Nintendo on Tuesday revealed that Super Mario Odyssey will hit its Switch console on October 27. It was the last announcement made during its E3 2017 presentation, following a few surprises like an upcoming Pokémon role-playing game (finally) and the next Metroid Prime installment.
The Mario-themed segment opened with a dinosaur approaching a grassy valley and roaring. But on its head was a tiny red Mario hat. Mario then jumped into the scene to usher in bits of gameplay from Odyssey, such as riding a moped across town and exploring interesting new worlds. Based on the clip, King Koopa has Princess Peach in his custody again, and it’s up to Mario to save the day.
Interestingly enough, Mario can use this hat to take “possession” of an enemy.
Some of the gameplay elements seen in the clip include tossing his hat like a boomerang to clear out a group of enemies lurking just ahead, or using it to bang around a group of mushrooms to activate a health-based power-up. He can even use his hat to grab a batch of coins and break objects such as wooden crates.
Interestingly enough, Mario can use this hat to take “possession” of an enemy. He does this by tossing the hat toward an opponent — it then attaches itself to the opponent’s head. Finally, Mario jumps into the hat and thus takes control of the opponent. Based on the clip, Mario can possess most of the inhabitants and devices in the game, ranging from frogs and turtles to rockets and cannonballs.
Gameplay should be interesting based on the new abilities of Mario’s hat. That journey also includes collecting glowing, lime-green moons in order to unlock and access different parts of the game. Nintendo says Odyssey is the first Mario game since Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine to feature sandbox-style gameplay.
“Mario embarks on a new journey through unknown worlds, running and jumping through huge 3D worlds,” Nintendo said. “Set sail between expansive worlds aboard an airship, and perform all-new actions, such as throwing Mario’s cap.”
This will be Mario’s latest 3D adventure-type, open-world game since Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the original Wii console was released in May 2010. Since then, Nintendo has served up Mario in side-scrolling platformers like New Super Mario Bros. U, in the isometric co-op multiplayer platformer Super Mario 3D World, and more. While all Mario games are brilliant and a blast to play, Odyssey will bring players back into the open-world adventure that began with Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 console in 1996.
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