Super Mario Odyssey is a special type of game. It’s very rare that we get a title that pushes the boundaries of a gaming icon and returns a once defunct genre from the dead like a big, beautiful fuckin’ mustacheod phoenix. Everyone is talking up a storm about this game and how fantastic it is–and rightfully so. Not only is it a departure in style from the generic, milquetoast Mario platformers Nintendo’s been feeding us since New Super Mario Bros. on the DS, but it’s also Mario’s return to a genre that he’s been absent from since Super Mario Sunshine–the collectathon/3D platformer.
The Last REAL 3D Mario Game
Yeah, we had the pseudo 3D games like Super Mario 3D World, and the stellar Mario Galaxy games but those weren’t real 3D Mario games. Mario 3D World took the linear adventures and levels of 2D Mario games and put them in a 3D field. The Mario Galaxy Games, while amazing, were streamlined and less focused on open exploration than 64 and Sunshine were. Mario Odyssey though, takes Mario back to the days where the simple act of collecting random shit was a cathartic expression of imagination. In concept, it’s delivered us a long awaited follow-up to one of the greatest games of all time, Super Mario 64. In execution, it’s given us one of the greatest games of all time.
Mario Odyssey is more than a just a successor to Mario 64 and Sunshine. It’s a game that shows Nintendo taking new, creative risks, evolving a flagship gaming franchise, and above all else it’s a game that re-instills a sense of imagination and whimsy that’s been lost in videogames for decades. I’m getting ahead of myself again, though.
More Than Just a Spiritual Successor
To understand why Super Mario Odyssey is such a revolutionary title, we need to understand what makes this game stand out from other Mario games. Mario Odyssey isn’t special just because it’s another 3D Mario game, and not because it’s another game with Mario in it. If I cared to be an out of shape, middle aged, low class worker I’d drop out of school and move to Brooklyn.
No, the main reason that Mario Odyssey is such a fantastic experience is its overwhelming sense of freedom and the way that said freedom brings Mario Odyssey’s world to life–and when I talk about how free Mario Odyssey makes me feel, I’m not just referring to the game’s sandbox level design either. It’s the flexible and responsive way that Mario moves. It’s the open-ended puzzles that can be completed the way you want them to. It’s the explorative nature of finding both well-hidden, and not-so-well hidden, collectibles.
Mario Odyssey rewards exploration and facilitates player agency like few other games do. There are moments where the game sets up a way for you to accomplish a task, but if you figure out a new way to approach that task, it’s more than likely possible. It’s not unlikely to sequence break through a puzzle or platforming challenge in this game, and that makes each playthrough and individual experience dynamic. People can approach challenges in any way that they want to, making even the most mundane ones rewarding.
Between this game and Breath of the Wild, this is a design philosophy that Nintendo has been very keen on, which is fantastic. Giving a player the ability to be autonomous in their gameplay creates a fluid sense of replayability that makes the game feel like a living, breathing world.
The feeling of a living world is further facilitated by the way objectives are designed. This isn’t a game where you’re expected to reach a single, linear goal. In fact, you’re plopped into the world and given the ability to tackle any task that you feel comfortable with, in any order you want, and at your own pace. Mario Odyssey isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey.
An Inclusive Collectathon
Collectables are placed around the world in a way that’s inclusive to both seasoned gaming veterans and newcomers. There are plenty of Power Moons hidden right out in the open, while some are cryptically nestled in the last spot you’d expect to look. Most importantly, you don’t have to collect every single one in order to complete the game. You only need to go for the ones whose challenges you find enjoyable, or that you discover on your own. The challenge is decided by you.
Mario Odyssey is a game whose conventions are so refined and palatable that it’s hard to not get lost in its environments. Each time I visited a kingdom I felt like a kid going into Disneyland for the first time and that’s because of how unexpected and imaginative each one is.
This Game is Weird and It’s Amazing
Not only are each of the kingdoms and their inhabitants distinct, but they’re fuckin’ weird for even Mario standards. New Donk City takes ideas out of Sonic ‘06s playbook–with its industrial, urban city setting and properly proportioned human characters that are just jarringly juxtaposed against Mario’s stubby, cartoonish figure. In no other Mario game do you fight a hyper-realistic dragon that looks ripped straight out of George R.R. Martin’s wet-dreams. And look at this… thing. What is this thing? I have no idea, but part of me wants it dead and part of me wants to adopt it.
All of these worlds and characters are so different from any Mario game and that makes the world feel like it’s unraveling before my very eyes. I never know what to expect next and the risks Nintendo makes at each turn keep me excited at every moment.
When we talk about weird, we can’t go without mentioning the new star of the show either–cappy. Cappy primarily provides Mario with the ability to possess enemies. It’s so ridiculous and I love it. Using the abilities of your enemies to solve puzzles and explore feels like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. In Mario Odyssey, the enemies play a role more than annoying assholes that get in your way. They’re tools that you use to interact with the world around you. Every time a new enemy came onto the screen, I was excited to see the different ways I could use their powers. Stacking Goombas on top of one another in order to have goomba-Mario court a lady goomba is probably my highlight of the year.
I even found some strange amusement in barging into a town as a Fire Bros. watching the inhabitant’s cower in fear at my sight. Under my control Mario could be a literal monster. (maybe I’m a psychopath or something, not sure).
Fluidity and Freedom in Gameplay
Cappy also allows Mario to jump off of his trademark hat, adding a layer to the movement system that is more complex than what was present in any other Mario game. In fact, the way Mario flips and jumps around each colorful area just exudes this energy that tickles at my nostalgia bone in a way that nothing else has. You can do a super jump in the air, throw Mario’s hat, dive into it, and dive off of it all in succession. The ways that you can control Mario are so varied and responsive that even the simple act of jumping on platforms is satisfying.
Not only are the world’s built to be explored, but so is Mario (reading that out loud actually sounds super wrong, but you get what I’m saying). The fluidity in the way Mario traverses around the screen represents a culmination of all that Nintendo’s learned since putting Mario in the 3D world. They took the dynamic gameplay Mario 64 pioneered off of, the verticality that Mario Sunshine brought to the table, and the simple, intuitive control scheme that Mario Galaxy created with its motion controls. With all of the things that made each Mario game special present here, along with the game’s own micro-reward approach to level design it makes for a game that triumphs all of Mario’s prior efforts.
In Conclusion
Above all else, this is a game that both revived the 3D platformer, and reinvented it. Mario Odyssey manages to perfect a genre that has been craved for, and neglected, for years now. Most importantly though, It added a sense of freedom and immersion to the genre that fully realizes the potential Mario 64 had, and that’s what makes it special.
The Gaming Chronicler 