Super Mario Odyssey is the critically acclaimed 3D platformer from 2017 that I never got the chance to play until now. After all these years, it still more than lives up to the praise for the most part. The movement, level design, and sheer amount of things to do make it an incredibly fun game, but I do have some complaints about a few of its design choices that hold it back from being as great as it could be.
The Premise and Story are in the name. Odyssey starts off as usual, with Bowser kidnapping Peach but also Cappy’s sister, Tiara, but this time you chase him from kingdom to kingdom using a ship aptly named the “Odyssey.” The inspiration is a little on the nose. The story itself is pretty straightforward, but it works well as an excuse to take Mario and his new friend Cappy on a journey across a variety of unique and memorable kingdoms.
The Gameplay, as previously mentioned, has you travelling from kingdom to kingdom, with each one wildly differing in size and density. The main story takes you along a generally more linear and clearly defined path through these kingdoms, with platforming, fighting mobs, and solving simple puzzles along the way to each kingdom’s final boss, which is usually one of Bowser’s goon squad, the Broodals. The boss battles aren’t particularly difficult, but they’re pretty fun and evolve throughout the game.
Throughout the game, you’ll be collecting three types of collectibles: Coins, Purple Coins, and Moons. Coins are spent in shops to buy outfits and Moons, while Purple Coins are limited to each kingdom and are used to buy kingdom-exclusive souvenirs and outfits. Finally, Moons are your main form of progression, as they serve as fuel for the Odyssey, they’re also scattered everywhere some are in broad daylight, some are hidden and some are tied to challenges. You don’t really need to collect many Moons to progress through the main story, though.
The Capture Mechanic is probably what makes Super Mario Odyssey stand out as a 3D platformer. Mario can throw his hat, which can be used as a ranged attack or to capture certain enemies and objects, allowing you to transform into and control them. Each capture has its own unique abilities, which are often used for platforming, combat, or solving puzzles. This breathes a lot of life into the game and keeps the gameplay evolving and changing throughout the entire experience, while also encouraging you to experiment with your surroundings.
The Controls are a little unintuitive thanks to weird inputs that take time to get used to and forced motion controls. Mario also has this drifting animation at the start of his running animation, where he takes a moment to properly accelerate and get into his stride. I found this really unnecessary and poorly designed, especially for a platformer where precise movement and immediate responsiveness are important. That said, the depth of the movement helps offset some of my gripes with the controls and gives the game a very high skill ceiling and plenty of room for player expression.
Level Design, World Design, OST, and Art Direction are all done phenomenally. The kingdoms are absolutely gorgeous and offer an unparalleled amount of variety, with New Donk City being my favorite, not only for its novelty in a Mario game but also for the iconic “Jump Up, Super Star!” which might be my favorite piece of Mario music ever. You have Bowser’s Kingdom, which is samurai-themed, the Moon Kingdom, and even a kingdom that reminds me of Dark Souls. The sheer variety really doesn’t get enough praise. Within the kingdoms, you might stumble upon secret levels that play like traditional linear 3D Mario levels, or even some 2D mini-levels. This constant change in style and gameplay keeps the game feeling fresh no matter how much you play.
The Post Game is a little disappointing for me. They just throw even more Moons at you, which I already found a bit excessive, now totaling around 860+ “unique” Moons. That number is somewhat misleading, though, since most Moons follow a formula and are repeated ad nauseam throughout the kingdoms. There are simply too many, and the game starts to feel incredibly bloated and checklisty as a result. This is made even worse by the fact that every Moon pickup has a roughly four second animation, which adds up agonizingly over time.
One thing I really like about the post game is the addition of two mini kingdoms and the Mushroom Kingdom. These at least feel rewarding and give you an incentive to collect more Moons, but beyond unlocking the bonus kingdoms, the post game starts to feel more like a grind and a checklist than meaningful additional content.
FINAL VERDICT
Super Mario Odyssey remains one of the best platformers ever made, with a lot of depth in its gameplay and plenty to see and experience. However, the overall disappointing post game and the amount of bloat hold it back from being my personal favorite platformer.
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY - 8.8/10 - HIGHLY RECOMMEND