Super Mario Odyssey Reviews Are In, Here's What The Critics Think

Mario and Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey.

Super Mario Odyssey is set to arrive on the Nintendo Switch tomorrow and the reviews have already started pouring in. Based on what we're seeing so far, Mario and his new magical cap are in the running for Game of the Year nods.

Nintendo appears to have hit it out of the park once again with Super Mario Odyssey, giving Switch owners yet another reason to be excited they invested in the console during its first year. First party games like Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2 have been phenomenal, backed by a healthy collection of third party games (especially from Bethesda) and all kinds of smaller gems.

In a year when the console has been going strong already, it looks like it might still be going out on a high note, as Mario Odyssey has received just shy of universal praise. Just about every outlet has given the game a score of 9 or higher, with most of the reviews we've seen clocking in at a perfect 10.

We'll get things rolling with God is a Geek, who offered a "hats off" to Mario's latest outing.

Moments are present that left me giddy, and made me feel like a child again. Bonus levels directly pay homage to Mario Sunshine, and there are so many similarities, only everything has a modern sheen that makes it eminently playable. I woke up thinking of Odyssey, and when I was away from my Switch I found myself desperate to be playing this game.

That's some extremely high praise, especially for a genre that hasn't seen much love and attention in recent years. Save a handful of indie darlings, you don't see a lot of mascot-driven platforming games these days, so it's nice to hear that Odyssey basically nails the beloved formula. GoaG pretty much heaped praise on every aspect of the game, from the beautiful graphics to the tight-as-a-drum controls.

The folks over at Giant Bomb basically offered all of the same glowing praise, pointing out that Odyssey definitely takes the series in a "weird" new direction that ultimately pays off.

Super Mario Odyssey is everything I wanted out of a new Mario game. It's bigger and better than any 3D entry in the series. Even with nearly a thousand tasks, I always felt like the game was throwing unique and fun challenges at me. It's a great Switch game, as the number of smaller objectives made it easy to hop in and knock out a few moons on my commute. Meaningful fan service is plentiful, ranging from the subtle to the extremely overt.

The Giant Bomb review was extremely thorough, touching on just about every aspect of the game. As noted above, Odyssey apparently packs in plenty of fan service, which should tickle long-time fans. It's also nice to hear that the game is full of small tasks and big adventures, which sounds perfect for the Switch. If you're tethered to the TV, you can tuck in for hours. If you're on the go, you can still bounce around for a bit and feel like you're making some progress.

Over to the crowd at IGN and they've got similar praise, noting that the game "joyously fuses old with new." That's a common denominator we're seeing in plenty of reviews outside of this perfect score from Ryan McCaffrey, who stated that he literally applauded as the credits rolled on Mario's latest adventure.

Super Mario Odyssey delivers on that ongoing promise of originality and innovation: It distills the venerable series' joyful, irreverent world and characters and best-in-class platforming action, and introduces a steady stream of new and unexpected mechanics. It's all spun together into a generational masterpiece.

The IGN review clocks in at about 15 hours, but states that there's still plenty to do once you've made your way through the main story.

So what do you think, folks? Planning on adding Super Mario Odyssey to your holiday wish list?

Ryan Winslett

Staff Writer for CinemaBlend.