Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)

The wait is over!

Switch owners can now pick up a brand new Mario game!

 

Exciting news for all you Mario fans out there!  An entirely new adventure awaits in Super Mario Odyssey.
I’ve been playing since the release on October 27th and I must say, I’m still excited by it!

This is the first ‘sandbox’ style Mario game since Super Mario 64 & Super Mario Sunshine.  It adds some new features you won’t be familiar with, most notably is Mario’s new magic cap!  You can throw it at enemies, create temporary platforms to jump on, and even use it to ‘capture’ or possess a lot of different enemies and characters in the game!! The first level had me capture a frog and use it’s high jump to reach some extremely tall platforms in order to continue through the level.

The gameplay is largely familiar, however.  It’s your basic movement and jumping mechanics that have made most 3D Mario adventures amazing. The triple jump, the butt stomp, and an array of new moves such as the ‘spin’ which you can perform simply by quickly rotating the left stick.

There’s so many never before seen lands to explore, including a mock up of New York City called ‘New Donk City’.  It even has realistic looking humans walking around… why they all wear suits is uncertain, but it’s still very interesting!  There’s actually 17 (!) known ‘Kingdoms’ or areas to explore.  These are the names of the Kingdoms: Cap, Cascade, Sand, Lake, Wooded, Cloud, Lost, Metro, Snow, Seaside, Luncheon, Ruined, Bowser’s, Moon, Dark Side, Darker Side, and the oh-so-familiar Mushroom Kingdom. That’s a lot of places to explore!

To get to these kingdoms, Mario gains access to a hat-shaped ship in the Cascade Kingdom. But before Cappy can get it working, it’s up to Mario to find enough Power Moons to power up the ship. Once you’ve located enough Power Moons the ship can then transport you to the next kingdom over, which is the Sand Kingdom (and where I’m currently at).  There’s also Kingdom specific ‘coins’ in addition to the regular coins we’ve seen in practically every Mario adventure. In Cascade Kingdom there were 50 of these special coins (which looked like purple stone wheels) and over 20 Power Moons, some of which I wasn’t able to get until after I defeated the boss rabbit, flew to the Sand Kingdom and flew back to Cascade Kingdom. So there’s tons of reasons to revisit every kingdom you ‘think’ is completed, because they most likely have a ton more secrets to give up!

Back in Super Mario World on the SNES I loved finding all the points of entry into the ‘Star Road’. I’m really hoping there’s something like this to find…but time will ultimately tell.

Good news on the T-Rex! He’s actually in the second Kingdom (Cascade) you visit! So you can take control of him pretty early on and see what it’s like to be an unstoppable killing machine from the Jurassic era… but he really can’t do much, can’t even jump. Just kinda run around and break through certain types of rock. He does have a bite move but it’s not really anything bloody. It’s certainly more of a G rated version, even though he looks like the real deal instead of a cartoon.

I’ve still got a long journey ahead, but so far I’m loving EVERY minute of it… also, here’s how much my son loves watching it! <video coming soon>

Let us know your thoughts on this game in the comments!

Available now on Amazon!


2 thoughts on “Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)

  • September 7, 2017 at 4:10 pm
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    So very excited for this!

  • September 7, 2017 at 4:14 pm
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    Couldn’t agree more! This is going to be one of the best Mario games ever!

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