Super Mario Odyssey

North American box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo EPD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
Nintendo Switch	NA: October 27, 2017 JP: October 27, 2017 EU: October 27, 2017 AU: October 27, 2017 KO: December 1, 2017 CH: December 1, 2017
Nintendo Switch	NA: October 27, 2017 JP: October 27, 2017 EU: October 27, 2017 AU: October 27, 2017 KO: December 1, 2017 CH: December 1, 2017
Platform(s)
Accessory(ies)	This game is compatible with certain amiibo figures
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, platformer
Download Size	5,611.98 MB
Rating(s)
ESRB	04
PEGI	02
CERO	02
USK	02
ACB	02

Super Mario Odyssey <sup>(JPJapanese: スーパーマリオオデッセイ

Romaji: Sūpā Mario Odessei

Meaning: Super Mario Odyssey)</sup> is a platforming game for the Nintendo Switch released on October 27, 2017. It is the eighteenth title in the Super Mario series and the sixth 3D Mario title on a home console after Super Mario 3D World. The game has sandbox-like elements and revolves around Mario exploring Earth-based settings, similar to Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario 64 DS with his new partner Cappy. Unique to this game, Mario is able to throw Cappy onto certain enemies and objects, allowing Mario to take control of them. Mario can also dress in different costumes, several being based of previous games.

The game allows for two-player co-op, allowing a second character to use a single Joy-Con to control Cappy independently from Mario. The game also has online functionality, which allows players to compare their times/scores in certain events. In addition, amiibo can be used to unlock certain costumes early, as well as obtain free hints towards the locations of Power Moons and regional coins.

Story

Beginning "in the skies above Peach's Castle", Mario and Bowser are seen fighting one another on Bowser's airship, with Princess Peach on board as well. Bowser punches the ground as Mario jumps backwards. Bowser jumps at Mario and shoots fire at him which misses. Bowser then throws his hat at Mario which misses while knocking Mario's cap of his head, and then turns around hitting Mario, sending him flying. Bowser then takes his airship towards the skies, as he prepares a forced marriage to Peach. He leaves Mario's cap adrift into the ship's back propellers, shredding it in the process. A piece is obtained by a Bonneter named Cappy, who eventually finds Mario in Bonneton, located in the Cap Kingdom.

Afterwards, Cappy pokes Mario. Mario wakes up, surprising Cappy, and catches up with him after he flees. Then Cappy introduces himself, and explains to Mario that Bowser had not only attacked the kingdom, destroying its airship armada, but had also kidnapped Tiara, Cappy's sister, using her as Peach's wedding headdress. Mario and Cappy team up to stop Bowser's plans and save both Peach and Tiara, and using the piece he collected, Cappy transforms into the Mario Cap, allowing Mario to use Cappy's abilities. Cappy also informs Mario that they may be able to find a usable airship in the next kingdom, accessible from the Top Hat Tower. However, upon reaching the top, Mario is encountered by the Broodals, who were hired by Bowser as his wedding planners. After defeating one of the Broodals, named Topper, Mario and Cappy use a Spark pylon to travel to Fossil Falls of the Cascade Kingdom, where they find the airship, named the Odyssey, which uses Power Moons as energy to travel. Soon after, Mario and Cappy find and defeat Madame Broode, the boss of the Broodals, and her Chain Chomp. Using the power of the Multi Moon obtained from Madame Broode, the Odyssey is ready for sail, and Mario and Cappy use it to chase after Bowser and the Broodals.

Mario and Cappy travel though several kingdoms. After going through Tostarena of the Sand Kingdom, Lake Lamode of the Lake Kingdom, and the Steam Gardens of the Wooded Kingdom, they encounter and defeat Bowser in the Nimbus Arena of the Cloud Kingdom. Bowser then shoots at the Odyssey, causing it to crash and land in the Forgotten Isle of the Lost Kingdom.

After Mario rescues Cappy from a Klepto and collects more Power Moons to restore the Odyssey, they travel through New Donk City of the Metro Kingdom, Shiveria of the Snow Kingdom, Bubblaine of the Seaside Kingdom, and Mount Volbono of the Luncheon Kingdom. They then attempt to enter Bowser's Castle in Bowser's Kingdom; however, they are encountered by Bowser before they get there. Instead of fighting Mario and Cappy, Bowser orders the Ruined Dragon to attack the Odyssey. This causes the ship to fall to Crumbleden of the Ruined Kingdom, where Mario and Cappy directly fight and defeat the Ruined Dragon. After restoring the Odyssey again, they finally go to Bowser's Castle and find Bowser with Peach. Bowser reveals that he plans to hold his wedding on the moon, and leaves Mario and Cappy to fight the Broodals in the RoboBrood.

Mario and Cappy destroy the RoboBrood, sending the Broodals flying as they recover another Multi Moon. They then head off to Honeylune Ridge of the Moon Kingdom to stop the marriage between Bowser and Peach. They interrupt the wedding as Bowser is attempting to put the Binding Band that was previously stolen from Tostarena on Peach. Bowser then stomps the floor, revealing a trap door under Mario and Cappy. Cappy grabs Mario by the fingers and tries to pull him out of the trap door, but his hands slip, causing him to drop Mario and fall into it himself. Bowser jumps in after them and engages them in battle but is defeated. Mario, Cappy, Peach, and Tiara are reunited but soon discover that the area they are in is collapsing. Mario uses Cappy to capture Bowser and escape, with all of them eventually returning to the moon. Mario and Bowser then simultaneously propose to marry Peach, with Mario offering a Rocket Flower and Bowser offering a Soirée Bouquet. However, Peach rejects them both and leaves with Cappy and Tiara. Mario and Bowser get upset, but Peach then calls from the Odyssey, saying, "Let's go home!" As the ship takes off, Mario and Bowser run after it. While Mario successfully jumps on it, he stomps on Bowser, leaving Bowser stuck on the moon.

The Odyssey later lands in the Mushroom Kingdom near Peach's Castle, where Cappy says that he enjoyed the adventure and wishes to continue traveling with Mario to collect more Power Moons. They do so, going through the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as Rabbit Ridge of the dark side of the moon and Culmina Crater of the darker side of the moon in the process. Meanwhile, Peach and Tiara travel the kingdoms on Peach's "own terms," while finding Power Moons themselves that they give to Mario when he meets up with them.

Gameplay

Super Mario Odyssey returns to the explorative sandbox-like gameplay seen in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, where Mario explores various areas in order to collect Power Moons to power the Odyssey airship to fly from kingdom to kingdom. There is no central hub world, as the Odyssey is rather used to move from one location to the others. Mario maintains his moveset from previous 3D titles, including the Triple Jump, Long Jump, Side Somersault, Backwards Somersault, Roll, Ground Pound, Ground Pound Jump, Spin Jump, and the returning Dive. In addition, a new character called Cappy allies with Mario, and takes possession of his cap. Mario can throw Cappy as if he were a boomerang for a long range attack, he can use Cappy as an extra platform to bypass obstacles, use Cappy in conjunction with his dive move to cross large distances, and can also "capture" certain objects and enemies to take control of them, replacing the traditional power-up system seen in the previous Super Mario games since Super Mario Galaxy. There are 52 capturable targets in total.

The game also features a co-op mode. During this mode the second player as Cappy automatically hovers over the first player's head until they press the Left button where they gain independent movement, where they act as an animate Cap Throw. When the second player is hovering over the first player's head they can move the stick on their Joy-Con to move Cappy three hundred sixty degrees. When the second player is hovering over the first player's head the first player can still perform all actions with Cappy as in normal gameplay, however they cannot perform these actions when the second player is not hovering above them. If the second player while being independent from the first player presses the Left button again they will automatically travel back to the first player's head until they press the Left button again. The camera follows the first player in this mode, and due to this the second player can only fly a certain distance away from the first player until they are stopped by an invisible wall. When the first player walks a certain distance away from the second player the second player will be pushed towards the first player.

Mario's life meter also returns with three health, similar to Super Mario Galaxy. Additionally, there are no lives (and by extension, 1-Up Mushrooms and Game Overs) in the game making this the only 3D Mario game not to feature them, as Mario instead loses ten Coins upon dying. The coins that Mario collects serve as currency. There are 2 types of coins - global yellow coins, which can be found and used in any kingdom, and purple regional coins, which are different in every kingdom, and can only be used in the kingdom they were found in. Mario can spend his coins at the Crazy Cap stores to buy items for the Odyssey and costumes. amiibo support includes Mario, Peach, Bowser, and a new character called Uncle amiibo, which unlocks more costumes, including ones based on Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Diddy Kong.; others reveal Power Moon locations on the map, though the latter four amiibo also do that before unlocking the costumes. This is also the case for the new "wedding" variants of the former three amiibo.

The game features a "Snapshot Mode", where players can suspend the game with the down button and take screenshots. Players are also able to alter the shot by zooming in and out, tilting the camera for a vertical shot, or apply one of several filters, ranging from blurring the surroundings, adding a sepia tone, changing the camera to a fish-eye lens, or applying an NES, Game Boy, or SNES-styled color scheme.

Super Mario Odyssey is playable in 13 languages: English, European French, Canadian French, German, Castilian Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.

Costumes

Mario can wear a variety of costumes with most purchasable in Crazy Cap stores. These are listed in the List of Costumes in Super Mario Odyssey.

amiibo Support

The Super Mario Odyssey series of amiibo were released alongside the game, as well as all previously released amiibo being compatible. The following are:

• Mario - Grants you invincibility for a short time.
• Peach - Gives you a Life-Up Heart.
• Bowser - Indicates the location of local currencies.
• Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Dr. Mario, Diddy Kong, Wedding Mario, Wedding Peach, and Wedding Bowser - Provide a costume for Mario to wear.
• All- Can give Mario a few coins.

Luigi's Balloon World

An update in February 2018 added this new online activity. Players can find Luigi after beating the game. The first thing players can do is hide a balloon somewhere in the Kingdom in the given time. Then, players can talk to Luigi to access other players' balloon placements and racing to find them for decent rewards.

Kingdoms

Kingdom	Location
Mushroom Kingdom	Peach's Castle
Cap Kingdom	Bonneton
Cascade Kingdom	Fossil Falls
Sand Kingdom	Tostarena
Lake Kingdom	Lake Lamode
Wooded Kingdom	Steam Gardens
Cloud Kingdom	Nimbus Arena
Lost Kingdom	Forgotten Isle
Metro Kingdom	New Donk City
Snow Kingdom	Shiveria
Seaside Kingdom	Bubblaine
Luncheon Kingdom	Mount Volbono
Ruined Kingdom	Crumbleden
Bowser's Kingdom	Bowser's Castle
Moon Kingdom	Honeylune Ridge
Dark Side	Rabbit Ridge
Darker Side	Culmina Crater

Characters

Playable

• Mario
• Cappy (multiplayer)

Assisting

• Cappy
• Tiara
• Princess Peach
• Yoshi
• Toadette
• Pauline
• The Toad Brigade
  • Captain Toad
  • Hint Toad
  • Banktoad
  • Yellow Toad
  • Mailtoad
• Jaxi
• Glydon
• Talkatoo
• Uncle amiibo
• Luigi

Villains

• Bowser
• Broodals
  • Topper
  • Harriet
  • Rango
  • Spewart
  • Madame Broode and Chain Chompikins
  • RoboBrood
• Mechawiggler
• Cookatiel
• Knucklotec
• Lord of Lightning
• Torkdrift
• Mollusque-Lanceur

NPCs

• Local residents
  • Bonneters
  • New Donkers
  • Tostarenans
  • Lochladies
  • Steam Gardeners
  • Bubblainians
  • Shiverians
  • Volbonans
  • Toads
  • Goombette
  • Frogs
  • Moe-Eyes
  • Fishin' Lakitus
  • Sheep
• Koopa Troopas
  • Roving Racers
• Rabbits
• Dorries
• Sphynxes
• Poochy

Wildlife

• Native birds
  • Top hat-wearing Little Birds (Cap Kingdom)
  • Red birds that resemble scarlet macaws (Cascade Kingdom)
  • Green-and-yellow birds resembling budgerigars (Sand Kingdom)
  • Pink birds with scaled wings (Lake Kingdom)
  • Blue birds resembling blue jays (Wooded Kingdom)
  • White doves (Cloud Kingdom)
  • Pigeons (Metro Kingdom)
  • Seagulls (Seaside Kingdom)
  • Penguins (Snow Kingdom)
  • Birds resembling dollops of whipped cream (Luncheon Kingdom)
  • Brown birds resembling tree sparrows (Bowser's Kingdom)
  • Small UFO-like creatures that resemble Torkdrift (Moon Kingdom)
  • Little Birds (Mushroom Kingdom)
• Others
  • Insects
    • Giant dragonflies (Cascade Kingdom, Bowser's Kingdom)
    • Butterflies that resemble large whites (Wooded Kingdom)
    • Monotone butterflies that come in four different colors: blue, green, pink or purple (Lost Kingdom)
    • Giant multi-colored butterflies (Lost Kingdom)
    • Butterflies that resemble swallowtails (Mushroom Kingdom)
• Lizards (Sand Kingdom)
• Hawks (Sand Kingdom)
• Chipmunks (Wooded Kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom)
• Pink crabs (Lake Kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom)
• Rats (Metro Kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom)
• Yellow crabs (Seaside Kingdom)
• Bats (Ruined Kingdom)
• Fish
  • Salmon (Wooded Kingdom)
  • Multi-colored lake fishes (Lake Kingdom)
  • Goldfish (Seaside Kingdom)
  • Koi (Bowser's Kingdom)

Enemies

• Goombas
• Paragoombas
• Mini Goombas
• Goomba Towers
• Koopa Troopas
• Sherms
• Chargin' Chucks
• Urban Stingbies
  • Urban Stingby Larvas
• Bullet Bills
• Bill Blasters
• Banzai Bills
• Cheep Cheeps
• Snow Cheep Cheeps
• Spinies
• Chinchos
• Fire Piranha Plants
• Poison Piranha Plants
• Big Poison Piranha Plants
• Uproots
• Fuzzies
• Hammer Bros.
• Fire Bros.
• Lava Bubbles
• Magmatos
• T-Rexes
• Chain Chomps
• Big Chain Chomps
• Burrbos
• Gushens
• Maw-Rays
• Moonsnakes
• Ty-Foos
• Komboos
• Astro-Lanceurs
• Bitefrosts
• Pokios
• Stairface Ogres
• Trapeetles
• Tropical Wigglers

Yoofoes

• Coin Coffers
• Donkey Kong
• Kleptos
• Parabones

Items and objects

• Regional Coins
  • Purple Coins (Mushroom Kingdom)
  • Top-Hat Coins (Cap Kingdom)
  • Wheel Coins (Cascade Kingdom)
  • Pyramid Coins (Sand Kingdom)
  • Scale Coins (Lake Kingdom)
  • Bolt Nut Coins (Wooded Kingdom)
  • Leaf Coins (Lost Kingdom)
  • Portrait-Stamped Coins (Metro Kingdom)
  • Snowflake Coins (Snow Kingdom)
  • Shell Coins (Seaside Kingdom)
  • Tomato Coins (Luncheon Kingdom)
  • Oblong Coins (Bowser's Kingdom)
  • Star Bit Coins (Moon Kingdom)
• ? Blocks
• 8-Bit Pipes
• Barrels
• Beanstalks
• Berries
• Brick Blocks
• Binoculars
• Boomboxes
• Boulders
• Bowser Statues
• Bubbles
• Cactuses
• Cap Clouds
• Checkpoint Flags
• Coin Blocks
• Coins
• Coin Rings
• Coin Stacks
• Crates
• Girders
• Gravity Walls
• Ground-Pound Switches
• Hat Launchers
• Hat Trampolines
• Hearts
• Hidden Blocks
• Jizos
• Letters
• Lever Switches
• Life-Up Hearts
• Lifts
• Manholes
• Meat
• Moon Pipes
• Moon Rocks
• Motor Scooters
• Moon Shards / Moon fragments
• Multi Moons
• Paintings
• Peppers
• Picture Match Parts
• Poles
• Power Moons
• P-Switches
• Pulse Beams
• Push-Blocks
• Puzzle Parts
• Rainbow Notes
• RC Cars
• Rocket Flowers
• Safety Bars
• Scarecrows
• Slingshots
• Spark pylons
• Spiked Shells
• Spike Traps
• Steel Blocks
• Taxis
• Trees
• Rockets
• Sand Geysers
• Seeds
• Turnips
• Golden Turnips
• Treasure chests
• Warp Pipes
• Wind
• Yoshi Eggs
• Zippers
• The Odyssey
• Oil Drums

Music

Much of the music is live recorded and digitally created, and is focused on the orchestral, band-style, and rock genres - similar to Super Mario 3D World. However, the game's soundtracks are also region-based and a variety of instruments were used to fit the theme of the music a stage is based on (e.g. Bowser's Castle's music is based on ancient Japanese music). Director Kenta Motokura stated that "[a]t each destination, Mario will get to meet with music from various countries."

The lead music composer is Naoto Kubo who previously worked on Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Super Mario Maker, while Shiho Fujii and sound veteran Koji Kondo compose additional tracks. Kubo said that "[the] music has literally everything, from comfortable Bossanova-style music, Irish-style music, to even rock songs! I think many people may be surprised with the festival-like music in Bowser’s Castle." According to Kubo, the game's music has to be done at a "larger scale" compared to the past Mario games.

Merchandise

For a limited time, a Super Mario Odyssey-themed Nintendo Switch Bundle is available on the games release which includes the following:

• The Nintendo Switch console
• Red collored Left and Right Joy-Con controllers
• A download code for the full Super Mario Odyssey game
• A Nintendo Switch carrying case
• A Nintendo Switch Dock
• A Cereal with the box functioning as an amiibo.

Pre-release and unused content

The pre-release boxart of the game featured Mario in the Sand Kingdom wearing a sombrero and poncho. The final box art was changed to him being in the Lake Kingdom due to supposed criticisms about the appearance of a "Mexican Mario" on the box art and being described as a negative stereotype of the Mexican people.

During the E3 playthrough of this game, certain items had different names. Multi Moons were originally called "Grand Moons," and the Binding Band was simply referred to as the "Wedding Ring", which were literally transliterated and translated, respectively, from the Japanese original. The regional coins of the Sand and Metro Kingdoms were called "Pyramid Coins" and "City Coins" respectively, but are not used in the final game. Additionally, the mission Showdown on the Inverted Pyramid was named "Inverted Pyramid Showdown."

During the Nintendo Switch Presentation trailer, Cappy was not shown with eyes. Similarly, during the Switch Presentation and E3 trailers, Peach's tiara is shown as a regular tiara rather than Tiara herself. Both were most likely done to avoid revealing the characters too soon. Also during the Switch Presentation trailer, the electronic billboard for Steam Gardens found in New Donk City showed that the location was originally named "Kogwald."

There were also minor details that were changed, such as the hat on the door of the Odyssey being much smaller, and the Metro Kingdom's Power Moons being more bronze than brown. Several of the quotes uttered by NPCs are different than in the final game, such as the RC Car driver in New Donk City originally saying, "Is there a better way to spend free time? Nope." before it was changed to, "How are my kids so good at this?" The HUD during the E3 demo did not feature the instructions to press minus to view the map and plus for the menu, or the compass underneath the Health Meter. When there is only one hit point left, the Health Meter flashes differently than in the final game. When the player acquired a Life-Up Heart, the extra health meter was colored green alongside the first one instead of light blue.

In New Donk City, there are signs present in certain areas that are not in the final game, and the Mayor Pauline Commemorative Park has a rocket ship taking the player to a bonus area. In the final game, the player must first find a hidden room inside a building, reach the pipe at the end, and they will be taken to a hidden area with said rocket. The rooftop pool beside the top of city hall was significantly deeper in the E3 demo, with the water level being just over Mario's head; in the final game, the water level approximately reaches Mario's neck. It is likely that this change was due to the original water level leaving Mario susceptible to drowning, as demonstrated in a YouTube video uploaded by gaming news site Polygon during E3. Additionally, an unused sprite of an 8-bit Metro Kingdom regional coin exists in the game's files, but was left unused in the final game due to the minimal presence of 8-bit sections in that kingdom.

Reception

Critical reception

Super Mario Odyssey has received widespread critical acclaim. Prior to its release, EDGE Magazine gave Super Mario Odyssey a perfect score of 10, praising the game for "taking big risks with an established formula and having them all pay off handsomely". Ryan McCaffery of IGN had a similar view, also giving the game a perfect score of 10. Despite criticizing the camera controls, McCaffery was ultimately very impressed with the game, saying that it "is a brilliant adventure and love letter to the series that made Nintendo a household name". Phillip Kollar and Allegra Frank of Polygon also praised the game, scoring it 9.5 out of 10. While Allegra somewhat criticized the boss battles, the two reviewers ended with "Super Mario Odyssey is almost certain to be counted among the best games in Nintendo's star series". Andrew Webster of The Verge called the game "A weird, wild world bursting with ideas" praising how the game was always surprising saying "Because each world is so different from the last, I found myself constantly discovering things I didn’t expect or hadn’t seen before" Peter Brown of Gamespot praised the game for its variety of platforming challenges and puzzles and how "The opportunities introduced by possessing others isn't just an easy source of laughs, but also works hand in hand with Odyssey's ever-present challenges.", while criticizing how some of Cappy's action require motion controls. He gave the game a 10/10. Dave Their of Forbes praised how unique the game was saying "Super Mario Odyssey is a wide-open challenge that never stops changing, even dozens of hours in." while heavily criticizing the game's motion controls. He gave the game a 9.5/10. The game currently averages 97% on review aggregate site Metacritic (based on 67 reviews), and 97.42% on GameRankings (based on 58 reviews), making it the third-highest rated game on the website.

Awards and acknowledgements

Super Mario Odyssey was nominated for six awards at The Game Awards 2017, winning one, in the following categories:

• "Game of the Year" (Nominated). Lost to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
• "Best Game Direction" (Nominated). Lost to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
• "Best Score/Music" (Nominated). Lost to NieR: Automata.
• "Best Audio Design" (Nominated). Lost to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
• "Best Action/Adventure Game" (Nominated). Lost to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
• "Best Family Game" (Won). Other nominees were Splatoon 2, Sonic Mania, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Sales

By December 31, 2017, Super Mario Odyssey had sold 9.07 million copies worldwide. By March 31, 2018, it reached 10.41 million copies, making it the best-selling game for the Nintendo Switch. As of January 31, 2019 it reached 13.76 million copies, although Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 15.02 million copies worldwide, lowering Super Mario Odyssey to the second best-selling first-party game for the Nintendo Switch.

Gallery

Main article: Super Mario Odyssey/gallery

Videos

Videos
Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Trailer	Trailer at E3 2017
Nintendo Direct Presentation	Jump Up, Super Star! Musical
Main Page: Super Mario Odyssey/videos

References to other games

• Game & Watch (series) - The silhouette of a hat-wearing Mr. Game & Watch appears on minigame icons.
• Donkey Kong - The location New Donk City is a throwback to Mario's early origins. There are steel girders that resemble the ones seen in this game, and the taxi cabs have license plates reading "1981-ND", referencing the year Mario and Donkey Kong made their debut. The name New Donk City is also a reference to Donkey Kong himself. Pauline can also be found here, who originated from this game. The melody from the 25m theme can be heard halfway through "Jump Up, Super Star!", as well as during the ending cutscene variation of "Break Free (Lead the Way)". The bassist can also be heard playing the 25m theme when Mario first finds him. Also, the sound effect played when Mario jumps over a barrel in the game can be heard at the end of the aforementioned riff in "Jump Up, Super Star". During the New Donk City festival, if the player does not talk with Pauline, she'll at one point dance by thrusting her hips back and forth, mirroring her sprite animation from the original arcade game. In an 8-bit segment using sprites from this game in New Donk City, Mario must dodge barrels while climbing girders. Oil Drums also appear, along with Coins spelling out "DK". Pauline's original design (then known as Lady), as well as Donkey Kong's original design, also makes a brief cameo as a graffiti art on a building. Pauline's purple sunhat in her standard attire may be a reference to the Pauline's lost items from the game. In addition, the lost items were twice referenced in the side mission "Personal Request for the Mayor", one in regards to selecting a parasol, a hat, and a purse regarding her treasured items, while the other is hunting down Pauline's gift, with all options being the aforementioned items. In addition, in the same sidequest, one of her questions mentions what had happened in her past involved being abducted by a giant ape, referring to the plot of Donkey Kong. The Classic Cap and Classic Suit outfit is based on Mario's classic outfit in Donkey Kong.
• Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi - Pauline being the lead singer in The Super Mario Players band was potentially derived from her role in one of the modes for the canceled Family Computer game.
• Super Mario Bros. - Several parts of the game allow Mario to walk within walls from a 2D perspective, uses sprites and sound effects from this game, as well as altering the stage music to an 8-bit variation. An arrangement of the overworld theme from this game plays in the New Donk City Auditorium. The castle theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser. With its sunglasses on, Moe-Eye sometimes hums the first few notes of the overworld theme as well as the ending theme from this game while walking around. A replica of Super Mario Bros. can be played at New Donk City where Mario traverses through World 1-1. The 1-Up jingle can be heard in two separate parts when one pauses and unpauses the game.
• Family Computer Golf: U.S. Course - Mario's Stars and Stripes outfit originates from this game.
• Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally - The Mechanic Suit and Mechanic Cap outfit originates from this game.
• Super Mario Bros. 2 - Mario holds and throws vegetables found in the Luncheon Kingdom the same way as he does in this game.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 - The music that plays in the slots minigame room and the Picture Match areas is an arrangement of the minigame music from this game. The sound effect that plays when using a Rocket Flower is the sound effect that plays when the P Meter is full in this game. The final boss and its battle theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser. Jizo Statues in Bowser's Kingdom resemble the original design of Statue Mario.
• Qix - The Sombrero and Poncho originate from the Game Boy version of this game.
• Super Mario Land - A notable species is the Moe-Eyes, with glasses similar to the Moai statues and enemies found in the Easton Kingdom in this game.
• Dr. Mario - Mario's Doctor Outfit originates from this game.
• Super Mario World - A piano arrangement of this game's overworld and underwater themes can be heard on radios in New Donk City. When controlled by Mario, Moe-Eye sometimes hums the game's ending theme while walking around with its sunglasses on. Sprites of Fuzzies from this game are used when Fuzzies appear in 8-bit segments. An arrangement of the music that plays in this game during the bonus areas plays in some of the challenge areas. The final boss and its battle theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser. Yoshi's House is set up in the same way as it is in this game (with a fireplace and three trees acting as shelter), with the notice even starting with the words "Hello! Sorry I'm not home, but I've gone to". This reference was kept in the German and Spanish localizations but not the French.
• NES Open Tournament Golf - Mario's Stars and Stripes outfit is iconically used in this game.
• Mario Paint - Mario's Painter's outfit, Black Tuxedo and Conductor outfit from this game's artwork appears.
• Super Mario Kart - A cover of the music that plays in the Mario Circuit courses from this game plays during the RC Car Challenge in New Donk City.
• Super Mario All-Stars - Mario's black top hat originates from this game.
• Yoshi's Cookie - One of Mario's Chef Outfit originates from the NES version of this game.
• Donkey Kong Country series - In addition to New Donk City being named after Donkey Kong, characters' names from this series appear as street signs such as Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong, Cranky Kong, Candy Kong, Rambi the Rhino, Expresso the Ostrich, Squawks the Parrot, and King K. Rool. Diddy Kong is also the basis of an outfit and cap Mario can wear.
• Mario's Picross - The Explorer Hat and Explorer Outfit originate from this game.
• Mario Party 2 - Peach's Explorer outfit, and to a lesser extent Mario's outfit, bears some resemblance to their outfits in Mystery Land of that game.
• Super Mario 64 - Super Mario Odyssey is considered a spiritual successor to both this game and Super Mario Sunshine. The structure of the kingdoms carry over what was established in this game, such as the lack of a time limit and having areas change each time the player visits them, based on what the player has previously completed. This game also first introduced utilizing caps as power-ups. The number on Mario's football jersey and baseball uniform is "64". There is a minigame involving foot racing Koopa Troopas, much like with Koopa the Quick. Mario can jump into some paintings in specific kingdoms to get to other kingdoms. In the Mushroom Kingdom, the music that plays after Mario jumps into the painting and the two different actions of how Mario exits the paintings reflecting on if he won or lost are used. Mario's idle animation is similar to this game, in which he falls asleep and begins to mutter about various pastas. Treasure chests that need to be opened in a certain order to obtain a Power Moon return. In the Seaside Kingdom, the "Treasure Trap Hidden in the Inlet" Power Moon has the same order to open the treasure chests as the "Treasure in the Ocean Cave" Power Star in Jolly Roger Bay. The jingle that plays when collecting a non-plot-specific Power Moon is similar to the "Course Clear" jingle from this game, though the original jingle plays when collecting a Power Star in the Mushroom Kingdom. The regional coins in the Mushroom Kingdom have the design of the coins from this game. There is an outfit and cap, aptly named "Mario 64 Suit" and "Mario 64 Cap", respectively, that when both are equipped, will change Mario's clothes and face to the polygon-like texture used in this game. Another outfit and cap, called "Metal Mario Suit" and "Metal Mario Cap", respectively, changes Mario into his metal form in this game. Yoshi can be found on the rooftop of Peach's Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom just like in this game. Klepto snags Cappy just like how he snags Mario's cap in this game. The scene of Mario fighting Bowser in this game and the music that plays when fighting Bowser plays when Mario captures Bowser, and can also be heard during a part of "Break Free (Lead the Way)". Mario can perform this game's variation of the Spin Jump when he jumps off one of the red, bouncy flowers found in-game. The backyard in Peach's castle from this game returns, and it and the castle proper are set to an arrangement of the location's original music cue, "Inside the Castle Walls." The jingle that plays when the player has triggered an event returns. The water surrounding Peach's Castle can be drained like in this game. The Power Moon obtained from looking up the ceiling in Peach's Castle is similar to how Mario looks up to the ceiling to access the course Tower of the Wing Cap. The map that Hint Toad consults is a map of Bob-omb Battlefield. Torkdrift is also a notable Spindrift. There is also promotional art of Mario swinging Bowser by the tail, a reference to the method of defeating Bowser in this game. Finally, the post-credits ending screen reuses Mario's dialogue line "Thank you so much for-a playing my game!"
• Super Mario Sunshine - Super Mario Odyssey is the first 3D main series game since Super Mario Sunshine to feature open sandbox-style levels. Additionally, Mario can once again slide while grabbing on a ledge. Mario retains this game’s version of the Spin Jump move as well. Some areas feature platforming challenges without the aid of Cappy, similarly to some of the secret courses in this game requiring completion without the aid of F.L.U.D.D. The Gushen enemy capture grants Mario abilities very similar to F.L.U.D.D's various nozzles, including the ability to clean burning goop in the Seaside Kingdom, being propelled forward upon the surface of a body of water, and providing a method of defeating Mollusque-Lanceur which is very similar to how numerous bosses in Sunshine are defeated (dousing in water by hovering from above). Isle Delfino, the main setting of this game, is visually referenced on the world atlas present on an Japanese billboard advertisement for Super Mario Odyssey. When Mario stands in smoke or the poison spit out by Poison Piranha Plants, he gets covered in soot or the poison, resembling him being covered in goop from this game. Through an update released on February 21, 2018, Mario can receive the outfit and sunglasses like he got from the Sunglasses vendor.
• Super Mario Galaxy/Super Mario Galaxy 2 - The animation of Mario and Cappy getting a Multi Moon is similar to Mario getting a Grand Star in these games. The low health buzzer sound also plays when Mario is low on health. Ground-Pound Switches also reappear. Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade together with the Toad Brigade theme, appears in the game. The Life-Up Heart functions exactly like the Life Mushroom from these games. Mario's idle animation of falling asleep is similar to these games. The sound clip of Mario when he touches lava is reused from these games. The currency in the Moon Kingdom resembles Star Bits and is described as such. Rosalina has a sprite of her doing a spinning jump found on a vegetable on the Dark Side of the Moon and in a wall on the Darker Side of the Moon. The jingle that plays when the Odyssey is restored is reused from the jingle that plays when Mario collects a new power-up in these games. A few of Yoshi's sound clips are reused from Super Mario Galaxy 2 as well as being able to find him in eggs. With its sunglasses on, Moe-Eye sometimes hums Gusty Garden Galaxy's music from this game. Also, there is a musical Easter egg in the pause menu, where it plays one of few different notes; if one selects the right options, the player will hear the Comet Observatory theme from this game.
• Super Mario 3D Land - The Tail Tree appears in the Mushroom Kingdom. The invincibility theme, when tapping any Mario amiibo, is taken from this game. Bowser attacks by stomping to creating fire rings and swinging his tail, similar to this game. The regional coins of the Lost Kingdom look similar to how the Super Leaves look in this game. Statue Mario's design appears when controlling the Jizo Statues.
• Mario Kart 7 - Some of Lakitu's voice clips are reused from this game.
• New Super Mario Bros. 2 - Gold Mario appears as an unlockable outfit.
• Super Mario 3D World - Some of the elements and sound effects are reused in this game. Cat Mario's Costume Mario sprite from Super Mario Maker can be seen in walls of the kingdoms, on the side of one of the skyscrapers in New Donk City, a building in Tostarena, and a pillar in the Mt. Volbono region; and Cat Peach's sprite can be seen behind the right black-colored wall in the New Donk City Auditorium and on the base of the lighthouse in the Seaside Kingdom. Captain Toad retains his design from this game. When the Broodals are defeated together, the fireworks of their faces explodes in the sky, similar to how Bowser turns into a firework of his face when he is defeated in the final battle. The bonus areas in Dark Side are harder or alternate versions of previously visited bonus areas similar to the levels in World Mushroom and World Flower from this game.
• Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Mario's Mechanic Outfit features some logos of sponsors appearing in the game, including Bowser Oil.
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - The Jaxi maze in Tostarena uses the same arrangement of the Super Mario Bros. underground theme from this game. Toadette returns and retains her outfit from this game. When encountering Captain Toad in the Lost Kingdom, he mentions he was dropped by a giant bird, but a different bird than usual.
• Super Mario Maker - The Builder Helmet and Builder Outfit originate from this game. Sprites of Cat Mario and Cat Peach can be found in hidden areas of most of the kingdoms. Koopa Shells retain their spinning animation from this game's Super Mario Bros. style. An arrangement of the Super Mario Bros.-style airship theme plays during cutscenes with Bowser (where his airship flies away). The sprite for Bowser in the 2D sections is the same as the sprite used when Bowser is seen when Mario collects a Big Mushroom in this game.

References in later games

• Super Mario Run - An event was held in this game featuring Super Mario Odyssey-themed statues for the Kingdom Builder mode.
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - The Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS versions of this game include stages inspired by several kingdoms, such as Uptown, Downtown being based on the Metro Kingdom.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Aesthetically, Mario's Cap has been replaced by Cappy. One of Mario's new taunts will have him spin Cappy around, which references Mario's Cap Throw action, as well as the Spin Throw. Mario's Super Jump Punch has a chance of producing regional coins from the Metro Kingdom, which reuse the same sound effect when they are collected in Super Mario Odyssey When this occurs, Cappy's eyes will peek out from Mario's hat. One of Mario's new costumes is his Wedding tux costume. Finally, New Donk City Hall appears as a new stage, where Pauline and The Super Mario Players will be visible in the background. Touching all the Super Mario Players members, including Pauline, will have them sing "Jump Up, Super Star!", the game's main theme song. Cappy and Pauline also appears as spirits.
• Mario Tennis Aces - Pauline summons a platform resembling New Donk City Hall, as well as several New Donkers, for her Special Shot. Her voice clips are also reused.
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - The Mushroom Kingdom and the Odyssey appear in the Dream Karate Dream Event.

Trivia

• Super Mario Odyssey is the first mainline Super Mario series game to receive an "E10+" rating over the average "E" rating from the ESRB in North America. Similarly, this is also the first in the series, or any Mario game, to receive a "B" rating (ages 12 and up) instead of the average "A" rating from CERO in Japan.
  • Series producer Yoshiaki Koizumi believed the CERO ratings board has given the rating due to the use of "realistically"-depicted tanks, also known as Sherms. However, it is also believed that the reasoning for the game's higher rating is due to the game's uses of attire customization including the "boxers" outfit, mild violence, realistic-looking creatures, and frightening boss battles.
• As confirmed in the September 13, 2017 Nintendo Direct presentation, Super Mario Odyssey is the first game to feature lyrics.
• The first home console Super Mario game to be developed by the Nintendo EPD studio after all of Nintendo's studios have merged into the EPD name in 2015.
• Although prior Mario media have featured Bowser trying to initiate a forced marriage with Princess Peach, such as the anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! as well as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show episode "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?" and the Super Mario Adventures comic, Odyssey is the first time such a plot line occurred in one of the games and second to have Bowser and Peach marry, with Super Paper Mario being the first, but with Count Bleck planning it instead.
• A browser game was released in 2017 on the Play Nintendo website called Super Mario Odyssey Fun Trivia Quiz.
• The "beep" sound effect when Mario resurfaces and the oxygen meter refills is the same one from the Splatoon games after the Inkling refills enough ink.

External links

Websites

• Super Mario Odyssey at Nintendo.com
• Super Mario Odyssey producer on approach to development, theme song, Pauline, higher age rating, more (Nintendo Everything)
• Japanese website
• American website
• European website
• Oceanian website
• Korean website
• Chinese (Hong Kong) website
• Chinese (Taiwan) website

Twitter Pages

• Japanese Twitter page
• European Twitter page
• British Twitter page