Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) Review

 (Originally posted on January, 2018)

(2017, Nintendo Switch)

Experiencing the same magical feelings as the most monumental Mario games of the past, my first time with Super Mario Odyssey was a mixture of confused, haphazard progression and bliss; rushing from one world to the next trying not only to maintain, but top the sense of wonder felt from the very first moment. Attempting this hurried play style in Odyssey, a Mario game unprecedented in how it both demands and rewards players for branching out only to the extent that they can maintain a detailed knowledge of the largest Mushroom Kingdom yet, resulted in an experience that grew both hollow and overwhelming as I too quickly hopped from land to land. My initial impressions aren’t at all a criticism of the game, as I’m confident a future, more deliberate trek may possibly reveal this to be Mario’s greatest adventure yet.

Strongly influenced by past games, but not particularly constrained by any of them, Odyssey offers  much for those looking for improvements upon the past, along with plenty of fresh and unexpected directions for your favorite plumber to take. It delivers a true continuation of the Mario 64 and Sunshine experience, revisiting and expanding upon the wonder of exploring huge worlds and being continuously dazzled by what you’ll find. Packed into the highly varied countries, often much larger and denser than anything seen before, are more than enough creative, bite sized platforming challenges to satisfy fans of the truly out of the box Galaxy duo or deliberately constructed 3D Land/World style games. Not forgetting the series’ origins, nor the profitable prospect of republishing/repackaging the classics once again, almost every stage finds itself briefly venturing directly back into mid 80s NES territory, offering all new twists upon the timeless 2D game play of Super Mario Brothers. As if all of that didn’t sound impressive enough, everything described has seamlessly been woven into highly distinctive, authentic fantasy worlds filled with inhabitants, towns and shops; while still never losing focus from the instantly recognizable yet ever-evolving action expected out of gaming’s most famous series. Odyssey’s biggest flaw, perhaps, is that the sheer weight of its scope, new mechanics and variety is capable of paralyzing long time fans looking to easily box in and define all the fun to be had, of which I was quite guilty.

For the first time ever in a 3D Mario, within each “country” you’re no longer assigned a list of objectives or pathways to traverse one by one, but are instead broadly tasked with driving out whomever of King Koopa’s henchmen are terrorizing that particular land. The many things you’re free to do in-between landing your ship and knocking an invasive bunny back to the moon may pull you miles deep down the rabbit hole. As you unravel the most epic and storied adventure seen in a mainline Mario game yet, the most proper way to play the game is in freely straying from the hundreds of denizens’ calls for help; instead spending hours surprising yourself on the search for massive amounts of well-concealed moons and currency, special challenges and secrets. Even playing with no particular goal is hugely rewarding. That could either that mean continuously familiarizing oneself with the deceptively rich worlds or experimenting with all that Mario is capable: from rolling down hills to tossing his cap which now acts as a multi-tool of astounding utility. I initially didn’t take well to the huge shift of focusing on one mission at a time to being freely given so much game world to chart according to one’s own inclination, but in hindsight it was in the borderline unappreciative pace I chose in sweeping over the dense expanse.

Taking a 5 day vacation from work especially for this game, with the loose aim of rescuing the Princess before clocking back in, I was definitely a bit too quick to jump from country to country. As Odyssey’s worlds are made of such varied moods and design which both compel and reward total conquest, principally aiming to advance through the main story just for the sake of seeing what’s next, rather than trusting your own innate Lewis and Clarke in this true Mushroom Kingdom expedition, is almost like switching between entirely different games and wondering why you’re simultaneously overwhelmed and unfulfilled. Not too unlike Breath of the Wild, the game is designed with such abundance and vastness that you’re in danger of forgetting some of the near thousand moons you’ve previously picked up unless you’ve become (most deservedly) intimate with each world before proceeding. Even if you dedicate hours at a time to tackling a specific country, there’s so much to keep track of, you’ll enjoy constantly making use of the handy maps which allow for intra-level warping, pin point recovered moons and offer general clues towards ones you’ve overlooked. These maps aren’t for some burdensome and monotonous fetch quest, but your guide to an adventure so lasting and grand, Mario’s overalls would surely wear out if he didn’t pack a full closet of other costumes.

Destined to be as unforgettable as the first time in Mario 3’s Giant World or 64’s Cool Cool Mountain, the New Donk City, Forest and Desert stages in particular are triumphs within the entire series’ level design; incredibly ambitious, yet not feeling at all out of place within Mario’s decades of gaming glory. The early Fossil Falls stage appears small enough at first glance, but you’ll be stunned at just how packed it is with challenges and little hidden nooks and crannies, a theme which carries over through the rest of the game. Not sticking strictly to a big band or orchestral style, the music is completely unique to each world; from the ghostly mischief of the Cap World, lively surf groove of the Forest and disorientation of the Lost World. Through the use of the incredibly varied soundtrack and nostalgia, a number of areas will actually come close to bringing longtime fans to tears. It’s even hard to describe the graphics in one overall take, as several countries go so far as to bend towards their own unique art styles. The only uniformity you can count on are the 2D sections, scaling down Mario’s many costumes into pixel form and converting the wide instrumentation into 8-bit sound waves, sometimes sounding even better than their original and more elaborate form.

Throughout this epic adventure, Mario’s lively new hat plays a pivotal role, functioning with a much more minimalist finesse than the burdensome F.L.U.D.D. equipment from Sunshine. This creature in the form of a cap is capable of being thrown as a weapon, used as a quick makeshift platform to hop off of, or even possessing a huge amount of enemies and objects which control with a most surprising degree of polish. Not just a gimmick, the transformations are integral to capturing stars and fully mastering the level. Each of Mario’s alternate forms feels just as honed and natural as the real deal. Rather than jumping off the end of a spring, what’s it like to become the spring itself? Feeling the tension within the “HD rumble,” you'll bend your new metallic pole form to the limits before throwing your essence towards the heavens. After 30 plus years, you’ll finally get to know what it’s like to fly around as Bullet Bill or antagonize other enemies as a Hammer Brother. Who’s better than you?

Collecting around 300 stars by the time of this review and “beating” the game by the most superficial of standards, I still feel almost frightened by the handfuls of huge worlds still far from mastered. That’s just speaking before the defeat of Bowser opens up a whole new slew of content across worlds already visited and several yet unseen. Even if you could manage to capture every moon, there’s still so much depth within mastering Mario himself. Already showing the same astonishing and unpredictable possibility of the still unexhausted Mario 64, many players have begun to unravel the possibilities of Mario’s physics and move set to perform the unexpected. Summed up, Super Mario Odyssey feels like the Mario game to end all Mario games…until whatever comes next. Offering so much to do within each world, it’s particularly imperative to play the game at your own pace. This is certainly the most demanding, but by the same token, possibly the most rewarding Mario game yet. In the same year that Breath of the Wild unequivocally landed a top spot within my favorite games of all time, Super Mario Odyssey may have done so as well. I just haven’t yet put in the “work” to realize it.