Super Mario 64 is one of the first games that I can remember playing (properly). Sure, I played Super Mario 1, 2, and 3 and a bunch of other games before that, but Super Mario 64 is the first game that I remember being truly captivated by. I would constantly go back and try to find the laststar or find a hidden area that I’d never seen before. It was a time before online guides and relied on your sense of discovery in order to find hidden areas and new stars.
Ever since, I’ve been longing for a game like Super Mario 64. One where every level (or Kingdom) feels like a brand new adventure where you literally don’t know what’s around the corner. Sure, Mario Sunshine as well as Galaxy 1/2 were great games, but they didn’t provide me with that sense of wonder and mystery like Super Mario 64 did.
Earlier this week, I spent almost two hours playing through Super Mario Odyssey. Previously, I’d had about 30 minutes hands on with New Donk City (The Metro Kingdom) and Tostarena (The Sand Kingdom), but I got to sit down and actually explore the newly announced Bonneton (The Cap Kingdom), Mount Volbono (The Luncheon Kingdom) and Bubblaine (The Seaside Kingdom).
Obviously, one of the new mechanics in the game is the capturing technique with Cappy. Whilst this is new to the game, the actual capturing powers aren’t too dissimilar from that of previous Mario games. The first character that you can capture in the game is a frog, that allows you to jump to higher areas. It’s one of the more basic captures but quickly showed me just how much these characters would change the game.
Once I got to Luncheon Kingdom, I was overwhelmed with just how much there was for me to do. Similar to Super Mario 64, each Kingdom has a objective (at least initially) that leads you through the level. There’s a number of random objectives along the way that you can do (or ignore until later) that will lead to obtaining power moons (the currency used to get to the next Kingdom), but there’s always an overarching objective that leads you to a main point (usually a boss battle) in the Kingdom. I was introduced to the Broodals which are essentially boss battles. These feel incredibly similar to the Koopaling boss battles from 3D world, but often make you put Cappy to good use in order to defeat them.
Hidden throughout each Kingdom (I could only find one at this stage) is a 2D side scrolling Mario mini game that takes 2D Mario to a whole new level. In the Luncheon Kingdom, there’s a lot of hills for you to climb which basically makes the 2D world constantly spinning. In the underwater Kingdom, you need to access different pipes in order to get to different parts of the 2D world in order to reach the power moon. This is an evolution of the iconic 2D Mario gameplay and they are a nice touch that wasn’t necessarily needed but adds a whole lot of creativity.
Once I got to Bubblaine, the game changed again completely. It was a mix of ground and underwater elements, still with an overarching objective to complete (followed by a boss battle). Once again, I was forced to use Cappy to defeat the boss (a flying fire-breathing Octopus that shoots water). I had to capture a Purple octopus that essentially could either spurt forward with water or fly in the air (with a water meter that would replenish when hitting the water). I would need to use this captured creatures to cool off the lava that sat on top of this octopus.
If you’re overwhelmed and struggling to keep up with everything I’ve spoken about, I don’t blame you. I haven’t even touched on any of the costumes, the different forms of currency, stickers or souvenirs that you can get along the way.