Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey for the Switch is one of the best games of the last 12 months. It has seen the little Italian plumber catapulted back into the centre stage of the computer game industry where he belongs. In an age of open world 3rd person adventure games and MMO many people were beginning to wonder if Nintendo could really keep the Super Mario series alive and fresh to new generations of gamers. I’m going to give 5 great reasons why Nintendo have hit another home run and why this plucky little Italian plumber isn’t going anywhere just yet. – Super Mario Odyssey Action Figures.
Odyssey is beautiful and vibrant, full of clever new ideas. Mario can possesses enemies with the use of his new friend Cappy. Here are some of the things that are sure to make Super Mario Odyssey another classic!
1. Mario Cappy Hat
Mario can use his hat to take control of characters and objects. At one point, I took over a Bullet Bill — the evil looking sentient flying cannon shell that’s become a familiar site in the series — to help hover over a perilous gap. Later, I even took over a pedestrian of New Donk City (its proportions are comically realistic compared to Mario) to drive his RC car. I could also possess a bendy pole to help propel myself to distant platforms.
It’s a lot of fun too see what you can take over with your hat and how it can help you as you discover each new level. You can also use the hat as a short-ranged attack – it’s always fun to slap a mushroom in the face with your hat :P. If you hold down the attack button, it’ll float ahead of you for a second acting as an extra jumping platform, something that adds a whole new approach to level design and forces the gamer to think creatively about progressing through the levels.
These new features are what make Super Mario Odyssey stand out from its predecessors, much like the gravity gameplay in the Super Mario Galaxy games for the Wii . I’m excited to see just how creative Nintendo gets with the whole Cappy hat possession mechanic.
2. Coins as Currency
You can’t have a Super Mario game without coins, but their purpose has changed from game-to-game. If you collect 100 of them in most Super Mario games, it gave you an extra 1up. In Super Mario 64, getting 100 coins in each level gave you a Star. Collecting Stars were necessary to beat that game.
Sometimes, coins are currency, such as in in the Mario role-playing games like Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi, this is how coins work in Super Mario Odyssey. Bowser Amiibo Figure Wedding.
There are two types of coins. The gold pieces are universal, but the purple are rarer and unique to specific levels (each world has 100). You can use these at stores to unlock items such as Moons (this game’s equivalent of Stars) or new fun outfits for Mario.
The yellow coins also replace the old 1up system. Mario no longer has lives. Instead, dying just takes away some of your currency. So, if you’re saving up for some fancy outfit, you really want to stay alive.
3. Super Mario Fashion Show
Nintendo have had a lot of fun creating loads of new quirky outfits for Mario to play with. I bought a suit for Mario that made him look like an old Chicago gangster. I was also able to equip a brown adventure outfit. These clothes didn’t give Super Mario any new abilities, but I love being able to dress Mario up in different styles – some of the new gear is hilarious and often a reference to old games. He even retains these looks in the 2D sections, which revert back to Mario’s classic 8-bit look – also another great touch for retro fans.
Nintendo did note that some outfits will give new moves that help Mario reach new areas. That’s been a feature in the series since the first Super Mario Bros., where touching a flower would give Mario a different-colored outfit and let him shoot out fireballs. We could see something similar in Super Mario Odyssey.
4. The Map
It’s strange to play a Super Mario game that has a map screen. It feels like I’m playing something like GTA or Assassin’s Creed. You can also touch flagpoles and activate them as fast-travel points.
It’s convenient, but I also I love how the map looks. It’s like a travel brochure, with the map in the middle and tourist information on the side giving you information about the city. This is the kind of Nintendo stuff that keeps me coming back to Super Mario — taking something mundane like an in-game map and making it fun.
5. Exploring the Open World
Super Mario Odyssey is the most open games since the GameCube’s Super Mario Sunshine. It encourages players to run around and explore, and it has a lot to explore. New Donk City is a great example. I spent 10 mins running around the level, and I spent most of it discovering new areas and secret paths, or trying to use Mario’s acrobatic moves to reach distant places.
As much as I adore the Galaxy games, it’s more linear levels made them lack this sense of discovery. I love reaching some high place, checking out my surroundings, and noticing a dozen different places I want to investigate.
For those still in doubt over Nintendo’s relevance in the gaming industry games like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey make it very hard to bet against them. Every aspect of these games has an attention to detail and love of the craft build in. I’m sure Nintendo will be around long after gamers have tired of GTA10 and Assassin’s Creed 13 – The Secret of Ezio’s Panini.
Super Mario Odyssey Nintendo 