Super Mario Odyssey

• 1. Introduction

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  Super Mario Odyssey opens with an act of violence against a hat. Bowser's airship drags Mario's cap into its rear propellers and shreds it to pieces. Mario has just been knocked off the ship, and he lands in a kingdom of living hats. From that odd start came a 2017 Nintendo game for the Nintendo Switch that critics now rank among the finest ever made.

  The game is built around a single gesture. Mario throws his cap, and nearly everything else follows from that throw. Why would Nintendo design a Mario adventure around a hat? How did the team decide what a Mario game should be after years of aiming at casual players? And why did a clinical research team in Germany end up studying this plumber's adventure with depressed patients?

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• 2. The Thrown Hat

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  Work on Super Mario Odyssey began in 2013, soon after the release of Super Mario 3D World. Nintendo's Entertainment Planning and Development division led the project, with extra help from 1-Up Studio. Yoshiaki Koizumi and Koichi Hayashida, the producers behind 3D World, returned. Kenta Motokura directed. Shigeru Miyamoto took the role he calls Creative Fellow, where the developers brought him concepts and he gave feedback in return. Koizumi said Miyamoto "left us to our own devices quite a lot".

  The first concept came from Koizumi himself. He pictured what the Joy-Con controllers could do with motion, and throwing an object seemed the most natural fit. Mario's own hat became the object, which tied the gimmick to the character. The hat later grew into a companion called Cappy, because the developers wanted a buddy to travel beside Mario. According to Koizumi, every core idea was settled very early, with the aim of giving the series an entirely new experience.

  The previous Mario games had changed direction. Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario Run were aimed at a more casual audience. Odyssey was meant to appeal somewhat more to the series' core fans, with dense, open exploration in place of linear levels. After Super Mario Galaxy and 3D World, Miyamoto said, the game would "go back to the roots, to Mario Sunshine". The team still wanted a camera that was much easier to control than the one in Sunshine. Because so many ideas had been suggested, the developers chose a sandbox style that could hold all of them.

  Those ideas needed places to live, and the team built those places in an unusual order.

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• 3. Building the Kingdoms

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  Prototypes came first, and settings came second. The developers built a gameplay gimmick or platforming stage, then asked what kind of theme it suited, and only then constructed the location. Once a location existed, they designed more ideas specifically for it. Motokura said the locations were built around the themes of journey and surprise. Each kingdom drew on personal experiences of the designers, who then experimented with how Mario could interact with it. Purchasable souvenirs made the kingdoms feel more relatable.

  New Donk City got a different treatment. The developers prioritized a city environment, and they gave it a more realistic look with human residents. The point was to make the player feel the newness of a place unlike what they expected. To anchor players in that unfamiliar setting, the team chose a familiar face. Pauline, who first appeared alongside Mario in Donkey Kong, became the city's mayor.

  The Switch itself shaped the design. The console can be played docked to a television or carried around, and the developers wanted the game to be fun both ways. They balanced it for short bursts and long sessions. Players can follow a set storyline, or they can find Power Moons simply by exploring. Each platforming stage was given numerous ways of being completed. Motion controls work with a Joy-Con in each hand or with the Pro Controller, and the team set a goal of running at 60 frames per second.

  Minecraft also entered the discussion. The developers first thought a game with camera movement comparable to Minecraft's would be hard for children. They changed their minds because Minecraft was so popular with children. The team also decided that taking screenshots would be a natural fit for places this detailed.

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• 4. Capture and Collect

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  Fourteen kingdoms make up the map of Super Mario Odyssey, and Mario crosses them aboard a hat-shaped ship called the Odyssey. Power Moons fuel the ship and grant access to new kingdoms. Each kingdom demands a minimum number of them before Mario can move on. Because they can come from any source, the major objectives are largely optional. Checkpoint flags let Mario warp back instantly. Certain levels contain flat zones, where Mario is placed in a 2D side-scrolling world like the one in the original Super Mario Bros.

  Capturing is the signature mechanic. Mario keeps moves such as the triple jump and wall jump, and he can throw his cap, the physical form of the hat spirit Cappy, in several directions. The cap strikes enemies and serves as a temporary platform. When it hits certain objects, enemies or non-playable characters, Mario takes possession of them. A captured Bullet Bill flies across wide gaps. A Tyrannosaurus tramples objects. A Spark Pylon, a bolt of electricity, climbs electric wires, and a tank called a Sherm fires at enemies and breaks blocks. Motion controls can speed up some actions, but the game is fully playable with the Joy-Con attached to the console.

  Coins come in two types, regular gold and purple ones unique to each kingdom. Players spend them on hats and outfits, and some outfits are required to finish certain objectives. Health works much as it does in the Super Mario Galaxy games. Mario has unlimited lives, and dying costs at most ten coins. Life-Up Hearts add three extra hit points. In cooperative play, a second player takes control of Cappy, who moves more independently than Mario.

  Defeating Bowser repopulates each kingdom with more Power Moons. Enough of them buy extra outfits and open two bonus levels. Dark Side is a boss rush that requires 250 Power Moons. Darker Side is a platforming gauntlet that combines many elements of the game and requires 500. Finishing the story unlocks a level based on Peach's Castle from Super Mario 64, where harder versions of earlier bosses wait and in-game achievements earn more Power Moons.

  A photo mode offers a free-moving camera with filters and stickers. Odyssey-themed Amiibo figures of Mario, Peach and Bowser grant special abilities and costumes that otherwise stay locked until after the ending. Other Amiibo give hints for finding Power Moons.

  The game kept growing after release. An update on the 21st of February 2018 added Luigi's Balloon World, a hide-and-seek mode. Players get 30 seconds to hide a balloon in a kingdom, and others try to find it, with a leaderboard ranking the best finders. In 2019, an update added support for the Nintendo Labo virtual reality kit, where Mario recruits musicians by giving them instruments through tasks tied to musical notes.

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• 5. A Wedding Gone Wrong

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  Cappy belongs to the Bonneters, the sentient hat-like creatures of the Cap Kingdom, and he has a reason to chase Bowser. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach from the Mushroom Kingdom and means to marry her by force. He has also taken Cappy's little sister Tiara, to serve as Peach's wedding tiara. Cappy joins Mario by taking the shape of his cap. The two travel to the nearby Cascade Kingdom, recover the Odyssey, and begin hunting Bowser.

  The wedding preparations are carried out by the Broodals, anthropomorphic rabbit wedding planners hired by Bowser. They steal a dress, a cake and a bouquet from different kingdoms. Mario and Cappy collect Power Moons to fuel the Odyssey while they chase the thieves. They catch up with Bowser in his own kingdom, but he leaves for his wedding on the Moon. The two stay behind to fight the Broodals in their Mecha-Broodal, and after defeating it they follow Bowser.

  On the Moon, Mario and Cappy confront Bowser inside a cathedral. Bowser has rigged a trapdoor, and Mario drops through it into a battle in the Moon's interior. Bowser loses, and Mario frees Peach and Tiara. Then the cavern begins to collapse. Mario uses Cappy to take control of the unconscious Bowser and escapes to the surface with both captives.

  The ending is a surprise. Mario prepares to propose to Peach, but Bowser wakes and proposes as well. The two rivals fight over her hand until an overwhelmed Peach demands they stop. She boards the Odyssey with Cappy and Tiara. Both suitors are heartbroken until Peach tells Mario to come home with her. He boards just in time, and Bowser is left stranded on the Moon.

  Afterward, Peach and Tiara travel the world on their own terms. They meet up with Mario along the way, and each meeting gives him a Power Moon.

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• 6. Jump Up, Super Star

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  A swing song with an English chorus sung by Pauline became one of the game's most surprising successes. While working on her character, the developers gave Pauline an interest in jazz, and that made her a singer. Super Mario Run had already featured a vocal track, added in an update one month before Odyssey.

  "Jump Up Super Star!" was composed by lead composer Naoto Kubo, with vocals by Kate Higgins. The chorus was kept simple so it would be memorable and easy to sing along to. Nobuyoshi Suzuki wrote the lyrics in Japanese, and Rob Heiret translated them into English. A second theme song, "Break Free (Lead the Way)", followed a similar process.

  Two weeks before the game came out, Nintendo uploaded a Broadway-inspired music video for the song. It paired live-action dancers with a CGI animated Mario. The song reached iTunes shortly afterward and became one of the top 40 best sellers in the United States. It debuted at number 25 in the All Genres category on the US iTunes Store. In Japan it reached number one on the iTunes Store and debuted at number 33 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the week of the 11th of November 2017. Higgins later performed it live at The Game Awards 2017 ceremony.

  Albums followed. A sampler of 12 tracks appeared on iTunes in December 2017. In 2018, Being Inc released a four-disc soundtrack of 136 tracks in Japan. It holds English, Japanese and instrumental versions of both theme songs, plus commentary from some of the development staff.

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• 7. Launch Week

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  The first glimpse of Odyssey came in 2016, inside the announcement trailer for the Nintendo Switch console. In January 2017, a Nintendo presentation confirmed the game, and gameplay footage followed shortly after. At E3 2017, a section themed around New Donk City was filled with kiosks where visitors played a demo. Its announcement was the most popular part of the presentation on social media, and other attending developers called it the best part of the show. Critics noted the density of secrets and the open-world format.

  In the weeks before release, Nintendo of America ran a cross-country promotional tour. Major stops included Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia and New York, and every stop offered a playable demo.

  The game came out on the 27th of October 2017, together with Amiibo of Mario, Peach and Bowser in their wedding attire. A limited-time Odyssey-themed Switch bundled the console, Joy-Con in a color reminiscent of Cappy, a carrying case and a digital download code for the game. In December, Nintendo partnered with Kellogg's on a limited-quantity breakfast cereal, Super Mario Cereal, in the United States. The back of the box carries an NFC tag that can be scanned like an Amiibo to provide exclusive in-game extras.

  Sales were fast. Three days after release, more than two million copies had sold worldwide, including 500,000 in Japan. In the United Kingdom, Assassin's Creed Origins narrowly outsold it during launch week. In the United States and Europe, it became Nintendo's fastest-selling Super Mario game ever, with 1.1 million copies sold in the United States within five days. The NPD Group named it the bestselling video game of October 2017, and Amazon listed it as the retailer's highest-selling game of the year. By December 2017, it had sold 9.07 million copies and was the bestselling Switch game to that point. As of December 2025, the total stood at 30.27 million.

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• 8. Praise and Afterlife

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  Metacritic describes the reception as "universal acclaim", and as of 2025 it ranks Odyssey as the joint third-highest-rated game of all time. OpenCritic found that 98% of critics recommended it and, as of 2025, ranks it the highest-rated game of all time. The staff of Edge praised the inventiveness of its new ideas and said Nintendo's risks had paid off. They compared it to Super Mario 64 and called it the spiritual successor that had not yet been achieved. They also called capturing the most versatile ability in the Mario series to date. Famitsu scored it 39/40, matching Super Mario 64 and marking the highest score for a 3D Mario game since then. IGN and GameSpot both awarded perfect 10/10 scores for its originality.

  Not every reviewer agreed. Andrew Webster of The Verge liked how the structure suited the Switch, comparing the Power Moons to the hidden shrines of Breath of the Wild. Still, he said the motion controls "felt frustratingly imprecise". Ian Dallas, the creator of What Remains of Edith Finch, gave a lukewarm verdict. He wrote, "My problem with Super Mario Odyssey is that it's not actually satisfying to finish. This is not to say it isn't worth playing; it absolutely is. I just don't think it's worth finishing." Phil Hornshaw of Digital Trends gave 4/5 stars and said the game "lacks the innovation and creativity of Nintendo's best".

  Awards piled up regardless. Ars Technica named it Game of the Year. Readers and staff of Game Informer voted it best platforming game, and the readers also chose it as Game of the Year and Best Nintendo Game. Entertainment Weekly and Giant Bomb each ranked it second on their lists of the best games of 2017. At the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers awards, it won Game of the Year and every category it was nominated for except one. IGN gave it Best Platformer and Best Original Music.

  The game's influence kept spreading. Mario Golf: Super Rush and the Switch and 3DS versions of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker feature levels themed after Odyssey's kingdoms. On the 3rd of June 2025, a free update by Panic Button added 4K resolution, HDR and GameShare for the Nintendo Switch 2. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, from 2026, opens with Mario and Luigi meeting Yoshi in the Sand Kingdom. It also borrows Fossil Falls and gives the Ruined Dragon a cameo in the final battle.

  Fans have modified the game too. In 2022, a mod called Super Mario Odyssey: Online added online multiplayer for up to ten players, in both hide-and-seek and the main game, with progress synchronized across everyone. It is popular among streamers. Another mod, A Galaxy Story, aims to bring over all 42 galaxies from Super Mario Galaxy, with a planned release in 2025.

  Researchers have taken an interest as well. A preliminary German study followed 46 people with depression over six weeks. It compared Odyssey with a cognitive training program called CogPack and with standard treatments that included medication and psychotherapy. The game group reported higher treatment motivation and a larger drop in depressive symptoms, and it showed gains in visuo-spatial memory. The authors cautioned that a small sample and participants knowing their group assignment could limit how far the results apply.

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