PEACH NOBBLER

Odyssey’s story begins in predictable fashion, as the princess is again kidnapped by Bowser, this time so the two can be married. It’s a disappointingly conventional setup, though even here there are a few twists. For starters, this is easily the most competent Bowser has ever been. First, he deploys the Broodals, a quartet of rabbit wedding planners, to hold Mario up, before thwarting him again during a mid-game encounter. Then he ups the ante still further, resulting in a battle quite unlike anything we’ve seen in a Mario game before. Peach, for her part, is no helpless damsel, either. Her role expands in the postgame, though not in the way you might expect, while a single late-game reaction shot is likely to go down in history for its potential ramifications for the series’ lore.