Mario has been Nintendo's mascot for a while now, and it is easy to see why. The character has been around for just over 30 years now and his games have been highly successful for the company. Basically, it's hard not to think of Nintendo without Mario, or vice-versa.
So, when Nintendo had announced its newest console, the Nintendo Switch, there was much speculation and excitement of the possibility of a new Mario adventure on the Switch.
Well, Nintendo delivered when it released a trailer for Super Mario Odyssey earlier this year, leaving fans of the series with a sense of hype for when the game officially releases in October.
While the game, at its core, appears to be similar to past 3D Mario games, some of the new features and characters are kind of raising some red flags. Some examples are the inclusion of a living hat as a character who assists Mario on his journey instead of proven sidekicks like Luigi, the use of a power where Mario can possess objects and living things against their will (which seems morally wrong and also too strong of an ability), Mario can now interact with non-cartoon humans in a fictional city based on New York for some reason, and a few more reasons you will find out later in this article.
Now, I'm aware that Mario games have a proven track record in terms of quality and enjoyment, but judging from what we know thus far about Odyssey, the game definitely seems like it could possibly be less-than-stellar in a lot of areas. So, with an open mind, I present the 15 reasons that Super Mario Odyssey is going to suck!
15 Cappy? More Like Crappy!
Is Nintendo running out of ideas? I understand that they are probably getting sick and tired of using Mario's past co-op partners (Luigi, Yoshi, etc.) in his games and that they probably wanted to create a fresh and new sidekick for Mario's newest outing. What we got instead for Super Mario Odyssey was a sentient ghost hat who is able to possess Mario's enemies against their will (which is kind of sinister in the grand scheme of things, right?). Cappy also has other amazing abilities such as being tossable (because he's a hat) and can also act as a jumpable platform for Mario (because he's a hat cosplaying as a trampoline). Basically, Cappy is an overpowered item disguised as a central character. Even worse, Nintendo is attempting to give this phantom top hat his own storyline in the game by having his sister (who is also a hat) get kidnapped by Bowser so that Cappy must save her. THAT'S JUST A MARIO PLOT WITH HATS, NINTENDO! Perhaps Cappy should have remained a Super Mario Run trophy.
14 A Link Between Worlds Did Wall Merging First
One of the coolest features in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was Link's ability to merge into walls and traverse them while taking the form of a two-dimensional sketch. The ability was an integral part of both the story (it allowed Link to travel to Lorule) and to the gameplay overall (solving puzzles, evading enemies, etc.). Well, it appears that Super Mario Odyssey was inspired enough to give Mario this ability too. The only difference though is that this ability does not seem to be an important part of the story, but more of a nod to The Legend of Zelda franchise and the original Super Mario Bros. for NES. This makes the ability feel more like a gimmick for Nintendo fans to reminisce about other games from the company's past. That's great for nostalgia, but not great for actual gameplay that should want to feel new and refreshing.
13 Mario Standing Next To Proportional Humans Is Unsettling
Look guys, I'm aware that Mario is an Italian plumber. And last time I checked, Italian plumbers are human beings! But, Mario is clearly a cartoon caricature of a human. This is obvious in his disproportional design, because body parts like his eyes and nose are massive in comparison to his stout body (which looks strange if you imagine what Mario would look like in reality). Also, puffy white gloves are pretty much a staple of cartoon characters since the black and white era of cartoons (Mickey Mouse, for example). So in Super Mario Odyssey, when you see Mario standing next to humans that are designed to look like real-life humans, Mario definitely sticks out like a sore thumb and it's almost unnerving seeing him interacting with actual people. Can we just go back to having Mario fight walking mushrooms and evil turtles instead of having him socialize with businesspeople?
12 Look At This Photograph!
Nintendo seems to be really pushing the idea of "capturing the moment" with their games, eh? First, the Mario Kart TV feature in Mario Kart 8 that allowed players to edit and share replay highlights from their races, and now Super Mario Odyssey will have a feature called "Snapshot Mode". Snapshot Mode will allow people to take in-game screenshots and send those images to their smartphones to be shared with others. Besides the possibility of funny internet memes this mode may create, is this feature necessary? It doesn't contribute to the actual in-game experience, and it seems it's going to be one of those fads where people will enjoy uploading funny pictures, and then those images will be lost into the forgotten abyss. This mode only makes me yearn for a new Pokémon Snap on the Nintendo Switch even more.
11 This Forced Wedding Idea Seems Forced
Bowser kidnapping Princess Peach has long been the motivation for Mario's adventures in the Super Mario series ever since the original game was released back in 1985. But why does Bowser kidnap Peach in the first place? It is not really explained in the games, so his intent is pretty much unknown, and that's perfectly fine. Not knowing Bowser's purpose creates a sense of mystery, leaving gamers to speculate about Bowser's sinister plans instead, because some things are best left to the imagination. But in Super Mario Odyssey, Bowser once again kidnaps Peach, except this time it's to marry her. Is this necessary though? Players would have gone on the journey to save Peach regardless, so why include a forced marriage plot? Seems like more of an excuse to dress Bowser up in a hilariously spiky wedding suit to me. Funny enough, this isn't even the first wedding between Bowser and Peach, as they were married back in Super Paper Mario, so having a wedding in Super Mario Odyssey isn't even an original idea!
10 I Play Video Games To ESCAPE The Real World
Alright Nintendo, you listen here. I play video games like the Super Mario Bros. series because I am actively trying to escape from reality. Going on exciting adventures in obviously fictional worlds, such as the Mushroom Kingdom, makes me forget about my real-life problems and responsibilities. But in Super Mario Odyssey, one of the areas Mario travels to is "New Donk City", which is an urbanized city that is seemingly based on actual metropolitan areas like New York City. Why would I want to go here though? I can already travel to crowded, noisy cities in real life. So why do it as Mario? It's as if someone working on the game said "man, I really enjoy in-your-face billboard advertisements and annoying traffic, we should incorporate these things into a a place where Mario goes". All this realistic area does is remind me that I still have bills to pay and that urban pollution is still an active problem in the world. Thanks Nintendo!
9 Swing Music? In A Mario Game?
If you watched the Super Mario Odyssey trailer at E3, you probably noticed that the footage was accompanied with a catchy song, featuring a female vocalist, playing over top of it. The song, called "Jump Up, Super Star!", is the theme song for the newest Mario outing. It is sung by Pauline, who is the mayor of New Donk City in Odyssey and is the original love interest of Mario's as well, and the song definitely seems to be inspired by the swing/jazz genres of music. I will admit, the song is super catchy and well-done! But, the song just feels out of place in a Mario game. Since the music in past Mario games do not feature any vocals, hearing this song was a strange experience. It just doesn't feel right! The reason past theme songs worked so well was because they had the "feel" of video game/arcade-style music, which is what I come to expect from the series. I get that this game wants to try something new, but you can't have music with zero vocals for the past three decades and then decide that including vocals in a song finally wouldn't be strange.
8 2D Is Better Than 3D
Call me old-fashioned, but I believe the Super Mario Bros. series is at its best when it decides to utilize two-dimensional design. The 2D style originated with the original NES game, and was then innovated and improved with later entries like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, the latter being considered by many as the best in the series. Sure, the Mario franchise has had some fine 3D adventures (Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, for example) along the way, but the platformer became popular in the first place because of its simplistic, side-scrolling gameplay in 2D. 3D just complicates a franchise defined by its simplistic nature. Heck, even in Super Mario Odyssey, the game offers a section where players get to take a break from its 3D style and lets the players control a retro, two-dimensional Mario in a nod to the 8-bit classic. Perhaps the rest of the game should have stuck to the 2D style as well.
7 Is Mario Basically Doctor Who Now?
Is Mario actually a Time Lord? In the British series Doctor Who, the Doctor is a humanoid alien (also known as a Time Lord) who is able to travel through time and space using his "TARDIS" ship. You know who else traveled through space? Why, Mario did just that in Super Mario Galaxy, where he traversed the depths of space to explore planet levels in order to defeat Bowser. And now, in Super Mario Odyssey, Mario seems like he will be moving through time. In the trailer, it looks like Mario finds himself in the Prehistoric Era, where he decides to control the mind of a tyrannosaurus rex with Cappy. But wait, Mario also finds himself in the present day too when he is shown exploring the modern Metropolis of New Donk City. So what gives? How can he find himself in both the past and present? I can understand how Mario is travelling and exploring through various worlds, because that is simply Mario moving from place to place. But am I to expect that a human plumber is able to travel through time as well? At least the Doctor was an alien who has the technology to do so. What's Mario's excuse?
6 What Happened To The Red Cap And Suspenders?
Mario's red cap and suspenders have been synonymous with the character ever since he was introduced back in the 1980s. If you were to ask anyone how to physically describe Mario, pretty much everyone would make describe that outfit (also the mustache too, I suppose). And Mario has had many outfit changes, but usually they were associated with a power-up that he had earned. Examples included the Frog Suit that allowed Mario to jump higher, the Tanooki Suit that allowed Mario to fly, the Goomba Mask which allowed Mario to dress up as a Goomba, and so on. In Super Mario Odyssey though, there are different costumes that Mario can collect, but it sounds like they are pretty much purely cosmetic in the sense that they offer Mario no cool powers. It appears his outfits will unlock secret levels, and that's kind of it? I don't want to have to try and unlock outfits if all they do is unlock levels. I'd rather just try and explore on my own, without having to get a specific outfit for it. I want the costumes to give Mario new abilities, not just make him look cute or stylish (although seeing Mario again in a doctor's outfit was really awesome)! If I just wanted to play dress-up, I would just play The Sims instead.
5 Is Mario Trying To Be Sonic The Hedgehog?
It appears with Super Mario Odyssey, that the game wants to replicate the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise as much as possible. First of all, Mario is not the first cartoon video game character to interact with non-cartoon humans. Back in 2006, Sonic was helping human beings in Sonic the Hedgehog well before Mario decided to. In one of the gameplay videos, Mario can be seen curling up into a ball and rolling at faster speeds across terrain, which is what Sonic does when he uses his spin dash ability that he has used since his original game came out. Another Sonic thing Super Mario Odyssey incorporated into its own game was that Mario loses coins instead of lives, which is similar to how Sonic loses rings when he is hurt in his games. Finally, the opening for the Super Mario Odyssey trailer had a striking resemblance to the trailer for Sonic Adventure, which I highly recommend watching. I guess the old saying of "imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery" rings true here (get it? RINGS?!).
4 Force Your Friends To Play As A Hat
When it was announced that Super Mario Odyssey would include a cooperative mode where players play as both Mario and Cappy, all I could think of was: "Who in their right mind would want to play as the hat?!" At least in single player mode, you're mainly playing as Mario and only using Cappy when you need to throw him or possess things. But why make Cappy his own playable character in co-op when he is essentially a power-up who somehow has his own storyline in the game? Players know what to expect when playing as Mario. He'll be able to run, jump, fight enemies, use power-ups, etc. Cappy, on the other hand, seems like he can hover about and run into enemies and collect items. If that sounds less exciting by comparison, you are definitely right. Even worse, Cappy is immune from taking damage, leaving players to float around without having to worry about any dangerous threats. YAWN! Honestly, if a friend invited me to his/her house to play this game, I would be making sure that I play as Mario, or else I might pass out from boredom.
3 Get A Life!
One of the most integral parts of past Mario games was its usage of life counters. The life counter serves as motivation for players to try and not die, or else the dreaded "Game Over" would inhabit their television screens as a result of running out of lives. Super Mario Odyssey will actually be the first Mario game to abandon the life counter. Now, if Mario perishes he will merely lose 10 coins and restart at a checkpoint. Aren't Mario games supposed to be challenging though? Replacing these lives and Game Over screens with Mario dropping pocket change instead only seems to confirm that Nintendo is babying people into becoming casual gamers. What's the point of playing a Mario game if you can't lose in some way? This just reinforces the idea that players can play the game mindlessly without any thought or strategy, because all they're going to lose at the end of the day is semi-meaningless coins. BORING!!!
2 Trying Too Hard To Be "Weird"?
Super Mario Bros. as a series is definitely a weird concept already. Think about it. It's about an Italian plumber who, instead of actually working his real occupation, chooses instead to go on dangerous adventures where he risks his life against various enemies like winged fish and boomerang-tossing turtles, just so he can save a princess and save a kingdom that is inhabited with walking fungi. It's weird, but it's what we come to expect from these games after 30 years. But with Super Mario Odyssey, it really feels like the developers wanted to make it even stranger of a concept. This is most obvious when Mario possesses a t-rex, and this gives the massive dinosaur its own giant mustache and red hat combo. Actually, any of the times where Mario mind controls something, it just looks bizarre, and even feels too weird for a Mario game (since the audience has never seen Mario do anything like this before). The game embracing the crossover of Mario's world and the reality we live in just kind of feels like the developers wanted to do something bold, but I'm used to seeing Mario interacting with other cartoon-ish video game characters, not real people or animals! Is the game trying to be like Space Jam or something? It just feels way too "out there" for a Mario game.
1 Get Out Of My Head!
Mario has had quite the assortment of special abilities in the past. Throwing fireballs, being temporarily invincible, and even flying are just a few examples of powers Mario has gained before. And even though these power-ups were super helpful to assist Mario on his journeys, they never really felt too strong or anything but situational. Well, in Super Mario Odyssey, Mario now has a power where he can straight-up possess either inanimate objects or actual living things! With the help of Cappy, Mario just throws the hat at something and is able to take control of it. Not only is an ability like taking control of another living thing over-powered, but it is also morally wrong. Mario is supposed to be the hero, so having him have a power like mind control almost seems evil in nature, even if he means well in his intent. Where is the challenge in "capturing" enemies against their will and make them do as you please? Couldn't Mario just essentially take over Bowser and force him to free Peach? It just does not seem fair (even though it is hilarious seeing a Goomba sporting a red cap and mustache).