Nintendo, you did it again. You created not only a masterpiece of a game but you’ve managed to strike a chord with just about every nostalgia junkie out there with Super Mario Odyssey. For years, many Mario fans have been clamoring for a title that would take them back to the magnificent Mario 64 days, and low and behold Nintendo responds back big time. Not only does Super Mario Odyssey surpass that of its beloved predecessor, it also pays homage to it by adding so many references into the game. We won’t spoil any of that for you since everything is experienced better for oneself, but we’ll definitely say that this adventure is the best Mario title we’ve played in a very long time. Any hardcore fan of the 3D platformer genre will certainly find themselves jumping for joy over Super Mario Odyssey because it incorporates so much more than just the immaculate formula, but it takes you on a journey that’s memorable and truly unforgettable. Easter eggs galore! This game deserves every accolade out there!

If there’s one thing to expect from Super Mario Odyssey, it’s most certainly the challenges that you’ll encounter as you run through each kingdom in search for the power moons, which are scattered everywhere and require a lot of patience and often times some technique to reach them. This is the bread and butter of Mario games since you’re always required to think outside of the box in order to reach unfathomable highs and dive deeper beyond your wildest imagination. As we stated earlier in the opening paragraph, fans of the classic Mario titles will have a field day with Super Mario Odyssey because bits and pieces from other titles have been thrown into this brilliantly crafted package that never ceases to amaze us. You’ll be surprised by just about everything you encounter and with over 800 power moons to collect in the game, Super Mario Odyssey will be sure to keep you occupied for hours on end.

To continue with the traditional Mario narrative, Peach is kidnapped by good old Bowser but this time he insists on marrying her. So now, it’s up to you to save your beloved Peach from the wicked dinosaur before that ring goes on her finger. Bowser knocks you off his ship sending you and your hat flying, but unfortunately your hat is torn to shreds by the airship’s motor and the scene ends. That’s where your new companion Cappy comes into play and tells you that the two of you must work together to not only save Peach, but Cappy’s sister Tiara as well. Once the game begins, it’s pretty much a fireworks display of fun and excitement, and it’s all up to you to gather as many power moons as possible in order to power up your ship. Unlike in most Mario titles where your objective is collect stars, Super Mario Odyssey opts for power moons instead and so you’ll travel across many kingdoms in search for them and we’ll be honest, a lot of them are very tricky to obtain.

Though that’s perhaps what makes playing Super Mario Odyssey such a thrill because there’s never a dull moment, and every opportunity that you can find to obtain a power moon, you’ll most likely take. The risk-reward ratio is quite low since if you die, you only lose coins, so the game encourages you to take a lot of risks in order to collect as many power moons as possible. You don’t necessarily need to be a pro to pull off some of the techniques in the game, but it certainly will require some practice and timing to really master the art of wall jumping along with hat jumping. There’s a cornucopia of twists and turns that you’ll race through oftentimes jumping off the side of buildings in an awkward manner just to grab purple coins and power moons. Before we get too ahead of ourselves let’s briefly talk about purple coins and what significance they have in the game. Purple coins, much like their Yellow counterpart, are used to purchase items within each kingdom of the game. Whenever you make your way to the Crazy Cap Shop there’ll be a wide selection of items to choose from, many of which can only be exclusively purchased with Purple coins. The only difference between the Yellow and Purple coins is that the Purple coins can only be collected in the kingdom that you’re situated in meaning, you can’t accumulate all Purple coins.

This makes things very challenging and fun because now you’ll be spending a great deal of your time trying to uncover every Purple coin in the kingdom, which is never easy because they’re very carefully hidden most of the time. A lot are out in the open making them simple targets but it’s the ones where you have to think that motivate you to keep going. Super Mario Odyssey does a splendid job of providing visual and audio clues to players who seem to have trouble looking for power moons, and of course there’s your trusted friend Toad who comes to your rescue to give you hints as well. There are also hint photos scattered throughout the game that can also be used to guide players towards finding power moons, and this is a great feature since it keeps you absorbed in the game at all times, not pushing you away to rely on online guides (though if you do ever need them there’s probably plenty by now).

Each kingdom comes with its own nostalgic touches along with some new cosmetic features that just add more appeal to the game. Our favorite kingdom so far has to be the Lake Kingdom since it sort of reminded us of the esteemed underwater stage from Mario 64 and there are so many cool aspects about the stage that stand out to us on a visual level. Another little added tidbit we thought we’d throw in is the glorious snapshot mode where you can take selfies of Mario just about anywhere in the game, and customize the photo with various filters to create a cool looking shot. Of course, you can throw them on social media as well and another awesome addition, especially with the latest patch Nintendo implemented is that you can record 30 second videos. This becomes especially handy when let’s say you want to upload a tricky technique on Twitter to everyone in the world, or you’ve uncovered a cool easter egg and want to share it with friends. That whole element in itself is quite addicting even after playing the main portion of the game.

We could go on for days about how great Super Mario Odyssey is because honestly, even after spending well over 20 hours in the game there’s still a plethora of extra content we haven’t touched. The story isn’t meant to be long because where the game truly excels is in the post game, where you’ll be traveling from kingdom to kingdom in search for all the missing power moons. Be that as it may there’s still a whole new world to explore, which we won’t spoil, so you’re looking at perhaps hundreds of hours of gameplay within this small cartridge. We tried to look for flaws within the game but to be frank, there just isn’t any.

Super Mario Odyssey does such a superb job of refining the 3D platforming experience by throwing in unique elements, crazy boss battles and a plethora of added bonuses that you’ll be in search for hours on end. The replay value on this game is endless since if you intend to try speedrunning, there’s an array of methods and techniques you can use to make collecting power moons faster. Save up your coins because they’ll become very useful when purchasing costumes which in turn provide power moons themselves, depending on the scenario. We also recommend trying out some of the little bonus games within New Donk City such as the jump rope challenge, and see where you stand on the leaderboards!

All in all Super Mario Odyssey is an absolutely thrilling experience and no matter how many times you try to put it down, it sucks you right back in for a fresh new adventure.

There’s just so much content in Super Mario Odyssey that it begs the question, “Just how will Nintendo top this one?”. This game is pretty much a culmination of every Mario title that’s been released but also gives us some hints to other titles like Donkey Kong. There’s of course some Splatoon reference within the game among others but we can only imagine that the next Mario title will be insane. For now though we highly recommend you pick up Super Mario Odyssey because it’s truly the definitive platformer title right now.

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