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Mario Odyssey thrills gamers of all ages

      One of, if not the most anticipated video game titles of the year came out last Friday. Super Mario Odyssey graced us with its presence, granting us the first true Mario adventure game since Super Mario Sunshine on the GameCube way back in 2002, when most of us were in elementary school!

      For anyone who has played Sunshine or the famous Super Mario 64 (if you know anyone who doesn’t know what game this is, immediately stop talking to them), there has been an extremely long wait filled with a ton of anticipation as well as very highly expectations.

        I am beyond thrilled that in the few hours I got to play of this game I can already tell that it has delivered on an experience that we are both familiar with yet have been wanting for over a decade.

       Odyssey has been getting fantastic reviews across the board and has even been called the greatest video game of all time by many news outlets and video game websites, so the hype is extremely real and it matches it step for step.

       The very first moments of the game take you through a semi-familiar song and dance as Bowser is after Princess Peach once again, and very creepily trying to force her hand in marriage.

         This time, however, Bowser gets away with not only Princess Peach but the Princess of the Hat Kingdom, Tiara. Soon after his defeat to Bowser, Mario crosses path with a magical living hat named Cappy who is Mario’s buddy, partner and savior for the duration of this adventure and vice versa.
So as Mario, armed with your new pal Cappy on your head, you set out in the universe in search of Bowser to stop the unwanted wedding.
Your vessel for the journey across worlds, or as they are referred to as kingdoms, is a giant hat called the Odyssey that is powered up by Power Moons which are the place holder for the famous Stars of 64 or Shrinesprites of Sunshine.

        Each kingdom you arrive at has a theme to it or special environment where you can collect specific currency used in that world to collect different costumes for Mario as well as different hat shapes Cappy can take.

        These worlds are immense and breathtaking to look at. Nintendo took their time to develop worlds that are equally dense as they are beautiful.
Each kingdom has its own set of Power Moons (over 900 in the game!) as well to collect through various puzzles, obstacles or battles that all have a unique feel to them.

        Kingdoms span from deserts populated by singing skeletons in sombreros to a sprawling urban city where actual humans can be found and interacted with for the first time in any Mario title.

        What really makes this game unique in nature is the ability Cappy gives us. At any time, you can call upon your new favorite pal to do various things from simple attacks to taking control of almost any creature in the game, granting you unique abilities for each to overcome various situations from seeing hidden pathways as a big statue with shades to breathing underwater as a fish sporting the classic Mario hat.

          Super Mario Odyssey is easily one of my favorite games of all time already with its vast open worlds that could almost be individual titles on their own, to the absolute Nintendo-esque feel of the gameplay and varying challenges that take their time to stand out from any other game on the market.
I can’t wait to sink a ridiculous number of hours into this just to see every last detail it has to offer. This game gets a solid 10/10. It is the epitome of a Nintendo gem.

          With Super Mario Odyssey and Zelda Breath of the Wild both releasing within six months of each other, Nintendo has done an exemplary job delivering A-plus titles for their new outstanding console.

       With major third party support coming to the Switch with titles like Rocket League Soccer, Skyrim, Wolfenstein II, DOOM, Fifa, Nba2k, Minecraft and tons of indie support, the Switch is establishing itself as a true force to be reckoned with.

 

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By Alex Cromley, Author

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