There is a reason for why mainline Mario games are still highly anticipated despite being one of the oldest game series's out there. It's that Nintendo never half-ass mainline Mario games, and with every new addition to the series it builds the brand name making every release an event in the gaming industry. But what really made Mario games sill have such huge following? I think I can safely say it's not nostalgia. If it was I would still be playing Sonic games. What really makes Mario games so great is how much care, creativity, and expertise is put into the making of the game.
Usually, Nintendo doesn't give a snippet-of-a-fuck about the story and focus 99.9% of their efforts towards the gameplay. And Odyssey is treated the same way, but it's a tad more creative than usual. This time around, Bowser captured for a shotgun-wedding, and I have to say, the lizard/turtle/dinosaur is classy enough to travel throughout the world collecting items such as a wedding cake, ring, and feast to complete the wedding. He really went the extra mile. So you set sail on the Odyssey in pursuit of Bowser to stop the wedding.
The art design is one of the first striking features of the game. On the Odyssey (Mario's airship) you travel throughout the world from region to another. Each region is presented with a unique theme and excellent artwork. You'll be traveling through a ghost-hats moonlit world, desert sands, and Donk city. Yes DONK city. And that is just to name a few. Each and every region is extremely rich with details but may feel a bit inconsistent in terms of art direction. The most obvious example is Donk city, where you meet people drawn like regular people. Seeing them begs the question, what the fuck is Mario?
I think Nintendo has some of the best of the best level designers in the industry. Most puzzles feel like perfect locks that work with precision, creativity, and offer loads of fun. Each and every block, secret, and enemy placements are throughout, tested, and almost perfected. Yet some players still found ways to break the conventional way of solving some puzzles.
Odyssey changes things up from the style of Galaxy by making the levels much bigger opened sandboxes in the vain of Mario 64. What Odyssey dose different is that it fills those opened levels with so much content making every couple of steps eventful and diverse. Yet I did feel, after some time that some moons (which are the main collectible in the game) feel there just to be there. Moons like the ones where you just have to butt-stomp, those are the worst. But still, the game is filled to the brim with excellent content. Coins also play a bigger role in Odyssey. Previously coins were there to guide the player through parts of levels or giving you 1UPs. This time around, there are two kinds of coins. The usual coin which you use to purchase clothes, moons, and collectibles. The other is a coin related to the region you're in, which also is used to purchase clothes and collectibles but only the ones limited to the region.
When it comes to gameplay, Mario games always had excellent control. The jumping is precise, the movement is fluid, and all-in-all the agency over the character is unmatched. And that's what makes Mario games great platformers. Most of, if not all, the moves from Mario 64 make a return in Oddessey, with new additions such as the ability to roll where Mario would ball up and just do a continuous roll. Another is the ability to throw your cap and jump over it. This ability, in particular, opened a great amount of creativity to players when mixed with others. For instance, you do a butt-stomp jump, wall jump, through your cap and jump over it. Combos like these may be a bit hard to execute but amazingly satisfying, but they also gave some players the ability to practically break levels. The only issue I had is the camera. It struggles at times to give you focus where it's needed.
Another addition to the gameplay, and it's, to some level Oddessey's gimmick at first look, the ability to take control over enemies and objects by throwing your cap on them. But it's so much more than a gimmick since when you take control of enemies you also take their abilities. So when you control a bullet-bill you can fly your way through a level. When you control a Ggomba, moving on ice will be easier, and you can jump over other Ggomba and build a tower of them to reach high places. There are around 50 enemies and objects which you can control and get access to their abilities, What makes this idea even better is that many levels are built around the abilities of certain enemies.
So the variety is outstanding, and even more variety is there when you get introduced to levels that require Mario to transform into 2D and the whole game plays like the early Mario games. So when it comes to variety there is no shortage in Oddessey. You have the regular 3D Mario levels that are built around his usual abilities, levels built on taking control of enemies, and lastly the 2D style ones. But even more is added when moving from area to another as the whole theme changes with new enemies, new level design styles, etc.
In closing, Mario Odyssey is one of the most solid, and fun gaming experiences not just for this year or this generation. Mario Odyssey stands as one of the best Mario games ever made. If you own a Switch, or on the fence of purchasing a Switch, Mario is a no-brainer.
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