Super Mario Odyssey is the talk of the town at E3 2017. It’s on the lanyards, every 10th person is wearing a Cappy hat, and lines to check it out at the Nintendo booth are as long as the eye can see. Luckily we got some time to check out two levels in its new playable E3 demo, and one thing stood out clear as day – holy moly this game reminds us of Super Mario Sunshine.
Released back in 2002 (yes, feel old), Super Mario Sunshine took players to Isle Delfino and felt like a fresh new entry in the series that was jam-packed with charm and new spins on classic Mario platformer gameplay with a whole array of new moves. In a lot of ways, Super Mario Odyssey is reminiscent of this past title, which is just fine as Sunshine is the perfect game to draw inspiration from for the Switch’s first Mario title.
Without further ado, a tip of the cap as we present the four ways Super Mario Odyssey is extremely reminiscent of Super Mario Sunshine.
MARIO’S MOVEMENTS AND CONTROLS
The way Mario moves and feels in Odyssey will immediately remind you of the gameplay in Sunshine, and by extension Super Mario 64. Although the moves were animated differently in both titles, they both ultimately completed the same actions with slight variations due to the capabilities of F.L.U.D.D. and Cappy.
For example, in Sunshine you are able to spray water in front of you and slip-n-slide forward, and in Odyssey you can do a tumble roll that propels you forward. Backwards somersaults that launch you to higher areas are in both games (and Super Mario 64 as well) with triple jumps and spins attacks functioning the same way. However, in Odyssey your spin attacks shoots Cappy in a circle around you while in Sunshine F.L.U.D.D. blasts water in every direction.
The way Mario moves is also analogous in both games. When he turns, he dips a bit in the direction he’s going and speeds up during tight turns, pulling back after running forward has him slide a bit before turning. This is of course similar to how Mario moves in the Super Mario Galaxy titles as well, but the environments that Mario moves within are more similar to Sunshine and therefore more evocative of that experience.
Overall, the demo felt extremely smooth and tight, and the player is granted a lot of freedom in how they decide to move about the world with the new array of moves Mario is able to do. The fact that 2D platforming is also mixed in via a Link Between Worlds-esque fusion to certain walls in the maps means Odyssey is a throwback to past action Mario games and the originals on the NES as well.
CAPPY & F.L.U.D.D
Probably the most obvious reason fans will think of Sunshine while playing Odyssey is the similarities between F.L.U.D.D. and Mario’s new hat buddy, Cappy. Both of these characters are essentially new equipment for Mario to use to figure out new ways around the world with their own little personality. Like F.L.U.D.D., Cappy talks to Mario during the game, giving hints and story exposition. Although there’s no info yet on how exactly Mario meets Cappy and begins his adventure with it aboard the Odyssey, it’s likely it will happen the same way as with F.L.U.D.D. where he stumbles upon it and realizes Cappy could be of assistance in saving Princess Peach for the 1000th time.
Nintendo is great at infusing character in these objects so not only do they add gameplay elements to the game, but story elements as well. Giving Cappy its eyes and F.L.U.D.D. its nozzle mouth humanizes them and makes you actually care about their well-being besides the uses they can bring to you while playing. The role of Cappy is the same as the role of F.L.U.D.D., but this is fine as Cappy’s design and gameplay mechanics are brand new, making it a callback to the past while still feeling like a fresh new character for the series at the same time.
USING YOUR BUDDY TO FIGURE OUT WAYS AROUND THE WORLD
It was a pretty big game changer when Mario finds F.L.U.D.D. at Delfino Airstrip in Super Mario Sunshine, as the robot grants you the ability to pull off a new acrobatic move set with damaging attacks using steams of water. New heights can be reached, graffiti can be cleaned, and special enemies can be defeated all with the use of F.L.U.D.D.’s water, and four different nozzles allowed Mario to hover, sprint, rocket up, and spray.
Just like F.L.U.D.D., Cappy grants Mario the ability to access previously closed off areas of the environment, primarily with its possesssion ability. If you toss Cappy out at specific objects, you can become a Mario version of that object and do special moves such as travelling long distances as an electric spark, flicking upwards using a traffic pole, crossing gaps as a Bullet Bill, and much, much more. This mechanic, like the inclusion F.L.U.D.D., is at the centre of what makes games like Odyssey and Sunshine feel unique and by extension, a fresh title that at its core is fun to play.
AIMED AT THE “CORE CROWD”
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself (through a translator on a Nintendo Treehouse Live stream in January) states he believes Super Mario Odyssey will fall on the “core side” in that it differs from the other 3D titles that appeal to the, for lack of a better word, “casual” audience that prefer an easy to pick up and accessible Mario experience such as Super Mario 3D World.
The image above taken from the same Nintendo Treehouse stream this January shows where Nintendo believes Super Mario Odyssey lies in that divide between core and casual. We can clearly see inspiration for Odyssesy’s gameplay, genre, and core game mechanics are inspired by the success the series had with both Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. Miyamoto even used more senior staff members, specifically those who had been involved in past Mario titles to “go back to the roots” of Super Mario Sunshine.
It may not be a sequel to Sunshine story wise, but if you’ve been waiting for a game that mimics that memorable Super Mario Sunshine experience, then Odyssey is exactly that which you’ve been waiting for.
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