Super Mario Odyssey
Year: 2017
Rating: E10
Time Played: 20+ hours
As is the case with many Nintendo systems, Super Mario Odyssey marked the mustachioed plumber’s arrival on the Switch, much like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy did for the Nintendo 64, Gamecube, and Wii, respectively. Taking cues from all its predecessors, Super Mario Odyssey is a gorgeous platformer with plenty to do, almost to its detriment. It’s clear a lot of attention to detail went into this game, but it’s also evident that Odyssey is a celebration of Mario’s history as Nintendo’s de facto mascot. The fact that you can now play as many of Mario’s enemies is a fantastic mechanic that is as unique as it is timeless.
Odyssey uses the improved graphics on the Switch to create stunning worlds that are just itching to be explored. The music as well is perhaps some of the best in the franchise, with the theme to the Wooded Kingdom being my absolute favorite. Additionally, while I usually like to play with a pro controller, Odyssey’s advanced motion controls (likely inherited from the Galaxy games) give Mario that much more mobility and versatility. The diversity of the different worlds was also a welcome change from the more streamlined beach- and space-themed levels from Sunshine and Galaxy, hearkening back to a style reminiscent of Super Mario 64.
While I do appreciate that I can pick up the game at any time and find a few moons that I missed the first time around, the massive amount of collectibles didn’t urge me to fully complete the game. Sure, there are some expensive costumes that I’d like to get eventually, but the amount of effort to find everything—including earning some quite difficult power moons—pushed me away to play other games. After all, once I explored each of the different worlds to satisfy my curiosity, the game had not much more to incentivize me to play past the post-Bowser credits.
A fun gameplay mechanic with plenty (almost too much) to explore, I give Super Mario Odyssey 4.0 stars out of 5.
