Review: Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

By James Charlton

Super Mario 65

It’s hard to believe it’s been fifteen years since Super Mario Sunshine tarnished the 3D Mario canon, yet here we are three consoles later with the true sequel to the genius that was Super Mario 64. Have no doubt, Super Mario Odyssey is the open world playground sequel we’ve been yearning for for all these years, yet it still acknowledges all the important advances in game design that has happened in the interim.

What EAD have done is cleverly taken all the best visual and control elements from the greatest 3D Mario games, namely 64, Galaxy and 3D World, and added them into a stunning array of new worlds filled with fun things to do.

Moreover, it is probably no coincidence that two first-party titles (this and Breath of the Wild) share the same feeling of having an embarrassing amount of things to do, yet allowing the player to tackle them in any way they feel. The only major differing factor in that regard is that Super Mario Odyssey does push you down a rather linear path to the end, however you are by no means forced to do any of the missions in a particular order, nor leave anywhere until you are ready to see what is next on the menu.

Like previous 3D games in the series, reaching the credits is not a particularly difficult task, made even easier by the sheer density of collectable moons there are in each world, however doing this would be doing the game a disservice.

The real fun is finding all the moons hidden around the world, as each one provides a fun and unique task in order to get it. You could be running from a T-Rex or becoming a T-Rex, driving a scooter, becoming a tank, doing wall-jumps, playing dress-up, racing Koopa-Troopas, hunting for hidden clues, the list goes on!

These can range from not requiring you do anything other than talking to the right person whilst wearing the right costume, to good old fashioned platforming. This flexibility allows less skilled players to get to Bowser without too much trouble yet still allows veterans to enjoy multiple times more content obtained from much harder challenges. It’s the classic Nintendo genius design of having multiple difficulties without the need for you to select “expert” on the title screen.

This even expands to the controls which on a basic level is just the same as any other Mario game, albeit with the new capture mechanic. However, players who grew up with Mario 64 can immediately access the advanced moves they’re accustomed to. Additionally Odyssey throws on another layer of complexity to the controls that allow for some spectacular ways to access parts of the worlds you initially think are inaccessible. Put it this way, speed runs for this game are going to be amazing.

I doubt many people are on the fence about whether they should buy this game or not, but if that person exists, stop wasting your time and play this game immediately less you want to be put on the same list of people who passed on Mario 64 back in the day. It’s incredible.