Super Mario Odyssey Review

Super Mario Odyssey is the latest 3D Mario game. It's gameplay style was meant to be reminiscent of what we saw in Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64, rather than the more linear design of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D World.

As someone who didn't really like Super Mario 3D World, and has issues with the Galaxy series' linearity, I was happy with what was advertised. However, I feel it was a bit misleading.


PROS:

-Mario Odyssey is very open. Not only are you able to create your own goal, but you have an insane amount of options on how to get pretty much anywhere you want in a level. Initially I felt like Mario's movements were somewhat limited, but with enough practice you will learn how to be more mobile than Mario's ever been before.

-The music is great. Mario games have always had some songs that will stick with you no matter how much you try to forget them. Mario Odyssey does as well, but in this case it's a treat whenever a song comes into your head. My personal favorite song is the Wooded Kingdom, and it's the song you'll hear in most YouTube videos about this game.

-The controls are beautiful. While the worlds are very open and inviting, the controls you'll be exploring the game with help tremendously. If you grew up playing Mario Sunshine, you'll feel right at home with the way Mario controls here. When I was playing Mario Odyssey at a demo kiosk, I kept finding myself doing various moves that I didn't even know were in the game previously. Things like rolling around and diving in the air become second nature the second you discover it exists.

-Two player mode is fun. While it's not as extensive as multiplayer in Mario 3D World, it's far more involved than in Mario Galaxy. Player two controls Cappy, and can fly within a certain radius around Mario. The downsides are that most enemies Cappy touches will make Mario control that enemy, and Mario is left without a hat whenever player two leaves Mario's head. I wouldn't recommend playing two player mode for the entire game, but it's a good bit of fun. It also works well with a Gamecube controller if you have the Wii U adapter, which allows Mario to have proper controls instead of using a single Joycon.

-Mario Odyssey is a decent length (without post-game). If you just want to beat the game, you'll find a lot of fun without a lot of tediousness. You'l find plenty of moons by having fun and exploring each level, and no level is overbearing. You can easily lose track of time just by looking for moons in any random level without it becoming a chore.

-Capture targets are all fun to use. While my personal favorite are the Pokios, I only found Goombas to be a little bit boring, but they also aren't needed for more than a few seconds at a time.

CONS:

-Mario Odyssey has a rough post-game. Finding every single moon in this game is a chore if you don't use external help. And can buy hints from Toad and Uncle amiibo, and you can get mission names from Talkatoo, but aside from that you're on your own. Considering the amount of moons you can collect in this game, it can easily become overbearing.

-While no kingdom is bad, some are much higher quality than others. I've spent hours finding everything in the Metro Kingdom, but have a hard time being entertained in the Cap Kingdom.

-The heads-up-display tends to show more information than is needed. If you stop walking for more than a couple of seconds, the game will start telling you how to walk, including a short looping clip of someone doing what they're telling you to do. This happens no matter how many hours of playtime you have on the game.

-There is an overabundance of motion controls. Mario Galaxy was released for a system that was criticized for bad motion control integration, yet it was made with very few motion controls. Mario Odyssey uses motion controls in multiple ways, and every capture target has at least one function that can only be done by shaking the controller. This would be annoying in any circumstance, but is really bad when playing in handheld mode, where the controller is also the screen.

-CONTROLLER REVIEW:

Super Mario Odyssey is compatible with Joy-Con controllers, Pro Controllers, a Sideways Joy-Con in multiplayer. GameCube controllers are compatible, but no motion controls make the game harder. In multiplayer mode, Cappy can be controlled with a GameCube controller with no issues.

OVERALL OPINION:

Mario Odyssey is a great game. Its open worlds are reminiscent of Mario Sunshine, but I wish there was a hub world. I mentioned earlier that the comparison felt misleading, and a part of that is because of little improvements Mario Odyssey makes to the experience. The mission structure is gone, being replaced with an open-endedness never seen before in a Mario game. Mario Odyssey improves so heavily on what Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine did that Mario Odyssey feels like its own type of Mario game. And it's a great improvement.