Mario is also present at the Nintendo Switch. This time with a whole new adventure and a new partner?! Whether this is a suitable idea, i will explain you in this review of Super Mario Odyssey!
Hats off!
Mario's new partner is Cappy. This is just like Mario behind Bowser, because not only Princess Peach, but also a lover of Cappy is kidnapped by the bad guy. After a short acquaintance Cappy joins Mario and this means the start of an interesting collaboration.
Mario can, thanks to Cappy, 'take over' objects and enemies, with which many new gameplay options come into play. So you quickly take over a Tyrannosaurus Rex and with that the game lets you know that the possibilities are endless. Taking over is therefore an important function in the game. You can, like a fiery lava ore, walk through a lava pool to reach certain platforms, or you can continue to breathe unrestricted under water. Nice detail is a love of Goompa that can be deceived by someone else to take over.
This innovation is more than welcome in this series and also just super. The gameplay continues to work well, the control is simple, but nonetheless still challenging. In short, great idea by Nintendo.
The Odyssey
Mario and Cappy try to breed Bowser's kidnappings, but first have to search for a ship to be able to chase him. As soon as they find a barrel, but it is too damaged to get off the ground. By means of the energy of shiny moons called Power Moons, this ship can still get off the ground.
The man system actually replaces the stars from Mario 64 or the suns from Super Mario Sunshine. Again they have been given the function that by collecting this it is again possible to unlock another level. Once through the first level, you have control and know what you have to do to collect these moons.
A kingdom too far
During Mario's pursuit of Bowser, he and Cappy land on various Kingdoms. With every kingdom they see that Bowser and his loyal followers want to continue the marriage between him and Peach. The nice thing about everything is that these worlds are divided exactly as we are used to in a Mario game. Most worlds are colorful and contain beautiful detailed environments.
The only downside to this game is that not all levels are equally challenging or simply too easy to go through. The moons that are hidden by the levels sometimes lie in the obvious places or in places where you hardly have to bother.
Fortunately, this is by no means all Power Moons that you can find. There are hundreds of them spread out over the different kingdoms, and fortunately it is not just somewhere to pick them up. For some you have to solve puzzles and for others to take on another challenge or beat an intermediary.
These bosses come in the form of Broodals and they try to prevent Mario and Cappy, like the various bosses you encounter in every kingdom, in their hunt for Bowser. These bosses challenge you more and more and you will have to master the new skills to be able to beat them.
Ode to Mario for over 30 years
Super Mario Odyssey not only knows how to offer a new experience thanks to Cappy, but the game offers an ode to Mario's rich history. For example, Pauline (the first woman to rescue Mario from the hands of Donkey Kong) is the mayor of New Donk City. This city is the best example of this ode. Not only by the mayor, but also by the street names, which refer to Donkey Kong.
However, in some parts the game also returns to the roots of the series and changes it from 3D to 'old-fashioned' 2D platformer. This variation is nothing more than a celebration of recognition for the fans. Nintendo knows how to serve newcomers and fans in one go.
With Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo is again able to deliver a fantastic game. In that respect, Nintendo can only amaze me if this were not the case. The game managed to keep me busy for about 8 hours before i see the credits, but you can easily triple this if you want to collect all Power Moons. In short, another great performance of the Big N!
Thanks for reading.
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