Tag: Super Mario

Super Mario Odyssey Impressions

On Friday, I got the latest Mario game, Super Mario Odyssey for Nintendo Switch. Since I pre-ordered the game at Best Buy, I also got this collectible coin. The front and back shown; I don’t have two coins. 😛

Both sides of the Super Mario Odyssey collectible coin.I’ve spent about 4.5 hours with the game so far, and I’m really enjoying it. It reminds me a bit of Super Mario 64, but without being thrown back to a hub area after collecting each star (or moon, in the case of Odyssey). And that’s a very good thing.

The worlds (called kingdoms) don’t have individual levels per se. Instead, you just collect power moons that are scattered throughout each world. Some of them are earned for completing objectives, like climbing a mountain or beating a boss, while others are just hidden throughout each world. You’re free to explore each world to seek out its secrets, and that’s a lot of fun.

Running through the forest in Super Mario Odyssey.Some of the hidden areas you can find include fun 2D mini-levels that look like the original Super Mario Bros. I’ve also found some references to Super Mario 3D World, so there are many things to discover. As for the coins you collect, you can spend them at shops to buy new caps and outfits for Mario.

Fashionable Outfit: I'm not clashing, YOU'RE clashing!Gotta Capture ‘Em All

One unique feature of Super Mario Odyssey is the ability to capture certain animals, enemies, or objects by throwing your cap at them. Each thing you capture has a unique ability. For example, the first thing you capture is a frog. You then basically possess that frog, and you can directly control it. That allows you to jump much higher.

Mario captures a frog in Super Mario Odyssey for Nintendo Switch.Other areas let you capture an entire stack of Goombas (standing on each other’s heads) or even a tank (which you can use to shoot at breakable stones). It makes for some bizarre scenarios, but that’s part of the fun.

Taking Photos

A really cool feature of this game is the ability to take in-game screenshots. You can pause the action, move the camera, zoom in or out, apply filters, and so on. Even taking pictures can be lots of fun. Here are a few I’ve taken.

Mario captures a Moai statue and stands near a power moon. Picture taken in Super Mario Odyssey.
Moon, Moai, Moon
Mario and a taxi driver. Picture taken in Super Mario Odyssey.
Is this Super Mario Odyssey or Crazy Taxi?
Mario is afraid. Picture taken in Super Mario Odyssey.Controls in Motion

If I have a slight complaint, it’s with the controls. Don’t get me wrong, the controls are good overall. But when Mario runs, he almost seems to be a bit out of control; the controls don’t seem quite tight and precise enough. Maybe I just need to get used to them a bit, or maybe I need to move slower and point the camera at a higher angle when precision jumping is required.

Also, the game uses some motion controls by default. For example, shaking the controller after throwing your cap makes the hat home in on nearby targets. While motion controls aren’t mandatory, I’m trying them out for now, at least. They generally work fine, I’m just generally not a big fan of motion controls.

Out of this World

Super Mario Odyssey is a lot of fun so far, and it’s one of those games that is hard to put down. That’s a sign of a great game. While I’m not far enough into the game to definitively say if it’s the best 3D Mario game yet, I’d say it has a chance. It’s definitely up there with the best of them.

Update: Here’s a video showing my first 50 deaths in the game. I hope you enjoy!

6 Things I Didn’t Remember About Super Mario Bros. 3

I’ve previously written about three memorable levels in Super Mario Bros. 3. But as I replayed the game recently for the first time in many years (on my NES Classic), I noticed several things I did not remember from my previous playthroughs. Without further ado, here is my list.

1. The Sky is Beige

This isn’t true in all levels, of course. Many levels do indeed have blue skies, while others have black (night) or even green skies. But perhaps the most common sky color in the game is this light beige you can see in this screenshot. It’s something I haven’t really thought about before.

The beige sky in Super Mario Bros. 3.

2. Green Buildings with Footprints?

World 3-7 has these large green…structures…that I don’t remember from previously playing Mario 3. As a fan of the color green, I do enjoy the look of these unique structures. But what are they? Buildings? Walls? Perhaps they’re just the homes of the enemies known as Spikes. But if so, why aren’t there doors or windows? And are those footprints all over them? Or is that wallpaper? 😛

Green structures in World 3-7 of Super Mario Bros. 3.3. Magic Doors

World 4 has always been one of my favorites. It is the giant world, so enemies, blocks, and even the scenery can be huge here. But what I forgot is that World 4-6 has magic doorways that let you swap between the giant-sized world and a regular-sized version of the same level. It’s a cool feature.

Animated GIF of the magic door in World 4-6 of Super Mario Bros. 3.4. Misplaced Pipe Maze?

World 7 is filled with puzzling pipe maze levels, and I remembered that fact quite well. But what I wasn’t expecting during my recent playthrough was to see was a pipe maze in World 4. The second fortress here in the giant world has a pipe maze that looks straight out of World 7. Oddly enough, I remembered this specific level quite well…I just didn’t recall it being in World 4.

A pipe maze in the second fortress of World 4 in Super Mario Bros. 3.5. Green & Black Cave

I was quite surprised when I saw these green and black triangle patterns on the ground and walls of a cave in World 5-2. Again, this is probably just me being odd with my color preferences, but I love the look of it. And I did not remember seeing it at all. But in my defense, this area looks completely different in the Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) version, and that version was a bit fresher in my memory than the NES version.

Green/black walls in World 5-2 of Super Mario Bros. 3.6. I Hate Lakitu

In Mario Kart games, Lakitu will count down to the start of the race, or tell you which lap you’ve just completed. In other games such as Super Mario 64, he operates the camera. So it’s easy to be fooled into thinking he’s a nice guy, or at least a neutral figure.

But in Super Mario Bros. 3 (and some others), he’s a major-league butthole. While flying around up in his cloud, he relentlessly throws Spinies at you. He throws them at varying angles, and they’re quite hard to avoid. And he just keeps going and going. I had forgotten how much I truly hated this jerk. This screenshot is from World 5-8, which particularly gave me trouble. But he’s in some other levels as well, unfortunately.

Lakitu throws Spinies at me in Super Mario Bros. 3.You can see me struggling with Lakitu quite in a bit in my new Super Mario Bros. 3 – FAILS video. Skip to 2:25 if you want to jump right to the Lakitu parts.

But even though I may have forgotten these details about the game, I never forgot how great this game is. After replaying it again, I can say it’s still my favorite Mario game (2D or otherwise), and it’s among my favorite games of all time.

Super Mario 3D World – World Crown

I’ve been playing a lot of Splatoon lately…so much that it’s kept me from completing the last world in Super Mario 3D World: World Crown. But I made it a priority to finish it off recently. And it definitely wasn’t easy, but I did it. While the previous two worlds didn’t have stamps in the levels, they returned for World Crown. This world only has three levels, but don’t be fooled. It provides a monster challenge and will probably take longer to complete than any previous world.

World Crown-Toad: Captain Toad’s Fiery Finale is the last (and most challenging) Toad level. A piranha plant near the center of the level will constantly shoot fireballs at you as you navigate across floating platforms above rising (and falling) lava. Some of the platforms are the kind that require you to blow into the gamepad microphone…as you’re rotating the camera and avoiding fireballs. This is quite a tricky level…but it’s nothing compared to what’s to come.

sm3dw-ctWorld Crown-Cube: Mystery House Marathon is set up like other previous “Cube” levels. You are presented with a series of short challenges (with 10 seconds to complete each one), and they are presented in rapid-fire succession. If you die or fail to collect a star before time runs out, you must start all over. And unlike previous Cube levels, this one has a whopping 30 challenges with 30 stars up for grabs. Some of the challenges are easy, some are hard, and many others only seem difficult until you figure out what to do. But doing everything in one go is what makes this level a beast. Lots of trial-and-error is required, and it took me many hours to clear this stage.

World Crown-Crown: Champion’s Road is the granddaddy of all challenges. This is the most difficult level in the game, and it has to be one of the most challenging Mario levels ever. It starts out with a platforming section, where you have to avoid cannonballs being spit out by enemies. There are also Fire Brothers and Chargin’ Chucks to contend with. You then warp to a section where you have to climb a bunch of beat blocks, which constantly alternate. Peach’s float move comes in handy here, but it’s still quite a challenge.

After an area with Magikoopas and blocks that fall when you stand on them, there is a section where you have to maneuver around swinging spiky cylinders while watching out for fuzzies. You then have to scale a wall by wall-jumping and bouncing off of enemies. A spring board gets you started, but this section is extremely difficult if you don’t have a cat suit.

Clear all of that, and you’re taken to a high-speed area where you have to run and jump across speed boosts, while avoiding pulsing rings of electricity. If you can collect five keys and make it to the warp box, you’ve survived the worst of it. You have to go through a series of transparent pipes that spell out “THANK YOU.” They’re not hard, but it takes some time to go through them, so you’ll need ample time remaining.

By the way, this level has no checkpoints. Die anywhere and it’s back to the very beginning. Each section is challenging and requires lots of practice. I don’t know how many hours I put into this level, or how many times I died here. But I’m sure my death count is easily in the triple-digit range. This level is brutal.

What a huge relief to get that done with. Looking at the stamps screen, I saw that I had all of the regular stamps. The only ones I didn’t have are the large character stamps you get for completing *every* level with that character. Since I’ve been using Peach for most of the game, I saw that I only needed to complete about a dozen more levels/mini-bosses to complete everything with her. Most of those were in earlier worlds (before I switched to Peach permanently), so it wasn’t very hard to do. That earned me the large Peach stamp.

As for the others, let’s just say I don’t need the stamps that bad. Asking players to replay a game with four other characters to unlock trivial things such as stamps is a cheap way of artificially lengthening a game in my opinion. And I am so done with World Crown that I have no interest in playing it again anytime soon.

But don’t let my negative opinion of World Crown deter you from playing Super Mario 3D World, though. Overall, I’ve enjoyed Super Mario 3D World quite a bit. Stay tuned for my review in the near future. Update: The review is here.