Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)
| Dimensions: | 17 x 10.5 x 1.1 cm; 0.05 Grams |
| Model: | 1014272 |
| Dimensions: | 17 x 10.5 x 1.1 cm; 0.05 Grams |
| Origin: | Japan |
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)
| Dimensions: | 17 x 10.5 x 1.1 cm; 0.05 Grams |
| Model: | 1014272 |
| Dimensions: | 17 x 10.5 x 1.1 cm; 0.05 Grams |
| Origin: | Japan |
It’s an open world Mario game… It was always going to be great! Reminds me on Mario64 …. I’ve really enjoyed playing this game so far… It’s relaxing, cute, fun and challenging, perfect for winding down after a hard day’s work. If your a Mario fan of the 64 era this is a must play.
Not just the kids who play it in this house but the adults too. So much gameplay, once you’ve completed the main mission there’s so many side tasks to do. Something the kids can play for a long time. Game play is great, good sound and quality. Easy to play.
10/10 game. Very interesting games, you get to explore the world of Mario, see islands and cities and explore, you kind of don’t want to leave them and get to the next level! The graphics are cool and my little sister (8) really liked the game too!
It also has the option of playing two people in cooperative mode.
The game came in physical format with a cartridge (not with an activation code in the eShop).
Overall, 5/5: very good game, fast shipping and physical cartridge format, which is what I was looking for.
Seller was very efficient with customer service. Goods were running slightly late, however seller put in extra effort to ensure goods arrived within allotted time. Many thanks. Will defo buy from Firmbarn in future.
A great game for Mario lovers. I love Mario galaxy and this is quite similar in a way. Lots of things to do and you go on the levels again and again and still find new places and games. Lots of different worlds and themes. Great for adults and kids!
Bought for my son’s birthday and he’s not put it down since! He describes it as the best game hes ever played! I’ve had a little sneaky go too and I’m very impressed. Well worth the money.
I always loved Mario. I used to play it on my Gameboy in the 80s. I’ve tried the more recent options like Mario Galaxy and always thought they just weren’t as good as the original side scroller. This game changed my mind, it’s just amazing. I love playing two player with cappy, so fun. The level designs and gameplay are awesome. I won’t give loads of spoilers but if you haven’t played this yet then just buy it.
The bosses aren’t particularly difficult- but this isn’t an issue for me as the game is more about relaxing, chilling out and having fun, rather than tear your hair out type of gaming which I appreciate. For gamers who want a challenge, the last world offers plenty of that! The sandbox environment and all the mechanics means that for those who want a challenge, you can simply just self impose limitations- plenty of videos online of people doing this exact thing.
Must also note that the 1st couple of days I played this game, I did experience feeling motion sickness, and couldn’t play for very long. This is something that is noted by a fair number of players so if you suffer from extreme motion sickness, beware. For me, the feeling of motion sickness disappeared after the first couple of days though as I got used to it. But players HAVE noted that the way Nintendo does the camera system in SMO means that people genuinely can experience motion sickness.
Other than that, the game is a must to be played on the full system where you can detach your joy-cons. It’s technically playable on the Lite, but I’d heavily advise against. There are mechanics that are only available through shaking your joy-cons for example. Part of the fun of the game is making use of all the gesture controls to play.
Genuinely one of the best games I’ve played. I’ve not met a single person who’s played this game and hasn’t enjoyed it.
If you want to see and do it all, it’s a surprisingly big game. I have sunk 35-45 hours into this easily and I am still at it. The ‘story’ part of the game is quite short, about one-third of the way through collecting things (the easy stuff) you can be done with that. If you play for just getting to the end of the story and final boss, it’s a bit short. For me, Mario comes into its own when you try to reach every surface, collect every hidden item and know each zone down to fine details. This game has squeezed every ounce out of every world you visit, and a lot of the game opens up – new zones, challenges, hidden sections & more – after the main story is over (you still have about 65-70% of things left to collect and loads of new things to see). You get another new area at 50% complete then it’s all about how much of a completionist you are.
Level design, music, difficulty, range of tasks, exploration – it’s all an absolute masterclass. Even if there is no power moon or special currency on that hard to reach surface, the game almost always rewards you with gold coins to acknowledge you’ve somehow made it to that hard to reach or hidden surface. I got this and Zelda BOTW at the same time and it’s been this one that I’ve not been able to put down, because I find the tightly crafted worlds of Mario more immediately compelling. Add in the 2D sections, Yoshi, Captain Toad, Luigi sub-game, and new spins on a range of classic enemies that will take older Mario fans decades back down memory lane, it makes the whole thing complete. As a long time PS4 owner who decided to take the plunge on a Switch this is the best game I’ve played for years and I can’t recommend it enough. I have about 15% left to do in this game before I can fully devote my attention to BOTW, but part of me will be very sad when this Odyssey is at its end!
The controls work fantastically with split Joy-Con which I found myself preferring over using the Pro-Controller because they work so well. Jumping, climbing, and over forms of platforming are absolutely enhanced by the subtle motion controls such as shaking just to gain that little bit of extra height.
Pretty much all of the levels are amazing to look at with extremely original design and gorgeous visuals – the same goes for Mario and his many outfits you can gain through various means, all in-game. This is one of the best single-player experiences I have had in an extremely long time, barring Breath of the Wild – and in some ways I feel that Odyssey exceeds in certain places where Breath of the Wild did not despite both games being masterpieces.
There are a few minigames that you can find throughout your playthrough with different scenarios to each of them – however this is one thing I would have very much liked to see fleshed out a little bit more. Namely, with the addition of local multiplayer with friends. The RC minigame, the footrace minigame, the snowball minigame all FEEL like they were made to be able to play with your friends but it just simply isn’t possible. I feel they could have done a lot with a local multiplayer mode due to all the capture abilities you can get – similar to how you could switch hats in Mario 64 DS.
Unfortunately Mario is bested in the opening exchange and his iconic Cap is shredded to pieces by the airships propellers, luckily enough though Mario is joined by a ghostly hat, Cappy, who is the driving force for this title. Cappy can be thrown at enemies as an attack but Odysseys gimmick is that you can inhabit a range of Classic and New Mario enemies throughout the world. In the opening moments of meeting Cappy he is hurled upon a Frog so that you can jump to a higher ledge and I never thought that a Frog wearing a Red Cap and sporting a voluptuous thick black moustache would make me smile, but It did.
Nintendo has evolved Mario into an Open World experience which extends far beyond simple Platforming and Action and Adventure, this game works so well because it isn’t afraid to take risks, we never thought we would see a Mario Game like this, the plumbers 30 year heritage is honoured and celebrated, it has the openness of Mario 64 and the creativity of Super Mario Galaxy, whether your inhabiting the caterpillar-esque Wigglers, stretching and retracting with a delightful accordion wheeze or the fluent movement of the Cheep-Cheep’s swishing underwater each transformation is treated with the utmost of care and consideration and nothing feels superfluous, every aspect feels fantastic.
For Me personally everything about Odyssey, from Mario’s tiny facial expressions to the up tempo infectious music throughout the game everything feels meticulously crafted and presented, the painstaking amount of detail in this game is remarkable and appreciated. The visual variety and diverse worlds are as good if not better than anything that come before, you travel between worlds on your Airship named the “Odyssey” which you must power up with “Moons”, the eye-popping colours of Tostarena Town back dropped against flame coloured red dunes of the sand kingdom is one of the more fantastical worlds set against worlds rooted in realism like the frantic streets of New Donk City.
The amount of Moons needed to progress is minimal, Nintendo keep the main quest of Odyssey relatively brisk giving you the option to fervently search the kingdom your in or explore somewhere new. Having already arrived at Bowsers Kingdom I was a little disappointed as there could be an argument that the main quest is a little on the short side but I imagine after the credits roll there will be plenty of Moons and extra content left to hoover up. The variety, creativeness and imagination in each world is bewildering and this game will be the standard to which others are measured for a long time to come, masterpiece.
Just finished the main story of the game, and estimate it took me 13 hours or so to get to the credits- there’s still plenty to do once the game has finished including additional levels, so will still be sticking with the game a while longer yet.
Loved the game and there a lot of moments that left me with a smile on my face but think when it all settles in, this won’t be a game I play countless times in the future.
This is quintessentially very non Mario-esque, with the focus more on exploring than testing your platforming skills. Whilst the levels were fun to explore (the design was great), felt it took some of the pacing away compared to games such as Galaxy, 3D World and 2D titles such as World and SMB3 which, due to their more linear structure, focused more on platforming skills.
In fact, one of the post game levels (not naming due to wanting to make the review spoiler free), found myself grinding for nearly 2 hours to get the pre requisite amount of moons to carry on- some of the moon hunting was beyond tedious, and took the fun factor away from me.
All in all, this is a great game but found the pacing of certain parts to be a bit off.
Pros
Great level design
Beautifully designed environments, and a huge amount of gloss added in even the most insignificant and miniscule areas of the game
Terrific fan service, nodding back to previous Mario games
Cons
Bad pacing in several areas due to exploring- some of the tasks to get moons are repeated in several levels, such as sheep herding or stacking Goombas to impress a female Goomba
Broodals- generic, bland, no character. Huge step back from the Koopalings, each who had their own personality, based on their design alone.
Enter Super Mario Odyssey, and boy oh boy was it worth the wait. You can tick off all the features that we’ve been clamouring for and more besides. Exploration? It underpins your progress entirely, with little to guide you other than your curiosity. Memorable soundtrack? It’s one of the best the franchise has offered, featuring a huge range of instruments and styles. Customisation? Mario can purchase a wardrobe that will instantly put a smile on your face, ranging from snorkels to caveman outfits. And new boss battles? The creativity and characterisation finally makes them feel less like a chore, and more entertaining.
Nintendo always deliver on gameplay, so it’s unsurprising that the controls feel tight and instantly familiar. While Cappy may steal the show, classic moves make a return – the triple jump, long jump, back-jump and more – and it’s just as comfortable to play in any controller configuration. Combined with the HD Rumble and sound effects, you get a wonderful sense of each environment that you wander, and you can’t help but attempt different moves even when there is no reason to.
You’re also in control of what kingdom you travel to (The ‘Odyssey’ happens to be Mario and Cappy’s airship), and how you spend your currencies. Regular gold coins can be exchanged in any kingdom, but purple coins are unique to the kingdom that you find them. Souvenirs and clothing will quickly fill the Odyssey! And if you get stuck for tips or new ideas, then you can view the travel guide and map for each kingdom. Presented just like a real tourist map, you can read it and view photos.
But if there’s one thing this game does better than any in the franchise’s past, it’s the storytelling. Peach may have been kidnapped again, but the narrative does an excellent job of helping you to root for Mario and his companions, with a clear arch and cut-scenes that play out at the right moments. The result is a much more cinematic entry than before, which adds plenty of drama instead of only cheap laughs. Case in point; the opening titles don’t appear until around 20-minutes into the game, and you’ll be in for some twists during the second and third act.
Odyssey may well be a landmark game for Nintendo. Zelda: Breath of the Wild was always going to be a contender – and certainly one for Game of the Year – but whereas that game re-wrote the rule book for Zelda, I believe the Mario franchise was in greater need of a title like Odyssey. It’s appeal stretches to just about anyone who can play a video game, and the quality in execution is flawless. Get it!