Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is a video game masterclass in everything, from game design and art style to worldbuilding and more. First, let’s talk about the incredible gameplay, which is so fun and addictive. You have your usual, basic 3D Mario gameplay, but when you add Mario’s new companion, Cappy, to the mix, 3D Mario just evolves to a whole different level. Cappy is the core mechanic of this game. With Cappy, your hat. You can throw Cappy to attack enemies, break items, and collect coins, but the best part about Cappy is the “capture” mechanic, where you can possess specific enemies and objects by throwing Cappy onto them and have control of their unique abilities! You can capture 52 entities, including Goombas, Bullet Bills, Cheep Cheeps, a rocket, a tank, and even a freaking DINOSAUR! The capture mechanic has so many benefits, as it can help you solve puzzles and complete challenges, gain collectables, defeat bosses, and so much more! The Cappy mechanic is one of the BEST video game mechanics of all time, and it was executed so perfectly; there are so many cool moves that you can do with Cappy as well, such as spinning him around to attack enemies and the dive jump trick tech, which can help you pull off some insane skips and cross through gaps with ease, which is SO satisfying and fun to pull off. There are a total of 17 kingdoms in the game, each with its own unique environment and many secrets to find. The kingdoms are open-area levels that you can explore fully and freely. The main objective of this game is collecting “Power Moons”. Collecting PM is how you progress through the main story; there are a total of 999 PM in the game, including ones in the post-game. This encourages replayability, so it’s best to finish the main story first, then go for 100% completion. The game also features 2D sections you can enter through warp pipes, transitioning from 3D Mario gameplay into classic 8-bit 2D side-scrolling segments. The transitions, both in and out, are SO SEAMLESS AND SMOOTH; so cool. The platforming in this game is so fun, especially with the Cappy mechanic. The game is filled with many different platforming challenges that you can find throughout the game, which are fun to do. There are a total of 31 boss battles in the game; each boss fight is epic, and some of them can really give you a challenge. There is some side content that you can do, such as post-game stuff (boss rematches, boss rush, and a platforming gauntlet), minigames and challenges, and collecting regular coins and purple coins, which you can spend in shops to earn PM, health, costumes, and souvenirs; once again, this encourages replayability. The semi-realistic art style and visuals in this game are so beautiful; this game has so much soul, charm, and SAUCE. Each kingdom has its own unique looks and themes going on, and the worlds are just filled with LIFE, giving you a sense of adventure, wonder, and curiosity; it’s just so breathtaking to look at, it’s peak man, truly. Dude the worldbuilding in this game is FANTASTIC; each kingdom has its own different setting with all different kinds of people and things to do. It’s so fun to explore each kingdom and see what is has to offer, interact with the environment and the people in it; I love it so much. I think my top 3 favorite kingdoms in the game are the Metro, Seaside, and Mushroom locations. The soundtrack is absolutely INCREDIBLE; there are a lot of songs in this game that are a vibe to listen to. The game has its nice, calm, and peaceful songs, and it’s got epic, energetic songs as well, but the vocal tracks are where it’s at. Jump Up, Super Star! and Break Free are two of the BEST vocal video game songs of all time; they are so peak and are full of energy and soul. Man, I really do love this soundtrack; it's easily one of my favorite video game OSTs of all time. To conclude this long review, Super Mario Odyssey is a groundbreaking, generational masterpiece, one of the greatest video games of all time, one of the greatest Nintendo games, my top 3 favorite video games of all time, and one of the best 3D platformers I have ever played. I can’t believe it took me this long to beat this game, but I’m glad I finally did it (I started back in 2021 then dropped it for some reason), and I don’t regret it one bit. I will most certainly be doing all of the post-game stuff as well as going for 100% completion, and I will be replaying the main story so many times here and there. I can not recommend this game enough; if you’ve never played a Mario game, this is an incredible first game to get into the series with. If you haven’t played this game, please do. You will have a really good time with it. Hell, this game really encouraged me to get way more into Mario than ever before. I can't even imagine what the next 3D Mario will be like and how they will even top Odyssey, but best believe, I cannot WAIT to find out what Nintendo has in store for us next with 3D Mario. I highly recommend it. 10/10.

Super Mario Odyssey GOAT Masterpiece goat