Koopa Freerunning
Koopa Freerunning is a minigame in Super Mario Odyssey. It is available in every kingdom except for the Cloud Kingdom, the Ruined Kingdom, the Dark Side, and the Darker Side, but only after the player completes the main story. Once the criterion is met, a Koopa Troopa wearing a green hat appears in each valid kingdom and invites Mario to a race against him and three other Koopa Troopas (all members of the Roving Racers) from one point in the kingdom to another. Winning each race for the first time rewards Mario with Power Moons. Koopa Freerunning cannot be played in two-player mode, with the green Koopa Troopa turning Mario down if he asks while the game is in two-player mode.
Koopa Freerunning takes place in an alternate version of a kingdom, often but not always based on its state before the player clears all of the kingdom's objectives. For example, Koopa Freerunning in the Seaside Kingdom takes place in a daytime version of the kingdom, and Koopa Freerunning in the Snow Kingdom takes place in a version of the kingdom beset by a blizzard. This can remove items and terrain that allow for quick travel around a completed kingdom from the kingdom, such as the spark pylons in the Cascade Kingdom connecting the Odyssey's landing point to the highest areas of Fossil Falls. However, this does not apply universally, as, for instance, the Sand Kingdom keeps its spark pylon network during Koopa Freerunning. Non-player characters dance in these versions of a kingdom, so they cannot be talked to. Furthermore, the Crazy Cap buildings are closed. Each race starts somewhere at or near where the green Koopa was. Mario stands at this starting position in a line with the four Koopas, with two to his left and two to his right. If Mario entered Koopa Freerunning without specifically retrying, the race is preceded by a flyby showing the primary route and the beacon serving as the goal. After a countdown from three, the race begins.
The Roving Racers are best thought of as "ghost data." They move on preset paths and do not interact with any of the real objects currently in the kingdom, instead interacting with only the version of the kingdom that the developers recorded their movements in. (In less complex terms, the Roving Racers can stand on platforms that Mario moves out of their way, because, as far as the Koopa is concerned, the platform is always where it normally is. The Koopa can move a platform, then land on the platform in its second position without the platform moving to the player's eye, because, as far as Mario is concerned, the platform never moved.) This further means that neither the Koopas nor Mario can interact with each other.
The Roving Racers can use all of Mario's abilities, such as the Long Jump, dive, and Cap Throw. The Roving Racers can also ride the Jaxi and capture enemies and objects, but instead of doing so normally, they are depicted as spinning in their shells and moving as though they were doing those actions. Like the Cap Throw, the spinning shell generates yellow effects.
During Koopa Freerunning, the game's user interface tracks Mario's current position in the race in a yellow circle on the right side of the screen. The banner on the bottom of the screen tracks Mario's current time elapsed and the best time the player has recorded. The map menu is modified to note the start and endpoints of the race, while removing all other icons. This means Mario cannot warp during a race. The pause menu has options to retry Koopa Freerunning and quit the race, but it does not have the ability to save the game, check other menus, or switch to two-player mode. If Mario starts Koopa Freerunning while under the effects of a Life-Up Heart, his Health Meter returns to normal during Koopa Freerunning and is restored to the state where it is upgraded by the Life-Up Heart afterward. The effect of the Life-Up Heart is restored even if Mario dies during a race.
The race ends at a beacon, which is a glowing circular spot with a Koopa Shell pattern on the ground. It is surrounded by purple energy and a band with a black-and-white checkered pattern evoking a checkered flag. Light rises from this spot so that it is always visible, similarly to a Power Moon and other areas that are the goal of objectives in Super Mario Odyssey. When any of the racers enter this beacon, they jump to a preset position within it. The Roving Racers each jump to a place in the outer portion of the beacon, with their positions forming the endpoints of a square. If any Koopa finished ahead of Mario, they jump repeatedly in celebration, but if Mario beat all the Koopas, they slump to the ground in disappointment. When Mario reaches the beacon, the minigame ends, he jumps to the center of the beacon, and the player's time is saved. If Mario arrived while capturing something, that entity is released immediately. If Mario arrived while using Rocket Flowers, the flowers immediately disappear. A banner that shows the player's final time is then displayed, noting if it is also the player's fastest time for that particular kingdom's Koopa Freerunning game.
Mario cannot leave the main map of the kingdom during the race. All attempts to do so result in him returning to the entrance he tried to use, with Cappy noting that they are currently in a race. Mario also cannot use 8-bit pipes in any way, with Cappy commenting in the same manner upon trying. If Mario dies during a race, the minigame ends. Since Koopa Freerunning occurs in a separate version of the kingdom that the game has to load into and out of, any coins lost this way are unable to be recovered.
After a race ends, the game resumes normal gameplay back where Mario spoke to the green Koopa Troopa. If Mario died during the race, the Koopa acknowledges the trouble Mario faced and the player can choose to start Koopa Freerunning again or leave. If Mario completed the race but lost, this result is acknowledged and Mario receives a number of coins based on his performance. No coins are given if Mario finished in fourth or fifth place. If Mario completed the race but won, and this is the first time he has won the race, the Koopa rewards him with a Power Moon. If Mario completed the race and won it but this is not the first time he has won the race, the Koopa rewards him with 50 to 100 coins, depending on the kingdom where the race took place. In either of the latter cases, Mario exits conversation with the green Koopa Troopa and gameplay resumes. This is also true if he chooses to leave instead of restarting when talking to the Koopa after dying during the race.
When Koopa Freerunning is unlocked, all the kingdoms have only a Regular Cup version of the race available. Regular Cup races have Mario compete against the red, blue, green, and purple members of the Roving Racers. Each Koopa moves differently and takes a different route, such that they finish the race in the exact order they are listed. Since Mario wins Koopa Freerunning only by placing in first, this means the minigame can be simplified to reaching the goal ahead of the red Koopa Troopa. If the player has the Power Moon for the Regular Cup race of a kingdom and breaks the Moon Rock in that kingdom, the kingdom's Regular Cup race is permanently replaced by a Master Cup race. In a Master Cup race, Mario competes against the gold, red, blue, and green members of the Roving Racers. The Golden Koopa is noted to be a new member, and it replaces the purple Koopa in the race. Again, the Koopas finish the race in the exact order they are listed, with the Golden Koopa using a more efficient route and more advanced techniques than the red Koopa does. Again, the minigame can be simplified to reaching the goal ahead of the Golden Koopa.
The Rankings Board shows global and friend leaderboards for all of the minigames in Super Mario Odyssey when the player is connected to the Internet, including those for Koopa Freerunning. One Rankings Board is always next to the green Koopa Troopa on the normal map for a kingdom.
List of Koopa Freerunning races[edit]
| Kingdom | Image | Starting location | Ending location | Shortcuts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cap Kingdom | 
|
Top of Top-Hat Tower | Tallest hill near the Odyssey | The player can skip going all the way across the Glasses Bridge by capturing a Paragoomba below the bridge and flying to the goal. Another option is to instead capture the Paragooma placed after the Sometimes Bridge, enabling the player to bypass the Glasses Bridge by flying over most of the kingdom and across the gap that otherwise enforces crossing the Glasses Bridge. |
| Cascade Kingdom | 
|
Near the Odyssey | In front of the 8-bit section near the Stone Bridge | Wall-jumping and then diving onto the ledge in front of the bridge over the waterfall saves Mario time by not having to go around it. |
| Sand Kingdom | 
|
In front of the building in Tostarena Northwest Reaches (Green Koopa Troopa and Rankings Board) Roof of the building in Tostarena Northwest Reaches (actual race) |
Entrance of Tostarena Town | Mario riding a Jaxi across the desert and not braking makes the race much faster. Mario can also travel through the series of spark pylons from the start to the Inverted Pyramid, then to the Round Tower, and finally to Tostarena Town. |
| Lake Kingdom | 
|
Near the Odyssey | Water Plaza Terrace | Triple-jumping and cap-diving onto the ledge with the Goombas at the start of the race allows Mario to skip most of the underwater segment and clear the race much faster than even the Golden Koopa. |
| Wooded Kingdom | 
|
Forest Charging Station | Iron Road: Halfway Point | Mario can long-jump and then cap-dive to skip the entire maze, saving lots of time. |
| Lost Kingdom | 
|
Near the Odyssey | Rocky Mountain Summit | Mario can jump and dive around the side of the two Trapeetle segments to save a few seconds each. |
| Metro Kingdom | 
|
Rooftop north of the park by the Main Street Entrance | Rooftop pool to the left of New Donk City Hall | Mario can capture two spark pylons on the right side of New Donk City Hall, travel up them, and then long-jump off the top to reach the pool much faster. |
| Snow Kingdom | 
|
Northwest corner of the kingdom | Near the Odyssey | There are two posts at ground level that create wind that blows Mario up to the bridge with the beacon. One of those posts is much closer to the beacon than the other, though the blizzard makes it challenging to locate than the post on the main route. |
| Seaside Kingdom | 
|
Island above Ocean Trench East (Green Koopa Troopa and Rankings Board) Underwater area in front of the Sphynx (actual race) |
Above Rolling Canyon | Mario can capture a Gushen above the water and use it to move much faster across the water than with normal swimming. It can also be used to surmount the cliff by landing in the elevated pool to the left of Rolling Canyon's entrance, then flying over to the cliff and releasing the Gushen to get on top of the cliff. There are also Volbonans that Mario can capture to flick himself to the goal. |
| Luncheon Kingdom | 
|
Outside Volcano Cave | Top of the Peak Climb | Long-jumping and cap-diving from the beginning to the cliffside gives Mario a good headstart. There is also a hidden staircase towards the last area of the race that takes Mario immediately to the goal. |
| Bowser's Kingdom | 
|
Beneath the Keep | Near the Odyssey | Mario can long-jump from the edge of the roof at the start of the race all the way down to the underwater area, skipping a significant amount of the race. |
| Moon Kingdom | 
|
Right of the stairs to the Wedding Hall (Green Koopa Troopa and Rankings Board)
Bridge in front of the Wedding Hall (actual race) |
Tall plateau to the west of the Odyssey | Mario making multiple Long Jumps and Triple Jumps at the beginning of the race can save time. Using the Rocket Flowers found on the surface shortens Mario's time even more. |
| Mushroom Kingdom | 
|
Mushroom Pond | Peach's Castle Main Entrance | Mario using the Rocket Flowers scattered around the area and not crashing into walls makes the race shorter. |
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ノコノコレース[?] Nokonoko Rēsu |
Koopa Troopa Race | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 喏库喏库赛跑[?] Nuòkùnuòkù Sàipǎo |
Koopa Troopa Race | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 慢慢龜賽跑[?] Mànmanguī Sàipǎo |
Koopa Troopa Race | |
| Dutch | Koopa-parkoers[?] | Koopa Parkour | |
| French | Course Koopa[?] | Koopa Race | |
| German | Koopa-Freerunning[?] | Koopa Freerunning | |
| Italian | Corsa dei Koopa[?] | Koopa Race | |
| Korean | 엉금엉금 레이스[?] Eonggeum'eonggeum Reiseu |
Koopa Troopa Race | |
| Russian | Купа-кросс[?] Kupa-kross |
Koopa Cross | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Carrera de koopas[?] | Koopa Race | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Carrera de Koopas[?] | Koopa Race |
