Super Mario Odyssey - First Thoughts

[-Apples-]

On October 27th, 2017, Nintendo has released their 7th new 3D Mario game to the Nintendo Switch. After 15 years since the last traditional 3D Mario game (Super Mario Sunshine) came out, it was time for a new one like this. I got mine pre-ordered and picked it up today. Here are my first thoughts on this game.

• Graphics - gorgeous. Very gorgeous. Although it still remains to be CGI graphics (Like Toy Story), it’s starting to look more realistic. If Super Mario 64 got a remake with this kind of graphics and was compared to the original version, you can see how much of an improvement was made. I don’t care too much about graphics and level of detail, but this is a huge deal.
• Health - the game follows the same orientation Super Mario Galaxy did, where you only have three hit points. And in cases of bosses, you have six. One major change I noticed is limited lives. In games past, you had limited lives. Lose them all, and you will be forced to restart. Now we don’t have limited lives anymore, just like what Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Tooie did. I don’t like the idea of games becoming easier, but this was an archaic mechanic that needed to be rid of. But if you die or fall into a bottomless pit, you lose ten coins. Seems like an interesting punishment, but since I’ve gotten good, I don’t have to worry about this too much.
• Hub - another old mechanic that was removed was a hub world (Peach’s Castle/Delfino Plaza/Comet Observatory). Now you have a ship that takes you to any level you want. I believe there are level locks, but I only progressed to a certain point so I don’t know.
• Missions - my big criticism for Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World was how easy those games were, but I started to realize why I didn’t like those two games, but OK’d Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64. It was the linearity, which was removed in Super Mario Odyssey. Now we still have simple missions, but it’s not as linear as Super Mario Galaxy was or as less celebrated as Super Mario 3D World. I find them to be a lot better.

I can’t think of anymore, but I like how they changed some old stuff for the better. In fact, Super Mario Odyssey overhauled the 3D Mario series the same way Breath of the Wild overhauled the 3D Zelda series. One wish I make is that it finally puts Super Mario Sunshine behind based on progress. Super Mario World was a huge progress from Super Mario Bros, and Super Mario 64 was a major improvement to Super Mario World. Super Mario Sunshine was another major progress from Super Mario 64. But Super Mario Galaxy was when the series started to take a step back. And it worsened over time. But now I hope to see Super Mario Odyssey be an improvement to Sunshine. If it were, this game will contribute to the many reasons why the Nintendo Switch is the best Nintendo console of all time (even better than the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube, two consoles I raved to be better than the rest). What this console needs is a new Pokemon Stadium game in the vein of Pokemon Stadium 1 and Pokemon Stadium 2, but with all Pokemon (including Alola ones) and more features, a new Animal Crossing game (let’s forget about the Idea Book right now), Virtual Console like what the Wii and Wii U had, and more enjoyable titles. I know one complaint people had was that it’s having ports of Wii U games. It may sound like a dumb idea, but it was a good idea for Mario Kart. In fact, better than what they were thinking in the first place.