For the past few years, Dark Horse Comics has worked closely with Nintendo to release various art books from the Legend of Zelda series. Starting with Hyrule Historia, a total of four compendiums from the classic series have made their way over to western shores. A Super Mario encyclopedia soon followed, but Dark Horse has really outdone itself this time.
Going on sale tomorrow for $49.99, The Art of Super Mario Odyssey will be a 368-page book packed to the brim with sketches, concept art, and tidbits about the iconic plumber's Switch debut. An official description also boasts of "insight into some early ideas that didn't make it into the game itself." One of the more notable ideas happens to be Bowsette, a phenomenon that took off on Twitter last year after the Japanese release of this book.
While it may not be chock full of never-before-seen information, The Art of Super Mario Odyssey is bound to be a must-own item for diehard fans. Being more accurate than the past encyclopedia (which had outdated facts in it), it's definitely something that will delight the more deep-diving gamer.
If you catch a pre-order early enough, you'll be able to grab this book from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble for a cool $34.99. That's a decent chunk of change saved from the standard price. It's not exactly in impulse buy territory, but Dark Horse's past efforts have created some wonderful tomes of knowledge.
If you'd rather have a digital copy of the book, both sites have a Kindle/Nook version up for $21.99. While it won't be printed on high-quality paper, it does allow users to make prints of their favorite pages. It would also be handy for taking on a trip and reading on the plane, something a large hardcover doesn't really accommodate.
Now that Nintendo has given this treatment to its two most popular franchises, it'd be nice to see the company branch off into books for lesser-known games. Maybe give Splatoon 2 a shot or release something dedicated to the history of Metroid? It's always fascinating to see design documents related to games that shaped the industry in profound ways.
Source: Destructoid