Super Mario Odyssey Review

00:00:00.030I literally applaud it as the end

00:00:03.120credits rolled on Super Mario Odyssey

00:00:05.310I'd spent the last 15 hours with a giant

00:00:08.220grin on my face and somehow the climax

00:00:11.130put a genuinely surprising and

00:00:13.230delightful exclamation point on the

00:00:15.150plumbers latest adventure this is

00:00:18.119another brilliant redefinition of the

00:00:20.010very platforming genre Mario helped

00:00:22.289popularize 30 years ago and best of all

00:00:25.289even with the story complete Odyssey has

00:00:28.140so much more to offer

00:00:29.720[Music]

00:00:39.050Odyssey may look like a straight

00:00:41.100successor to the Mario 64 and sunshine

00:00:43.739line of sandbox 3d marios but it's so

00:00:46.260much more than that

00:00:47.100naturally it evokes honors and is

00:00:49.440sometimes directly inspired by the games

00:00:51.629that came before it in its characters

00:00:53.309music and mechanics but it also has new

00:00:56.280things to say like fusing classic style

00:00:58.6492d gameplay with the 3d world and using

00:01:01.379a completely new possession mechanic to

00:01:03.449add constant variety to Mario's

00:01:05.339abilities and exploits that possession

00:01:09.540power embodied by Mario's new sidekick

00:01:12.330slash head where capi is odyssey's

00:01:14.850freshest idea in keeping with Nintendo's

00:01:17.670decades-long tradition of charmingly

00:01:19.710nonsensical storylines

00:01:21.360he's a hat with a soul and he's teamed

00:01:23.700up with Mario in order to rescue his

00:01:25.560sister tiara who wait for it has been

00:01:28.590kidnapped by Bowser along with Princess

00:01:30.509Peach hey I said it was charming not

00:01:32.640original

00:01:35.070cappy's fantastically fun power allows

00:01:38.080you to take over many other characters

00:01:39.880by throwing Mario's hat at them he's

00:01:42.369also creatively used as a jump pad and a

00:01:44.799weapon that's as powerful as Mario's but

00:01:46.869stop ever was

00:01:48.070many of the cleverest and most smile

00:01:50.350inducing possessions are best left as

00:01:52.180surprises but whether I was thrashing

00:01:54.220about is a huge realistic looking t-rex

00:01:56.470or making a stack of goombahs 10 tall to

00:01:59.320win over a hard to impress lady Goomba

00:02:01.420Odyssey constantly mixes up Mario's hunt

00:02:04.180for power moon collectibles in

00:02:05.680surprising ways

00:02:12.209Odyssey is inspired integration of 2d

00:02:15.040gameplay complete with Super Mario

00:02:16.690Brothers era 8-bit art deserves special

00:02:19.209mention most of these sequences aren't

00:02:21.790as long as I'd like but each blends pure

00:02:24.100weapons-grade retro gameplay with

00:02:26.410numerous other callbacks while still

00:02:28.300changing things up and staying distinct

00:02:30.489from those original games they bend the

00:02:32.739rules so far they go beyond even the

00:02:34.900most ambitious creations we saw in Super

00:02:37.360Mario maker of all the disparate lands

00:02:40.450mario visits in his Odyssey the urban

00:02:42.820themed Metro Kingdom is my favorite

00:02:44.980we've never seen anything like the semi

00:02:47.200realistic look of new dog city and a

00:02:49.120Mario game before not only do its urban

00:02:51.610obstacles allow for some kinetic

00:02:53.230platforming bouncing off of the hoods of

00:02:55.420cars and flinging yourself off of city

00:02:57.340polls for instance but minigames like an

00:02:59.560RC car race and a jump rope challenge

00:03:01.840are great diversions all the while the

00:03:05.079sheer artistic contrast between the city

00:03:07.420and Mario's consistently cartoony look

00:03:09.700and proportions have already generated

00:03:11.950humorous discussions about who or more

00:03:14.170specifically what Mario actually is the

00:03:17.769end of the new dog city portion might be

00:03:19.840the very peak of the pleasure that

00:03:21.850Odyssey delivers on a consistent basis

00:03:23.920and its conclusion is a literal

00:03:26.019celebration that doubles as a figurative

00:03:28.150one Odyssey is a creative joy that seems

00:03:31.120to understand and relish that about

00:03:33.010itself

00:03:39.090I expected to be able to continue

00:03:44.610playing even after the plot had been

00:03:46.110resolved given odyssey's 3d sandbox

00:03:48.300nature but I wasn't prepared for just

00:03:50.670how much there is to do after it's

00:03:52.739quote/unquote over some of its finest

00:03:55.530moments follow the credits from new

00:03:57.480unlockables that nod lovingly toward the

00:03:59.430past to a clever new implementation of

00:04:01.769an old friend to entire new worlds you

00:04:04.080weren't expecting I'm still not ready to

00:04:06.450put Odyssey down nor do I expect to be

00:04:08.700for quite some time that said Odyssey

00:04:11.850isn't particularly difficult most boss

00:04:14.489fights are over a bit quicker and easier

00:04:16.229than their gorgeous designs would

00:04:17.729suggest and when you do fail death taxes

00:04:20.639you an almost meaningless 10 gold coins

00:04:22.979to try again from liberally placed

00:04:24.900checkpoints instead challenge lies in

00:04:31.310exploration there are hundreds and

00:04:33.720hundreds of power moons to discover and

00:04:35.970you'll want to gather them because

00:04:37.590they're the keys that unlock new worlds

00:04:39.840some are behind hidden doorways others

00:04:42.660are tucked away in linear areas that try

00:04:44.610to trick you into thinking there's only

00:04:45.960one moon there I did my best to search

00:04:48.630thoroughly on my first pass through the

00:04:50.460campaign but ended up with a little more

00:04:52.470than 200 or less than a quarter of the

00:04:55.289total complement of collectable

00:04:57.210celestial ism Wow

00:05:00.800while Odyssey does a great job of

00:05:03.150thinking outside the 3d platformer box

00:05:05.370it doesn't slay all of the genres demons

00:05:08.220the camera for instance still causes

00:05:10.770trouble sometimes leading you to whiff

00:05:12.690on a jump or have trouble seeing a boss

00:05:14.610attack coming I played with the pro

00:05:16.830controller and turn my camera

00:05:17.960sensitivity up to alleviate some of this

00:05:20.490which is a welcomed option to have

00:05:23.730[Applause]

00:05:26.000Mario's games have been around for

00:05:28.230almost as long as game consoles have

00:05:30.120been a thing but thankfully he's always

00:05:32.280evolving

00:05:33.420Super Mario Odyssey delivers on that

00:05:35.700ongoing promise of originality and

00:05:37.800innovation it distills the venerable

00:05:40.050series is joyful irreverent world and

00:05:42.450characters and best-in-class platforming

00:05:44.820action and introduces a steady stream of

00:05:47.070new and unexpected mechanics it's all

00:05:49.770spun together into a generational

00:05:51.810masterpiece for more on Super Mario

00:05:53.970Odyssey check out the first episode of

00:05:56.220linked together with Odyssey as well as

00:05:58.530the first minutes of the game and for

00:06:00.090everything else Mario you're already in

00:06:01.620the right place right here at IGN

00:06:05.040[Music]