Super Mario Odyssey Review

Mario Odyssey

I wasn’t planning to buy a Switch, but it’s hard to say no to flagship games like Super Mario Odyssey. No one knows how to make a good 3D platformer quite like Nintendo, and Odyssey may be their best 3D Mario game since Mario 64. While I also really liked Mario 3D World on the Wii U, that particular game was a bit too linear and implemented archaic time limits. Odyssey, on the other hand, is a more “open world” experience that, at times, feels like an actual adventure game. For starters, you’re not kicked back into the hub after every milestone, the levels are filled with NPCs and shops, and there are secrets galore to discover.

That’s both a good thing and a bad thing, though. There are so many moons to find that they’re no longer special. You’ll obtain several moons by pure accident, and boss battles usually reward you with three moons at once. It’s not as rewarding as working towards Mario 64’s succinct 120 stars and can start to suffer from Rare levels of collectathon fatigue. But the majority of challenges are very fun to find and complete. The hat/transform gimmick definitely helps keep things fresh. Post-game, you’ll still be stumbling across new creatures and inanimate objects to take control of. Hat or no hat, though, Odyssey is a joyful pinnacle of modern 3D platforming.

Reviewer

Clark
I love gaming so much, I wrote a book about it.

Published by

Clark

I love gaming so much, I wrote a book about it.