Sunrise Parabellum Super Mario Odyssey Review

*No spoilers, safe to read ! + My experience based verdict at the end of this review: avoid? approach at your own risk? average experience? a good game worth your time and recommendation? a true must play?* ***Late arrival... but a big surprise*** I went all in on Super Mario Odyssey : 100% completion = All purple coins / 999 moons (880 from kingdoms) / Every costume, capture, decoration, sticker, and song unlocked And the funny part is that I'm not a Nintendo fan and I don't like the company. I've avoided their games for years and the last Nintendo console I seriously touched was the DS era and everything before that. This was my first Switch game and my first Nintendo game in a very long time. I went in with zero expectations, no hype, no nostalgia. I barely knew what the game even was.. and somehow that made the experience even better. Oh man, I was really caught me off guard.. and that, not only by how much content it has but also how polished and consistently fun it is. Hey, I still don't like Nintendo as a company x) BUUUUT I can't deny the amount of care, talent and love poured into this game. It is super obvious and you feel it constantly while playing. It was fun from start to finish, and oddly relaxing. In one word? A masterpiece. **_The content : Packed and varied is and understatement_** This game is LOADEEEEED !! Each kingdom feels rich and distinct with its own biome, tone, mechanics, enemies and identity. It just sticks in your memory. I really liked how every region is introduced with a flyer, a bit of flavor text and hints about points of interest. It gives a real sense of journey, like flipping pages in a travel notebook. There is also a relatively huge variety of enemies and bosses. Each one fits its kingdom and usually introduces a unique gameplay idea. Costumes tied to biomes or the universe of Mario IP in general, plus decorations and stickers for your ship, which constantly reinforce again that sense of adventure and journey. There are so many puzzles to solve and areas to explore. The game wants you to poke around, look behind structures, move the camera, jump where you are not "supposed" to.. And the best part is that you are often rewarded for this curiosity and that never really gets old. The sheer quantity of content is impressiv, but what matters more is the quality: It is challenging when it needs to be and generous when it should be and most importantly, almost always fun. There is so much variety that boredom never really sets in. The ending is great and the post game content is substantial. A whole new kingdom, plus new moons, challenges and costumes. It genuinely felt like the game still has things to show you after the credits. **_Sound and visuals: Tiny details everywhere !_** The soundtrack is excellent. Tons of tracks, all tailored to their environment, mood or boss fight. It never felt random or out of place. Sound design is just as strong. Transitions between 3D and 2D, the 8-bit effects, underwater audio changes… all of it is clean and satisfying. Artistically, the game is packed with little touches I really appreciated such as ice refraction, water effects and muffled sound underwater, music changing dynamically, mario's 2D 8 bits outfits matching his costumes or his shivering when underdressed or overheating when overdressed.. It's the kind of polish that doesn't scream for attention but once you notice it, you realize how much care went into everything. Style wise, the game checks every box. **_Gameplay simple at the core, deep in practice_** *>>Exploration and movement* Movement is the heart of Mario Odyssey and it feels AMAZING. Controls are responsive, fluid and satisfying. Traversal feels so good that just moving around becomes relaxing. This is one of those games I loved booting up after a long exhausting day just to turn my brain off and wander around collecting moons. Platforming is tight, and advanced movement techniques are there if you want them. They're not mandatory most of the time, but using them feels rewarding. Sometimes you'll pull off a jump and think you broke the game only to realize the developers fully expected that. Exploration is strongest during your first visit to a kingdom in my opinion. You are encouraged to search every corner, edge and map border. Fully clearing a kingdom on the first visit is nearly impossible and that's fine. What's less fun on the other hand is revisiting kingdoms multiple times because new NPCs, challenges, or secret areas appear after completing the kingdom's main objective. If you already explored everything carefully, having to re check the entire map again can feel tedious, even with a guide. Also, purple coins are especially annoying when you are missing just a few. Hints are a mixed bag: Parrot tips are often too vague but paying coins to reveal moon locations feels uninteresting and removes the challenge. I think the game is at its best when it nudges you indirectly, not when it hands you answers. *>> Puzzles and mini games* Puzzle variety is huge. Some are integrated directly into the open world while others live inside manholes or isolated platforming sections but they always match the kingdom's theme. The nostalgic 2D 8 bit sections are especially well done and feel naturally embedded into the environment, like they belong there. Difficulty scales nicely. Post game challenges can get brutally hard and require real persistence. Some levels are fun but tough to master, others are just bad, like the picture matching mini-game, jump rope and volleyball, which feels awkward and poorly designed. Still, overall game design is excellent. It takes one of the simplest mechanics in gaming and stretches it in creative ways through level design, captures and transformations. Using all your tools to reach a distant moon or tricky purple coin feels genuinely satisfying. Costumes, stickers, and decorations also help motivate completion. Purple coins never feel pointless. *>>Combat* Combat is straightforward and responsive. Boss fights are intuitive, and usually easy and quick, but they are memorable nonetheless thanks to their mechanics and visual design. Each boss introduces a gimmick that is easy to understand once you see it. Some bosses reappear later with the same core mechanics, which is a bit disappointing. Difficulty is generally low, especially in the main story, though post game content asks for more precision and retries. Still, I find the low difficulty also contributing to the game's relaxing nature. It never really stresses you out and I think that's intentional. *>>UI and UX* User experience is very smooth : Menus are clean, maps are easy to read, and tracking remaining moons is helpful, especially if you're using a guide. Switching costumes and selecting music is fast and painless. Late game options to buy moons in bulk are appreciated. That said, I'm not a fan of the always on UI elements. Coin counts, moons and health clutter the screen a bit. An adaptive or minimal option would've helped immersion. Also, the white border in screenshot mode is baffling. It is unnecessary and honestly makes screenshots worse. I don't get that decision. _**Story**_ The story is as simple as it gets = Bowser kidnaps Peach (again) > you go save her > That's it. Writing and characters aren't the focus here, and that's fine. Still, I ended up forming a weird little bond with Cappy. After so many adventures together, it just kind of happens ;-; The ending is genuinely fun and some moments during my playthrough were surprisingly emotional, and that not due to deep storytelling but because the journey earned it. _**Final thoughts**_ I feel oddly nostalgic about the first time I launched this game.. and now that it's fully completed, I don't really see a reason to replay it. I've done everything. Seen everything. And yet… I can't uninstall it :c That says a lot... Super Mario Odyssey has flaws. Some tedious backtracking here. A few bad mini games there. Very easy bosses. But the good vastly outweighs the bad and what lingers is the feeling.. *Disclaimer: Since 2026, I have stopped using numerical scores or star ratings as a public verdict. Numbers feel meaningless and overly reductive. While I may still assign a numerical score for myself as an internal reference, it is not intended for readers! Instead, I prefer experience based verdicts that tell you what kind of game this is and whether it's worth your time.* So here it is: **Super Mario Odyssey is a must play.** For kids, for adults, for newcomers and even for people like me who don't like Nintendo... This game definitely earns its place. So yeah. Jump up, Superstar !