Super Mario Odyssey
SWITCH | $79.95 | WWW.NINTENDO.COM.AU Hats off to Nintendo for its latest masterpiece.
With the release of the critically lauded Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo took one of its most beloved franchises back to the drawing board and eventually delivered one of the finest and most accomplished titles in its entire history. Now, it’s Mario’s turn to get a shake-up, and while it’s not quite as extreme as the one Link received earlier in the year, it’s easily the most inventive and refreshing adventure the portly ex-plumber has embarked on yet.
In Super Mario Odyssey, our hero is once again tasked with saving Peach from the maniacal Bowser — yes, this sounds very familiar, but wait for it — this time, he’s trying to prevent the evil tyrant from making the princess his wife.
This leads Mario on a chase across many kingdoms as Bowser visits each one and steals their most prized possessions for the upcoming wedding. If Mario has any hope of catching up, he’ll need to keep his airship, the Odyssey, topped up with Power Moons, which are scattered across each kingdom. Where the game changes things is up is in its approach to how Mario acquires these powerful collectibles.
No longer are you faced with a set number of levels to clear — now you can roam freely throughout its themed worlds as you search for the Moons in a scavenger hunt-like fashion.
You won’t find any of Mario’s famous power-ups in this game, either. But this isn’t as insane as it might sound. Instead, you’ll take control of Cappy, a sentient hat that Mario can use to possess a wide variety of enemies and objects, including T-Rexes, tanks and everything in between.
It’s a great gag, and yet Nintendo approaches the business of playing as a frog — and, indeed, as any of the 50-odd other possible skins — with total seriousness. It pays close attention to the physics and handling of each of these new forms, making each one enjoyable to command. And there are usually clear benefits to specific transformations. They’re not always essential, and in many cases, Mario’s repertoire is enough to get by (his triple jump is back!), but it’s often easier or quicker to make the switch.
Another change is with lives — they’ve become a thing of the past. Now, failure means losing a small amount from your overall coin total (which you can also use to buy totally sweet new costumes). At first, we were taken aback by these radical changes, but soon enough, we became hooked by the sense of discovery and surprise that this approach brought on.
Endlessly endearing and charming to a fault, Super Mario Odyssey is the most addictive and enjoyable Nintendo Switch game to date, and a great addition to the Mario series, which, we’ll admit, badly needed a bit of stirring up.
Stephen Lambrechts