Mario Odyssey: 8 Awesome Things

Mario Odyssey has been out for a while and we are enjoying it here at the studio, on the train into work, at home, in the bath. Everywhere! We cannot put it down! It truly is one of Nintendo’s best Mario games to date. If not one of their best games. However, we’ll take a minute or two from playing the game and pry it away from our hands and tell you 8 Awesome Things that we LOVE about Mario Odyssey!

Gameplay

Firstly, the gameplay of this game is second to none. Nintendo have done an absolute incredible job building this game. It’s in 3D, yes. Which some people won’t like as it’s not true to what Mario was always about, 2D side scroller. But it has some of the 2D elements that we all know and love from the original game. It plays like a 2D side scroller but in 3D open world bliss. Incredible. It just feels like Mario and not a cheap 3D version of itself.

Audio

This game just sounds great! We know that this isn’t something that you can physically see, but it helps the game! It remains true to Mario and keeps a lot of the retro style audio, even if a little enhanced to bring it into 2017. If you’re stuck on a level it can get repetitive. But you’ve got to ignore that and not let it affect you, you WILL get past that difficult part!

Motion Sensor

The motion sensor plays a big part in Mario Odyssey, you can use it to climb higher, swim faster even fly faster. The motion sensor also enhances the cap’s abilities. These little elements is what separates the Nintendo Switch from other consoles. Small but beneficial gameplay tweaks that push your experience further.  When the console is docked it’s best to use the motion sensors, however they do work in portable mode, just not as well.

The Cap

The Cap is what everyone is talking about. While we won’t go into exactly why the Cap acts this way as it’ll ruin the story. You won’t get far not using the Cap as it is a very crucial element to the game. Some enemies you won’t be able to take over, while some you can, so it’s a trial and error game when it comes to the cap. Some parts of the game you can’t get around NOT using it. We love it here at How To Kill An Hour and it’s what makes this game great! Be inquisitive when using it too, You may be surprised!

New Donk City

This is the level that got a lot of attention on social media and for good reason. People have been looking forward to New Donk City ever since it was used to promote the game, when first announced! A derivative of New York City, Mario is transported into a world of humans, cars and tall buildings. It truly is one of the more enjoyable levels of the game, there is A LOT to do on this level. Plus keep an eye out for the intricate 2D level as well. A famous Mario character makes an appearance!

Nostalgia

This is a quick one but a good one. If you’ve ever played the old Super Mario games, Mario Odyssey has an intelligent nod to yesteryear. At various points throughout each level you will have to complete a short level, or task, in complete 3D. At some points the 3D elements even affect the 2D elements!

Difficulty

Mario Odyssey has an ‘adult’ feel to the game, yet remaining it’s core element of a childs game. The game is relatively easy in the sense that it’s got a main gameplay element to it. Collect enough moons to power up your Odyssey, hit the boss 3 times to defeat them. Then move on to the next planet. But there are also levels to this game. If you want to complete it 100% there’s lots of replayability to go back and collect all the purple collectables and find ALL the moons. There are some elements to the game that require a lot of logical thinking to overcome a task. So it’s not just an easy breeze through kind of game. This game will also challenge most adults!

The Switch

Mario Odyssey was built for the Switch, which sounds silly. But this game was built for both the home version of Switch and the portable one.

Some of Nintendo Switch’s games are easily identifiable as portable or home console games. But with Mario Odyssey it works either way. Sure you can play it either way but you get the feeling that it just doesn’t work.

Most importantly though, it works for Nintendo’s AAA game, Mario Odyssey. The gameplay fits both a pick up and play portable game and a sit at home, ‘take your time with it’ game. This is really hard to explain in words, but once you play it, you will understand what we mean!

Purchase Mario Odyssey

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What do you think of Mario Odyssey?

Don’t forget to hit us up via our social media channels (@howtokillanhour) on ALL platforms and give us your thoughts on Nintendo’s stellar AAA game! Let us know how far you’ve got and what elements of Mario Odyssey that you like the most!