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It wasn’t Game Of The Year worthy, but it’s good!
What’s up, good people?! Chipz is back with another review and this time it’s a good one. Long overdue, but nothing good comes quickly. Sometimes you have to take your time with things to see how you really feel about them. In this particular case, I’m giving you my honest review of Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch. That’s right. Absolutely no sugarcoating anything and being completely honest. I wouldn’t want you guys and gals out there to pick up a game that’s not really worth the money. Or even worse, to buy a game that’s not worth the $60! With that said, let’s get right into it.
The Premise
In this game Bowser has his mind set to knock Mario out of the picture for good…by marrying Princess Peach! When you think about it, that’s a hard life to live as a spoiled rotten princess. Anywho- Bowser kidnaps P.P. along with another being, for lack of a better term, called Tiara. You know…the thing girls wear on their heads for their sweet sixteen? Bowser goes through the game stealing a bunch of wedding-themed items and prized possessions throughout the various worlds and leaves you on some weird planet. Here is where you meet Cappy. Cappy is Tiara’s brother and he needs your help to get his sister back. So with a common goal, the two of you team up and head off to rescue the girls and fight Bowser. This game feels and plays like Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy. You have to save Princess Peach, collect stars, and defeat Bowser.
Controls
The controls aren’t difficult at all. It’s so easy to pick up and play a kid can do it. Anyone from an adult who’s never touched a controller to a kid who’s never played the Switch can get used to this fairly quickly. I played this game with my sister and my nephew at separate times and they didn’t have any issues. Of course, they played as Cappy because I’m always Number 1! I recommend getting used to playing with the joycons only because there are times(quite a few actually) when you’ll need the motion controls to throw Cappy to out-of-reach places to collect coins.
Using Cappy is pretty simple for Player 2. Since the only thing you can do is cover a wide range of ground. You also automatically knock enemies out just by running into them. I haven’t found a way to triple jump solo, but with someone controlling Cappy, it’s done with ease. It’s also fun doing different tricks especially when you chain them together in one seamless flow.
Gameplay
This game is by no means difficult. Nowhere near being a hard game to play, unlike its predecessor Super Mario 64. Bosses are easy to beat, and levels aren’t that hard to go through and for me, that’s troubling. I get that this game is geared towards kids, but what about the generations that grew up playing Super Mario? Shouldn’t we have some fun by being challenged? You might die once or twice from hasty decisions and stupid mistakes but once you see the enemy’s pattern of attack you’ll beat them in no time. The only challenge to me is finding the rare purple coins scattered throughout the kingdom. The purple coins you collect are for you to get exclusive collectibles and costumes. To be honest, neither of them is exciting enough to keep you hooked. Some of the collectibles such as stickers and items for your Odyssey space-ship just aren’t worth the extra effort. It pains me to say this, but I only collected enough to get the costumes. And the icing on the cake is the ending sucked. There ya go.
One thing I felt like Nintendo could’ve done in this game was make P.P. a playable character after beginning the game. They could’ve kept all of the same worlds and had you collect more power moons and coins instead of Mario. Or at least make it so you can swap both characters at any time to finish collecting everything. They could even give P.P. her own little story within the game, of course taking place after you beat it. Not only would that have been fun, but it would’ve kept the game fresh. Who knows, maybe it’ll be DLC. If Nintendo goes through with this I want my commission!
Graphics
While the Nintendo Switch isn’t a graphical beast, it can support games up to 1080p 60FPS docked, and 720p 30FPS in hand-held mode. With that said Super Mario Odyssey isn’t supposed to be a realistic-looking game. However, the level designs and the scenery will make you stop to enjoy them.
A quick recap of the PROS:
- Fun game
- Nostalgia: feels like older games
- Controls are easy to get used to
- Graphics are alright
CONS:
- Short game
- Not as fun after you beat it
- Collecting power moons/coins gets dull
Overall, the game is entertaining for a short while. Was this Game Of The Year worthy? Hell no. Not by any means. Should you add this title to your collection? Of course! Not just because it’s Super Mario but because it does bring you some enjoyment. I bought the bundle because I had to get a Switch console anyway so why not get it? However, if I had already gotten a Switch I would’ve waited for a good deal on the game to get it. The bottom line is once you beat the game, it gets stale pretty quickly when trying to collect everything. Even repeat boss battles aren’t as fun as the first time going up against them. You can do the mini games to get the highest score on the leader boards but that’s not much to keep you playing. This is one of those on-and-off games. You play it, and beat it, and then play something else that’s actually worth the ridiculous amount of hours you’d normally put into a game. Then you’ll go back to it later. Rinse and repeat, ladies and gentlemen. I’m not the type to jump on the hype train just because of a big-named franchise. After playing this game for quite a while I’d have to give Super Mario Odyssey 8 out of 10 power moons.
What do you guys think? Am I being too hard on the famed plumber? Am I too spoiled from all the amazing games Sony offered that were more exciting and challenging? What game can you compare to this that was more fun, or less fun? Comment below and give me a piece of your mind!
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