Meet Cappy and a New Mechanic
Each new 3D Mario game generally revolves around a new mechanic or idea, and Super Mario Odyssey is no different. This time around Mario won’t just have new moves, but a new friend to accompany him as well, Cappy. The sentient cap inhabits Mario’s hat, and it allows him to throw his hat to do various things. You can sweep up coins by throwing the hat, and attack enemies. That’s not all though, as you can also make the hat hover in place and then jump on it for an extra boost across long gaps. Finally, Cappy also lets you play co-op in Mario Odyssey, with one player controlling Mario himself and the other controlling Cappy.
Just like the F.L.U.D.D. in Super Mario Sunshine, Cappy is a versatile new tool, while also functioning as a brand new character to the series. Even with its myriad of small uses, the one big new feature of Mario Odyssey also comes with Cappy.
Capturing Enemies
By far the most interesting and exciting new feature in Super Mario Odyssey, is the ability to capture enemies. By throwing Cappy at certain enemies and items you can “capture” them, with Mario basically possessing their body and letting you play as them. Capturable enemies run the gamut, from classic enemies like Goombas and Hammer Bros., to even a hulking T-Rex.
We’ve seen a wide array of capturable enemies and items in pre-release footage, some of which allow Mario to solve particular puzzles or reach new areas. We’ve seen things like taxis, traffic cones, telescopes, spark wires, bullet bills, cheep cheeps, tanks, humans, and more. It seems like there’s going to be a ton of variety in the things you can capture and control, which in turn helps for more gameplay variety. Who knows what other things are waiting to be capture in the game? Combined with Super Mario Odyssey’s more open worlds, it should allow for a ton of fun and freedom.
Brand New Worlds
What’s a new Mario game without a few new worlds to explore? Super Mario Odyssey certainly deliver in this regard with some weird and wacky worlds brought into the mix. First and foremost, of course, is New Donk City and the Metro Kingdom, the sprawling New York-like metropolis. This city is inhabited by actual humans that Mario will be interacting with, which doesn’t look quite as strange as you might expect. Of course, the high rises of New Donk City make it perfect for climbing and exploring.
Besides New Donk City, you’ll run into a number of other varied locations. You have the Hat Kingdom where Cappy and his sister Tiara reside, Cascade Kingdom a prehistoric paradise filled with dinosaurs, Luncheon Kingdom where everything including its inhabitants is food, and the underwater Lake Kingdom. There are even more Kingdoms of course, but one things is for sure, Super Mario Odyssey features lots of varied locations. You’ll end up in the Mushroom Kingdom at some point, but Odyssey certainly has enough new locations to hold your interest for quite a while .
Tons of Collectibles and Outfits
A big feature of any Mario game is going to be the multitude of collectibles you can grab. Super Mario Odyssey comes packed with quite a few different things for you to collect, within each world, and the overall game. The main crux of the game is collecting Moons, not Stars this time, which power Mario’s ship the Odyssey, letting him travel to new worlds in his journey to rescue Peach. Each world in Super Mario Odyssey also contains regional coins for you to collect, that can be used to purchase items and more, along with regular Gold Coins.
You might really be excited to hear about all the different hats and outfits that Mario can wear in the game. Each world has a Crazy Cap Store, where Mario can purchase new outfits, although some are gained through other means. Some of these match the setting and let you do new things, like the the snorkel and swimsuit. Others simply give Mario a new look and call back to past games in the series, like the builder outfits from Super Mario Maker. There are already quite a few outfits that we’ve seen already like the golfer outfit, caveman outfit, wedding outfit, and football uniform, with more sure to come. If running around and exploring isn’t all you want to do, there’s certainly enough items to collect to keep you busy.
2D Sections
Super Mario Odyssey’s E3 trailer gave us a look at an interesting new feature, 2D section that morph Mario onto the wall or floor a la The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. We don’t know how much these will play into the game, but they’re certainly going to help shake up gameplay.
Designed in a nostalgic 8-bit style, these sections take place seamlessly withing Super Mario Odyssey, like in the above example that wraps the 8-bit section around a tower. Of course, these play out totally in 2D letting Mario jump on enemies and avoid obstacles just like you’re playing a classic Mario games. We’ve already seen a few examples of these sections, each of which throw a different challenge at Mario. This mechanic worked well in A Link Between Worlds, so here’s hoping it can be just as enjoyable in Super Mario Odyssey.
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