It’s been years. Seriously. We are nearly a decade into the life of the console, and yet, Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch remains the high-water mark for what a 3D platformer is supposed to feel like. It’s weird. It’s colorful. Honestly, it’s kind of a fever dream if you step back and look at it. You’re a plumber. You have a sentient hat named Cappy. You are possessing the bodies of dinosaurs and sentient onions.
Why does it still work?
Most games from the 2017 launch window feel like relics now. They’ve been patched, eclipsed, or forgotten in the wake of bigger, shinier sequels. But Odyssey sits there, stubbornly perfect. It didn't just iterate on the Mario 64 formula; it basically took the floorboards up and rebuilt the whole house. If you haven't played it recently, you’ve probably forgotten how tight the movement is. Every jump feels deliberate. Every "yahoo" from Mario feels earned. It's not just a game; it's a giant toy box that Nintendo handed us and said, "Go nuts."
The Cappy Mechanic is Basically Magic
Let’s talk about the hat. When Nintendo first showed off Cappy, people were skeptical. "So, I’m just... throwing my hat?" basically summarizes the initial Reddit threads. But the "Capture" mechanic changed everything. By letting Mario take over the abilities of enemies, the developers didn't have to give Mario a massive power-up suit for every single scenario. Instead, they just designed the world around the enemies.
Think about the T-Rex in Cascade Kingdom. The first time you see that thing sleeping, you don't think you can be it. Then you toss the hat. Suddenly, you’re a prehistoric apex predator smashing through rocks in a Mario game. It’s absurd. It’s brilliant.
But it’s the smaller captures that show the real genius. The Gushen in the Seaside Kingdom—that little water-squirting squid—transforms the game into a jetpack simulator. The Pokio in Bowser’s Kingdom turns the world into a physics-based climbing wall. This isn't just a gimmick. It is the core of the level design. The game forces you to constantly re-evaluate how you move through space. You aren't just running; you’re thinking three captures ahead.
Movement Tech for the Obsessed
If you’ve watched speedruns of Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch, you know what I’m talking about. The movement ceiling is cavernous.
Most casual players just jump and dive. That’s fine. You’ll finish the story that way. But the real game starts when you realize you can dive onto Cappy in mid-air to reset your jump arc. You start chaining triple jumps into cap throws, into dives, into wall jumps. You’re basically flying. It’s a rhythmic, tactile experience that few other games, even within the Nintendo pantheon, have ever replicated.
Honestly, the Joy-Cons get a lot of flak for drift, but the motion controls here—specifically the flick for the homing cap—feel incredibly responsive. It’s one of the few games where I actually recommend keeping the motion controls on. It just adds that extra layer of finesse you need when you’re hunting for the more "evil" Power Moons.
The Moon Problem: Quality vs. Quantity
Okay, let’s be real for a second. There are 880 unique Power Moons in this game.
That is a lot.
Some people argue that this dilutes the experience. In Mario 64, getting a Star felt like a massive achievement. In Odyssey, you sometimes get a Moon just for sitting on a bench next to a guy in a suit or ground-pounding a glowing spot in the dirt. It feels cheap, right?
Well, yes and no.
The philosophy here is different. Nintendo wanted to reward curiosity at every single turn. If you think, "I wonder if there’s something behind that pillar," there usually is. It keeps the dopamine hits coming at a steady clip. However, the real challenge is gated behind the post-game content. If you think the game is too easy, you clearly haven't tried the Darker Side of the Moon.
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That final gauntlet is a brutal, heart-pounding test of everything you’ve learned. No checkpoints. Just you, Cappy, and a very long walk through fire and gravity-defying platforms. It’s where the "kid's game" mask slips off to reveal a hardcore platformer that wants to see you fail.
Why New Donk City Still Matters
We have to talk about the Metro Kingdom. Seeing a cartoonish Mario standing next to "realistically" proportioned humans in suits was jarring in the trailers. It looked like a mod. But in practice? It’s arguably the best level Nintendo has ever designed.
The verticality is insane. You’re swinging on poles, jumping off skyscrapers, and navigating a city that feels alive in a very "Nintendo" way. The festival sequence—the 2D/3D hybrid celebration of Mario’s history—is probably the most joyful three minutes in gaming history. It’s a love letter to fans that doesn't feel like cynical pandering. It feels earned.
The Technical Wizardry of 60 FPS
People love to complain about the Switch hardware. It’s "underpowered." It’s "mobile tech from 2015."
And yet, Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch runs at a nearly locked 60 frames per second.
How? Magic? Probably just incredible optimization. Nintendo uses a dynamic resolution scaling system, but you barely notice it because the art direction is so strong. The sand in Tostarena looks tactile. The food in the Luncheon Kingdom looks... well, weirdly delicious for being low-polygon soup.
By prioritizing frame rate over raw resolution, Nintendo ensured the game feels "snappy." In a platformer, input lag is the enemy. By keeping the game at 60 FPS, the "feel" of the jump—that intangible quality that makes Mario Mario—is preserved perfectly. Even in 2026, it looks better than many modern games because the colors pop and the animations are fluid.
The Stuff Nobody Tells You
There’s a lot of weirdness tucked away in the corners of these kingdoms. Did you know you can talk to a Sphinx? Did you know there are outfits that serve as keys to specific rooms?
The costume system is more than just cosmetic. While most of the hats and suits are just for fun (shoutout to the 1920s swimwear), many are required to unlock certain Moons. It forces you to engage with the "Coins" system. The regional purple coins are a genius move. They force you to explore every nook and cranny of a specific kingdom to buy the local souvenirs. It makes each world feel like a real place with its own economy and culture, rather than just a level to be beaten.
What Most People Get Wrong
A common complaint is that the boss fights are too easy.
I get it. The Broodals—those weird wedding-planner rabbits—aren't exactly the hardest bosses in the world. They usually follow the classic "hit them three times" rule. But if you’re looking for difficulty in the bosses, you’re looking in the wrong place. The challenge in Odyssey isn't combat. It’s navigation.
The "boss" of each level is the environment itself. The poison swamp in the Lost Kingdom isn't an enemy you can jump on; it’s a puzzle you have to solve using a wiggling caterpillar. If you approach Odyssey expecting a combat-heavy action game, you’ll be disappointed. If you approach it as a spatial puzzle game, it’s a masterpiece.
Is It Worth Replaying Today?
Absolutely.
I recently went back and started a fresh save. It’s shocking how much I’d forgotten. The way the music shifts when you enter a 2D pipe. The sound the Moons make when they pop out of a hidden chest. The sheer variety of the kingdoms. Going from the prehistoric jungle of Cascade to the mechanical, rust-covered forest of the Wooded Kingdom is a trip.
There’s also the Snapshot Mode. Before every game had a photo mode, Odyssey had a great one. The filters, the ability to rotate the camera, the stickers—it turned the community into a bunch of virtual photographers. People are still posting incredible shots of Mario in the middle of a backflip over a lava pit.
Actionable Tips for New (and Returning) Players
If you’re booting up Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch for the first time—or the tenth—keep these things in mind:
- Ditch the Pro Controller for a second. Try the split Joy-Cons. The motion gestures for the spin throw and the upward throw are much more intuitive when your hands are free.
- Don't obsess over Moons early on. You’ll get burnt out. Just get enough to power the ship and move to the next kingdom. You can always come back with new captures and better skills later.
- Look for the "art" hints. There are hidden images on walls that tell you exactly where a Moon is buried in a completely different kingdom. It’s a cool cross-world puzzle mechanic that most people ignore.
- Talk to everyone. The NPCs often have hilarious dialogue or subtle hints about secret areas. The world-building is in the flavor text.
- Master the "Long Jump." Hold ZL while running and immediately hit B. It’s the fastest way to get around and the foundation for almost every advanced movement trick.
Final Thoughts on the Odyssey Experience
We don't get many games like this. Usually, developers are too afraid to let the player "break" the game. Nintendo did the opposite. They gave us a toolset that is almost too powerful and then built a world that challenges us to use it in ways they might not have even intended.
It’s a celebration of curiosity. It’s a game that rewards you for being "wrong" or for trying something stupid. That’s the magic of Mario. It’s not about reaching the end; it’s about how many weird things you can do along the way. Whether you're a completionist aiming for 999 Moons or just someone who wants to run around as a giant boulder for twenty minutes, this game has you covered.
Next Steps:
If you’ve already beaten the main story, your next move is to head to the Mushroom Kingdom. It’s not just a victory lap; there are tons of secrets there that call back to the N64 era. After that, start hunting for those purple regional coins. They’ll unlock the best costumes in the game, and finding them will force you to see parts of the maps you definitely missed the first time around. Go find the "Hint Toad" if you get stuck, but honestly? Just wander. That’s where the real fun is.