Super Mario Odyssey Is the Mario I’ve Wanted

During the days of the Nintendo Wii, people could not get enough of the original Mario Galaxy, prompting Nintendo to do something they’ve rarely ever done with 3D Mario titles: release a sequel! Unfortunately for me, neither Mario Galaxy or Mario Galaxy 2 hit that sweet spot for me like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine did. In fact, nothing Nintendo has released for Mario has brought me back mentally to the days of the Gamecube and Nintendo 64. Super Mario Odyssey is about to change that in a big way for me, and I cannot wait!

Nintendo gradually moved away from the very open world 3D Mario games to what we’ve been given lately, Super Mario 3D World. They slowly removed the open world hub that was prevalent in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, and added in worlds, and levels, 1-1, 1-2 etc. What they did with the 3D Mario series was also what they did with the Paper Mario series (more on that in a future article). While I think the masses loved it, I really did not.

Super Mario Odyssey is about to change that all, and although at this point, we are unsure of whether or not there will be a hub world, or if the Odyssey will act as the ‘hub world’. We do know the return of open world levels is back, with a magnitude of moons to collect!

Collecting the Stars in Super Mario 64 and the Sunshine Sprites in Super Mario Sunshine was the most fun I’ve had in a Mario game in a long time. Collecting the moons in Super Mario Galaxy was fun, but because of the nature of those levels, it never felt ‘open world’ to me. Others have different opinions and I respect that.

For me, Galaxy was never what I wanted in a 3D Mario adventure.

Super Mario Odyssey is coming late next month and we will have a full review on GamesReviews.com ahead of launch!