'Super Mario Odyssey' Reviews: New Ideas Enhance Classic Formula

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, October 28, 2017

"Super Mario Odyssey" has some new ideas in it, but the overall result feels like a loving homage to all the great "Mario" games before. Reviewers agree, giving the new title from Nintendo some of the highest scores ever given to a video game.

At first glance, the game looks like an update of "Super Mario 64" or "Super Mario Sunshine," at least in the way that it breaks off from the usual "Super Mario" formula of 2D platforming.

"Super Mario Odyssey" brings back the 3D "Mario" gameplay of old, but adds a ton of sandbox-inspired features on top, as Kotaku found out. There's also Cappy, Mario's soft red cap that has its own powers, including possessing people.

The combination leaves plenty of opportunities for new gameplay mechanics, and "Super Mario Odyssey" takes full advantage of it. With ten entire worlds to be explored via the Odyssey, the hat-shaped spaceship that Mario travels in, Nintendo explores all the ways they can turn this idea on its head.

On the second level alone, for example, Mario is already stomping on the level as a giant, realistically-rendered Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Just for the sheer breadth of the experience, IGN has given the game a perfect ten, calling it a "Masterpiece," as well as a "brilliant adventure and love letter to the series that made Nintendo a household name."

They are just among the many who gave the game a perfect score, though. "Super Mario Odyssey" is currently pegged at a Metascore of 97, placing it squarely on top of the current crop of games for the Nintendo Switch, as determined by the review aggregation site.

It is only matched by "The Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild," another game considered to be a future classic for the platform.

On top of that, "Super Mario Odyssey" already won acclaim at this year's E3, months before it would even become available. The expo awarded the newest "Mario" the Game Critics Award for Best of Show, Best Console Game and Best Action/Adventure Game categories, as proudly featured on the game's official site.

"Super Mario Odyssey" just came out last Friday, Oct. 27, for the Nintendo Switch.