You’d have to have a granite heart not to smile at the colours and characters. Super Mario Odyssey is a true showcase of everything that Nintendo does well.

It’s packed with contact with a 15-hour main adventure and a world of challenges and other things to do. However, that dynamic will make this a hit for gamers young and old. And you have plenty of them so that is not too much of a hardship. The life system in past games has been replaced by you losing coins. If you want to gripe, this is not the toughest of games. The Odyssey is a remarkable piece of art, and the soundtrack is a welcome assault of joyful upbeat tunes. It is Mario, so it is bursting with colour and charm. Mario has to run around a semi- realistic urban playground city talking to and helping people. There are forest and water themes and each has its own style and feel, but New Donk City is outstanding. They fire up your ship, the Odyssey, and there are hundreds in each world, so revisiting the worlds pays off. That all helps you find the power moon collectables which are key to unlocking the next world. You can also use Cappy as a weapon or as a jump pad to increase your distance. That blows the game wide open but we will avoid the spoiler and just say you it all adds a ton of fun to what and where you can go. You can then throw the enemy’s powers at them then become them . . . only with a moustache. The new stuff includes your ability to become an enemy and use their powers - say thank you, Cappy, because it’s all down to him. The gameplay is an absolute winner - it mixes new elements with classic Mario experiences and fully embraces its rich past. Cappy is a magic hat that is on its own rescue mission and it really shakes up the gameplay.

But there is a twist - Bowser wants to marry Peach so it’s a real race against time to stop him taking her up the aisle.Īs usual, Mario has help along the way. The Odyssey tale is pretty ancient - rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser . . . blah, blah. MARIO is a gaming legend so the pressure is on with any new title - but his latest Odyssey is a Switch sensation. The following appeared originally in The Scottish Sun on Sunday 19th November 2017. Read Stuart’s column every week in The Scottish Sun, where he shares his reviews, news and podcasts with the 99.3% of the World’s population not fortunate enough to be able to buy a physical copy of the paper.

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