Super Mario Odyssey has been out in the wild for about two weeks now. I have beaten the main story and I am also coming really close to collecting all of the power moons that the game has to offer, which is a lot by the way. After scouting through all of the 15 different kingdoms in the game, searching high and low for region-specific coins and such, I have decided to rank all of the kingdoms from my least favorite to my number one pick. This feat was not too challenging to do, since I’ve had my number-one pick in mind since I encountered the beautiful kingdom of Seaside.
Super Mario Odyssey is full of nods and references to Mario’s golden past, and every time I ran into a new thing, I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. Each kingdom has their own shtick that holds a special place in my heart; they are all so varied and different, that it was kinda hard to choose the worst ones. But without further ado, here is my ranking of all of the kingdoms in Super Mario Odyssey. Take a look and let us know what you think; do you disagree with the ranking? Agree with some of the choices?
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#15 - CLOUD KINGDOM
Bowser manages to knock Mario into the clouds, in which a boss fight takes place with the giant fire-breathing turtle. There's not much to do after the fact besides grabbing a few power moons, which puts the Cloud Kingdom on the bottom of the list; sorry clouds!
#14 - MOON KINGDOM
As much fun as the Bowser fight is that occurs in this kingdom, it falls short when it comes to the others. While it serves as the conclusion to an epic campaign, when it comes to visual appeal, there is none to be found. That castle isn't too shabby looking though,
#13 - RUINED KINGDOM
We wish that the Ruined Kingdom was a full-fledged kingdom because the crumbled aesthetic looks pretty amazing, and plus, you get to fight a very realistic looking purple dragon, so that's something. Just like the Moon Kingdom before it, much is left to be desired.
#12 - CAP KINGDOM
Cap Kingdom, the first kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey, is full of Cappy's friends and it definitely has this Nightmare Before Christmas vibe to it, which is pretty cool. It's dark, hazy, and complements the look of the Cap people, or ghosts, whatever they are. It's great as a first level in the game, but going back to collect the power moons wasn't as fun as some other kingdoms.
#11 - SNOW KINGDOM
The residents of the Snow Kingdom have this underground town that serves hot chocolate for you. It's pretty much a dream come true. The outside area of the Snow Kingdom isn't too pretty, but there are some really fun platforming sections that require you try to not slip all over the ice. We also really like those cloud enemies that blow wind at you.
#10 - LUNCHEON KINGDOM
If you're a foodie, then Luncheon Kingdom is the place for you. Almost everything is made of food and it's probably very hard for Mario to not want to eat everything in sight. The polygonal shape of everything and vibrant colors makes this kingdom one to remember.
#9 - BOWSER'S KINGDOM
We never expected for Bowser's Kingdom to be heavily inspired by feudal Japan, but lo and behold. Bowser's stronghold is full of old-school Japanese culture that is pretty hard to forget. Who knew that Bowser was so cultured - we have to stop expecting the worst from that guy. Flinging around rooftops and taking control of Tanooki statues proved to be pretty fun.
#8 - LAKE KINGDOM
The first water level in Mario Odyssey is the lesser of the two, but it's probably one of the prettiest places that you'll see in the game. There's also mermaid people that remind us of the Zora's from The Legend of Zelda. Maybe there's a secret connection perhaps?
#7 - WOODED KINGDOM
The Wooded Kingdom is probably the most vertical of kingdoms - there's an underground forest and also a huge tower that looms in the distance. It's full of talking robots and rusted structures, inferring that something terrible must have happened here in the past. The locations that are found in this kingdom are all varied and it feels like two kingdoms in one.
#6 - LOST KINGDOM
The first time you encounter this kingdom, an evil bird ends up stealing Mario's cap, which means that you have to traverse to where the bird is perched, all without using your Cappy abilities. The poisonous creatures that you find added with all of the tropical-colored trees, definitely give off vibes of being on a deserted island. I adored all of the bright colors and unique enemies that were able to captured by Cappy.
#5 - CASCADE KINGDOM
First off, can we just talk about the T-Rex that you get to capture in Cascade Kingdom? You get to run around and destroy everything while wearing a little mustache. It's one of the coolest moments in the game and the rest of the kingdom is just really nice to look at.
#4 - SAND KINGDOM
Sand Kingdom is one of the biggest levels in the game; it's host to a quaint little Mexican-themed town, vast deserts, and an eerie upside down pyramid. There's so many different areas to uncover and an abundance of cacti to prick you when you're not paying attention.
#3 - METRO KINGDOM
We've seen New Donk City in almost every promotional trailer for Mario Odyssey, which makes total sense since the New York City-themed stage is nothing like we've seen before in a Mario game. Jumping on taxi cabs, participating in a super-cool Jurassic Park-themed mini-game, and swinging off poles made us squeal like children. There's so much to do in the city that you couldn't possibly ask for much more; and that sweet conclusion to the kingdom is everything.
#2 - MUSHROOM KINGDOM
Mushroom Kingdom is the biggest throwback that Odyssey has to offer. Once we walked inside Princess Peach's castle, we immediately thought about the secret that was present in Super Mario 64 that involved moving the camera up to the ceiling to unlock a surprise. We tried that out in Odyssey, and once we were rewarded with a power moon, we were absolutely giddy and knew that this kingdom was pure magic.
#1 - SEASIDE KINGDOM
Our favorite kingdom in the whole entire game. It's quite funny actually - people usually hate water levels in Mario games, but Seaside Kingdom is breathtaking and makes it easy to traverse about the ocean with the use of cheep cheeps and other enemies to capture. It's quite stunning and we really enjoyed swimming around and looking for all of the secrets that the kingdom had to offer. Thank Nintendo for making a water level that wasn't terribly dreadful.
About the author
Greysun Morales
Greysun eats ramen 12 times a week and will never get tired of it. Playing Games Since: 1993, Favorite Genres: Action-Adventure, JRPG, Platformers, and Anything With Ramen
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