump, ground poud and jump again. This will allow Mario to jump very high and also be in fully control of his leap. Whilst on air mario can only use his stomp and roll in order to dive towards a direction. Whilst on the ground Mario can ground pound to reveal secret items that may be hidding underneath him and roll around in order to move faster. Each time the roll
button is pressed Mario rolls faster. Moreover Mario can Wall jump atleast once and can pick items in order to throw them somewhere or carry them to a different place. Last but not least the players can ultilize a long jump ability which allows the Hero to make a great jump that may not give him height but it does cover the furthest distance amongs all the jumps fast.
The new addition to the game and the thing that makes Odyssey unique from all other 100+ games is the introduction of Mario's sidekick Cappy the new top Hat ghost. Cappy is not just added with the purpose of just being Mario's new sidekick but he was also added to create a new feeling. For Combat Mario usually jumps ontop of enemies but also uses poweups (Mushroom, Fire flower, Tanooki siot) to defeat them. In Odyssey Mario can still squash the
enemies but there are no power-ups to use, only Cappy. Cappy has many usages, the first one and the most important is that Mario can throw Cappy towards Mobs and capture them. In doing so the, the mob will change avatar by having Mario's moustache grown and Cappy on top of their head. The player can then use the abilities of the certain mob for as long as they have them captured. For example, controlling a Goomba allows you to jump on top of another and
stack them verticaly. Controlling a chainsaw allows you to break walls and hit enemies. There's plenty of enemies that appear in this adventure and every single one has a unique ability for Mario to use. Some are gonna help him manuver around the environment and others will help him fight enemies. The possession technique can also be used on objects such as zippers to reveal hidden rooms etc.
Cappy can also be used in order to hit enemies by simply throwing it on enemies that cannot be possessed. Furthermore cappy can also be used as an extra platform for the players to jump on. For example if the players try to make a big jump they can toss Cappy and then dive onto him in order to get an extra jump in the air. Using the Joycons sensors Cappy can be thrown both vertically and horizontally.
In general Super Mario Odyssey offers a smooth gameplay experience for anyone who picks t up. The game can be enjoyed by everyone whether or not they have experience with video games or not. the only advantage that it really offers is the fact that those with more experience can do more cooler stuff and also find plenty of shorcuts in order to speedrun the game.
Last but certainly not least is the fact that the game opffers Local Multiplayer. One player controls Super Mario whilst the other controls Cappy. Cappy can move around the visual space but the camera will always be locked on the Mario player. If cappy posseses someone then player 2 becomes locked whilst player one controls the captured creature. Cappy can move around and collect coins but it cannot capture key items as they require the Mario player
to do so. This is a very clever design as using Cappy ;ike that can really "cheese" the game and skip many things that would require skill and collaboration. The multiplayer although there, it may not be for everyone but at least its available.
Collectables:
The game has a few types of collectables. The main collectable is ofcourse the moon that power up the Odyssey. Through the plot the players are task to collect a few in order to proceed to the next kingdom however they re encouraged to collect more. Once the main story is finished, if the players collected a total of 250 moons, a new optional world becomes available. When 500 moons are gathered the 3rd and final.
optional world will become available. At the same time, each time a player collects a certain ammount of moons, the players will get more cosmeticks unlocked in the store. The second and third type of collectables are obtained from the store and are Skins and Odyssey cosmeticks such as posters and figurines.
Post Game Content:
Defeating the boss is not the end of the game. Once cleared a new kingdom becomes available that should be familiar with plenty of people. Once unlocked the players can freely explore it to find its treassures as well as replay every boss battle found hroughout the game. After collecting 250 moons, the payers unlock a new map where they ll have to fight certain boss fights in one go. At 500, a new kingdom becomes available
that consist a few platforming challenges. At the same time revisiting worlds after finishing the story have new moons hidden, new areas to test your skills as well as various NPCs with their own test.
Music:
The music of the game as mentioned before is very good and really suits the games atmosphere. Throughout the game the music sets the mood for the current map, events and cutscenes. There are plenty of classic tunes but also plenty of new songs that contain lyricks as well.
Amiibo
The Amiibo do not have a direct impact on the game. At the start of each map, theres a small machine next to a Toad(usually infront of Odyssey) with the amiibo sign. The machine will request from the player to scan the amiibo in order to send the character around the map in order to search for moons. After a while talking back to the machine will mention whether or not the amiibo came back with good news and if it did it will
pin the location of a moon in the map.
Overall Super Mario Odyssey is a fantastic game that not only delivers on a unique game but also reminds us all how Super Mario has been out in the gaming industry for multiple generations. Whether we get the old nostalgic 8-bit Mario and assets, the 3D rendered model of Super Mario 64 or simply the new models made for Odyssey. Furthermore the game returned to its semi open world roots which was always welcomed and introduce a
very interesting story. Additionally it offers alot of post game content in the form of new kingdoms and an expansion to the already visited one. Needless to say 800+ Moons wont be gathered by themselves given that the average players collect around 200 before encountering Bowser. Most of the new moons come with their own unique challenges or even hiding spots. The 2 new maps unlocked at 250 and at 500 moons are challenges in the form
of boss rush and parkour challenges. All the tunes and maps are well designed and have very well made references and details. Last but not least speedrunners and Moders till this day (September 2022) run the game and generally have fun with it.
Being a Nintendo exclusive game, it can only be purchased for Nintendo switch and although the game is 5 years old it is still being sold as if it was 2017.