It’s an essential for all Switch owners, and highly recommended for any gamer with a heart and a memory. Super Mario Odyssey is a embarrassment of riches, never failing to surprise for hours and hours and maintaining an unflaggingly positive feeling the entire time. The game works better as a solo experience.It’s almost unnerving how good Nintendo is at its job - at least, when the wizards there choose to apply themselves. Mario can't take control of enemies without his partner, and crowd control is way more complicated. The co-op play here doesn't feel like it fits since Cappy acts as an extension of Mario and is the source of all his power. Imagine trying to get a carefully placed power moon, and then your partner trolls you by moving Cappy away at a crucial moment. This can prove to be frustrating if both players aren't cooperating. Instead of joining Mario as Toad or Luigi, Player Two can control Cappy. Sometimes it was even a competition! The way Odyssey does it is a little different, and not nearly as satisfying. Both players would either attempt the level at the same time or play off and on, like in Super Mario 3. Past Mario games were either a solo experience or Player Two took the form of Luigi, Princess, or Toad. The only true area Super Mario Odyssey fails is the co-op experience. It does add some new twists on an old favorite, but the innovative game mechanics and rich worlds more than make up for any shortcomings.

The story follows the traditional Mario shtick, but I can't imagine anyone is picking up this game for an emotional journey. When it comes to negatives, there are a few areas that Super Mario Odyssey is lacking, but most of them are pretty nit-picky. Nintendo pulled out all the stops to make its classic platformer a brand new experience. It doesn't get old, even if you die a hundred times. While on the subject of music, the soundtrack is catchy and captures the spirit of traditional Mario games with a modern twist. The challenges hide secret moons, nostalgic nods, and fun extras, like a volleyball game or stunning musical number. The world themes come with more than just distinct designs from a metro city to a food-inspired landscape.

Within each area, players can take the time to explore, complete mini-missions, access mini-games, and get lost. Every world has a unique theme and level design that has an open-world feel, but a classic Mario touch. Each planet the famous plumber visits has already been terrorized by Bowser and needs a little help. To catch up to Bowser, Mario has to visit different worlds and collect Moons to power his spaceship, the Odyssey. Like previous Mario games, the main goal of Super Mario Odyssey is to collect certain objects and save Princess Peach. Mario Odyssey Stacking Goombas (Image credit: iMore)

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