Moons, Memories, and My Super Mario Odyssey

 If you couldn't tell by now, I'm a Super Mario fan.  Ever since my parents bought Super Mario Galaxy 2 when I was really young, I have become innamered by the amount of passion and love that goes into every entry in the Mario franchise.  Super Mario Odyssey is no different.  When I first bought it back in 2023 and played it for the first time I immediatly fell in love with the game.  From the controls to the soundtrack, everything stood out.  So join me as I tell you all about Super Mario Odyssey!

The Story

What can I tell you, it's a Super Mario game.  The usual thing happenes where Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and tries to marry her.  Of course, who else is there to save her except for Mario!  But sadly, Mario is knocked off Bowser's ship and lands in the Cap Kingdom, where he meets his ally for the rest of the journey, Cappy.  The reason they join forces is because Mario's hat gets turned to shreds by Bowser and Cappy's sister, Tiara, was also captured by Bowser.

They then set off to stop the wedding and to rescue Princess Peach and Tiara.  They travel through various kingdoms, which I will describe shortly, until they get to the Moon.  This is probably a good time to mention that in this game you don't hunt for stars, here you hunt for power moons.  On the real Moon just before marrying, Mario and Cappy appears and stops it.  Mario and Bowser falls through a trap door into the interior of the Moon, where after Bowser is defeated, you can take control over Bowser with the game's main gimmick, being able to control creatures when you throw Cappy at them.  They then transform into a Mario-version of themselves.  After taking control over Bowser, Mario escapes the collapsing Moon with Peach and Tiara with him.  After saving Peach and Tiara, the two of them go on to explore the world on their own.  You can find them in various kingdoms where they will give you a free moon.  

The Bosses

The bosses in this game ranged from Cookatiel to a hyper realistic Dragon called Ruin Dragon.  And to be honest, Cookatiel was way harder to beat than Ruin Dragon.  I'm just going to mention some boss fights that really stood out to me.  There is the Broodals, a group of rabbits that Bowser hired to help with the wedding.  Most of the stand-alone ones were pretty easy.  But them all combined is another story.  Later in the game, you can visit the dark side of the moon where you have to fight a gauntlet of all the Broodals at once.  But remember, you can only take 3 hits before dying and when you do, you need to start all over again with the bosses.  This took me an agonizing while to complete and after doing so I felt a high I don't think I will ever be able to recreate.  

There is also the Mechawiggler and as the name suggests its the normal Mario wiggler but it is robotic.  You fight it in New Donk City, because it is draining the city's power supply.  In the fight, you need to control a Sherm (basically a tank) and shoot the Mechawiggler in it's weak spots.  It may sound easy but I remember the fight being quite difficult.  

And of course there is the "big stone hands go smash" boss, Knucklotec.  Taking obvious inspiration from Olmec statues, Knucklotec is the boss of the Sand Kingdom.  The fight on the other hand is quite fun.  In the fight, if Knucklotec slams his fists down and hit a glass shard, Mario will have the opportunity to capture one of the fists and slam it into his head.  The fight wasn't too difficult from what I can remember but it was interesting to see how they took the normal formula of those types of bosses and made it into something unique.  

The Kingdoms

Now it wouldn't be a Mario game without it's distinct worlds, would it?  Firstly, we have the Cap Kingdom, the one where Mario meets Cappy at the beginning of the game.  The kingdom is quite gloomy and gray, which is a stark contrast to the next kingdom.  Here you can test out your new abilities with Cappy and you can also learn the basic controls.

Next is the Cascade Kingdom.  This one is filled with green hills and waterfalls as far as the eye can see.  There is also a dinosaur in this kingdom which you can use as a capture with Cappy (which was so cool to find out for the first time).  

The Sand Kingdom is next up on our adventure.  The Sand Kingdom is heavily inspired by Mexico, with the residents of the kingdom being the Tostarenas who are skeletons with sombreros.  There is also a pyramid in this kingdom and a temple that you can find power moons in.  Here you can also find the "jaxi", a lion looking creature that can take you from one place to another with significant speed.  And what would a desert be without a lush, green oasis?  

Next up is the "Land of Beauty and Clean Waters", the Lake Kingdom.  Here you will need to capture fish as Cappy to be able to go underwater and find the underwater city.  In the lake you can find Dorrie the Aquatic Buddy, a gentle creature that swims gently in the lake.  

The Wooded Kingdom is next and it is a kingdom I never thought would be so good looking.  In this kingdom the woods is mixed with factories and machineries and it mixes surprisingly well.  Here the Steam Garden reigns supreme, creating the perfect climate to grow lots of exotic flowers.  If you were to go deeper into the woods, you could even find a place untouched by the Steam Garden.

In the Cloud Kingdom you have a brief encounter with Bowser before he takes off again.  There isn't much in this kingdom, as there is only 9 power moons to collect here, but it is absolutely breathtaking because of the sky.  

In the Lost Kingdom the sea around the small island is entirely made out of a substance that kills you instantly if you touch it.  There is also lots of strange plants and trees on the island.  

Next up is the one most people remember from this game, Metro Kingdom.  Taking obvious inspiration from New York, New Donk City is where most of it takes place.  Here, Pauline from Donkey Kong is the mayor.  There is also a jazz club in the city that you can visit.  Let me first take a detour and explain my love for Super Mario music.  The Super Mario games is probably one of the two reasons I love jazz music so much (the other probably being Cowboy Bepop).  Every Mario game has had some track that just can't leave my mind.  To get back on track, here you can also jump from building to building or even scale the highest skyscraper in the city.  This is definitely one of the best mario levels/kingdoms ever made, no doubt about it.  

Now for some fresh air, next up is the Seaside Kingdom.  Here you can find breathtaking views of water that gets shot into a big glass on a small island close to the mainland which is called the Glass Tower.  But don't be fooled by the beauty, because in the water lurks electric eels that will shock you without giving it a second thought.  

The Snow Kingdom is next.  This icy landscape is inhabited by Shiverians, who are jokingly called the warmest community in the coldest land.  Here you need to help a Shiverian win the Bound Bowl Grand Prix, their famous sporting event.  You should also be careful, because you may find a Bitefrost waiting to attack you.  

The Luncheon Kingdom is exactly how it sounds: a kingdom made up of food.  The population of the Luncheon Kingdom is a type of fork specie.  The vibrant landscape also has a volcano in the shape of a tortoise.

The Ruined Kingdom is a very small kingdom that is mostly there for an encounter with Bowser, where he controls a realistic-looking dragon.  Now you need to understand how much of a 180 degree turn it is to go from a colourful land made of sweets to a dark and scary kingdom ruled by a dragon, but they pull it off flawlessly.

Next is Bowser's Kingdom.  Here the music and architechture is made to resemble those of ancient China.  Now I could try and go into the deeper meaning of Nintendo (a Japanese company) choosing to make the bad guy of their game live in a Chinese kingdom, but I would rather not have this blog post be longer than it already is.  Anyways, the kingdom has some unique enemies you need to fight and capture to progress, like Jizo Statues and Pokios.

Then there is the Moon Kingdom, where the final showdown with Bowser happenes.  The low gravity made me reminisce about playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 back in the day.  For a wedding venue, Bowser made a great choice choosing the moon, if you ask me.  There is also the dark side and the darker side of the moon that you can unlock later on.  

The game then ends at the Mushroom Kingdom, which takes a lot of inspiration from Super Mario 64.  Here you can even capture Yoshi and control him.  In my opinion, this is the best place they could have chosen to end the game; a beautiful, peaceful and nostalgic kingdom.  

In Conclusion...

This game was a blast to play.  I enjoyed every minute of it, even that painfully difficult rabbit gauntlet I had to fight.  This game was made with so much soul and love it is hard to fully understand it if you haven't experienced it for yourself.  I hope to see more Mario games like this in the future, but who knows what Nintendo will cook up next.  If you are still reading this, maybe consider following my blog as it will notify you every time I upload a new blog post.  Thank you so much for reading and until next time, so long!