Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is a platforming game for the Nintendo Switch released on October 27, 2017. It is the eighteenth title in the Super Mario series, the seventh original 3D Mario title, the eighth 3D Mario title overall, and the sixth 3D Mario title on a home console after Super Mario 3D World. The game has sandbox-like elements and revolves around Mario exploring Earth-based settings, similar to Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, with his new partner Cappy. Unique to this game, Mario is able to throw Cappy onto certain enemies and objects, allowing Mario to take control of them. Mario can also dress in a variety of different costumes, many based off of his past adventures.

The game allows for two-player co-op, allowing a second character to use a single Joy-Con to control Cappy independently from Mario. The game also has online functionality, which allows players to compare their times/scores in certain events. In addition, amiibo can be used to unlock certain costumes early, as well as obtain free hints towards the location of Power Moons and Purple Coins.

Story
Beginning "in the skies above Peach's Castle", Mario and Bowser are seen fighting one another on Bowser's airship, with Princess Peach on board as well. Bowser ultimately defeats Mario when he uses his top hat to attack, sending Mario flying to parts unknown. Bowser then takes his airship towards the skies, as he prepares a forced marriage to Peach. He leaves Mario's cap (which had been knocked off of Mario's head during his final attack) adrift into the ship's back propellers, shredding it in the process. A piece is obtained by a hat-shaped ghost, who eventually finds Mario in his homeland of Bonneton, located in the Cap Kingdom.

Afterwards, Mario wakes up and catches up with the ghost. The ghost reveals himself as Cappy, and explains to Mario that Bowser had not only attacked the kingdom, destroying its airship armada, but had also kidnapped Tiara, Cappy's sister, using her as Peach's wedding headdress. Mario and Cappy team up to stop Bowser's plans and save both Peach and Tiara, and using the piece he collected, Cappy transforms into the Mario Cap, allowing Mario to use Cappy's abilities. Cappy also informs Mario that they may be able to find a usable airship in the next kingdom, accessible from the Top Hat Tower. However, upon reaching the top, Mario is encountered by the Broodals, who were hired by Bowser as his wedding planners. After defeating one of the Broodals, named Topper, Mario and Cappy use a power line to travel to Fossil Falls of the Cascade Kingdom, where they find the airship, named the Odyssey, which uses Power Moons as energy to travel. Soon after, Mario and Cappy find and defeat Madame Broode, the boss of the Broodals, and her pet Chain Chomp. Using the power of the Multi Moon obtained from the duo, the Odyssey is ready for sail, and Mario and Cappy use it to chase after Bowser and the Broodals.

Mario and Cappy, through the power of the Power Moons, traverse many kingdoms in their adventure. After going through Tostarena of the Sand Kingdom, Lake Lamode of the Lake Kingdom, and the Steam Gardens of the Wooded Kingdom, they encounter and defeat Bowser in the Nimbus Arena of the Cloud Kingdom. Bowser then shoots at the Odyssey, causing it to crash and land in the Forgotten Isle of the Lost Kingdom.

After Mario rescues Cappy from a Klepto and the duo collect more Power Moons to restore the Odyssey, they venture through New Donk City of the Metro Kingdom, Shiveria of the Snow Kingdom, Bubblaine of the Seaside Kingdom, and Mount Volbono of the Luncheon Kingdom. They then attempt to enter Bowser's Castle in Bowser's Kingdom, however, they are encountered by the Koopa King before they get there. Instead of fighting Mario and Cappy, Bowser orders the Ruined Dragon to attack the Odyssey. This causes the ship to fall to Crumbleden of the Ruined Kingdom, where Mario and Cappy directly fight and defeat the Ruined Dragon. After the dragon's defeat, they obtain a Multi Moon. After again restoring the Odyssey, they finally go to Bowser's Castle and find Bowser with Peach. Bowser reveals that he plans to hold his wedding on the moon, and leaves Mario and Cappy to fight the Broodals in the RoboBrood.

Mario and Cappy destroy the RoboBrood, sending the Broodals flying as the heroic duo recover another Multi Moon. They then head off to Honeylune Ridge of the Moon Kingdom to stop the marriage between Bowser and Peach. They interrupt the wedding as Bowser is attempting to put the Binding Band (previously stolen from Tostarena) on Peach. Bowser then stomps the floor, revealing a trap door under Mario and Cappy, which they fall into. Bowser jumps in after them and engages them in battle, but is defeated. Mario, Cappy, Peach, and Tiara are reunited, but soon discover that the area they are in is collapsing. Mario uses Cappy to capture Bowser and escape, with all of them eventually returning to the moon. Mario and Bowser then simultaneously propose to marry Peach, with Mario offering a Rocket Flower and Bowser offering a bouquet of Piranha Plants. However, Peach rejects them both and leaves with Cappy and Tiara. Mario and Bowser get upset, but Peach then calls from the Odyssey, saying "Let's go home!". As the ship takes off, Mario and Bowser run after it. While Mario successfully jumps on it, he stomps on Bowser, leaving the Koopa King stranded on the moon.

The Odyssey later lands in the Mushroom Kingdom near Peach's Castle, where Cappy says that he enjoyed the adventure and wishes to continue traveling with Mario to collect more Power Moons. They do so, going through the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as Rabbit Ridge of the dark side of the moon and Culmina Crater of the darker side of the moon in the process. Meanwhile, Peach and Tiara travel the kingdoms on Peach's "own terms", while finding Power Moons themselves.

Gameplay
Super Mario Odyssey returns to the explorative sandbox-like gameplay seen in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, where Mario explores various areas in order to collect Power Moons to power the Odyssey airship to fly from kingdom to kingdom. There is no central hub world, as the Odyssey is rather used to move from one location to the others. Mario maintains his moveset from previous 3D titles, including the Triple Jump, Long Jump, Side Somersault, Backwards Somersault, Roll, Ground Pound, Ground Pound Jump, Spin Jump, and the returning Dive. In addition, a new character called Cappy allies with Mario, and takes possession of his cap. Mario can throw Cappy as if he were a boomerang for a long range attack, he can use Cappy as an extra platform to bypass obstacles, use Cappy in conjunction with his dive move to cross large distances, and can also "capture" certain objects and enemies to take control of them, replacing the traditional power-up system seen in the previous Super Mario games since Super Mario Galaxy. There are 52 capturable targets in total. In co-op mode, one player can control Mario and another controls Cappy.

Mario's life meter also returns with three health, similar to Super Mario Galaxy. Additionally, there are no lives (and by extension, 1-Up Mushrooms and Game Overs) in the game making this the only 3D Mario game not to feature them, as Mario instead loses ten Coins upon dying. The coins that Mario collects serve as currency. There are 2 types of coins - global yellow coins, which can be found and used in any kingdom, and purple regional coins, which are different in every kingdom, and can only be used in the kingdom they were found in. Mario can spend his coins at the Crazy Cap stores to buy items for the Odyssey and costumes. amiibo support includes Mario, Peach, Bowser, and a new character called Uncle amiibo, which unlocks more costumes, including ones based on Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Diddy Kong. ; others reveal Power Moon locations on the map, though the latter four amiibo also do that before unlocking the costumes. This is also the case for the new "wedding" variants of the former three amiibo.

The game features a "Snapshot Mode", where players can pause the game and take pictures using the Nintendo Switch's button. Players are also able to alter the shot by zooming in and out, tilting the camera for a vertical shot, or apply one of several filters, ranging from blurring the surroundings, adding a sepia tone, changing the camera to a fish-eye lens, or applying an NES, Game Boy, or SNES-styled color scheme.

Super Mario Odyssey is playable in 13 languages: English, European French, Canadian French, German, European Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.

Playable

 * Mario
 * Cappy

Supporting cast

 * Princess Peach
 * Tiara
 * The Toad Brigade
 * Captain Toad
 * Hint Toad
 * Banktoad
 * Yellow Toad
 * Mailtoad
 * Archivist Toadette
 * Pauline
 * Jaxi
 * Glydon
 * Yoshi
 * Talkatoo
 * Uncle amiibo

Non-playable characters

 * Local residents
 * Bonneters
 * Tostarenans
 * Lochladies
 * Steam Gardeners
 * New Donkers
 * Shiverians
 * Bubblainians
 * Volbonans
 * Toads
 * Koopa Troopas
 * Roving Racers
 * Goombette
 * Fishin' Lakitus
 * Frogs
 * Moe-Eyes
 * Rabbits
 * Dorries
 * Sphynx
 * Poochy
 * Birds exclusive to each region
 * Little Birds (Mushroom Kingdom)
 * Little Birds wearing top hats (Cap Kingdom)
 * Red birds resembling s (Cascade Kingdom)
 * Green birds with yellow underbellies resembling s (Sand Kingdom)
 * Brown birds resembling eagles or hawks (Sand Kingdom)
 * Pink birds with scaled wings (Lake Kingdom)
 * Blue birds resembling s (Wooded Kingdom)
 * White doves (Cloud Kingdom)
 * s (Metro Kingdom)
 * Seagulls (Seaside Kingdom)
 * Penguins (Snow Kingdom)
 * Birds resembling a tuft of whipped cream (Luncheon Kingdom)
 * Brown birds resembling s (Bowser's Kingdom)
 * UFO creatures that carry a flower inside their orb, resembling a miniature Torkdrift (Moon Kingdom)
 * Other indigenous life forms
 * Butterflies (Mushroom Kingdom, Wooded Kingdom, Lost Kingdom)
 * The butterflies in the Mushroom Kingdom resemble
 * The butterflies in the Wooded Kingdom resemble
 * The butterflies in the Lost Kingdom appear in four colors: blue, green, pink and purple
 * s (Mushroom Kingdom and Wooded Kingdom)
 * Dragonflies (Cascade Kingdom and Bowser's Kingdom)
 * Lizards (Sand Kingdom)
 * Crabs (Pink in Lake Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom / Gold-yellow in Seaside Kingdom)
 * Fish (All fish reappear in the Mushroom Kingdom lake)
 * Goldfish (Seaside Kingdom)
 * Blue, green, orange and pink coloured fish (Lake Kingdom)
 * (Bowser's Kingdom)
 * (Wooded Kingdom)
 * Rats (or mice) (Metro Kingdom)
 * Bats (Ruined Kingdom)
 * Power Moon rewarding animals
 * Sheep wearing sombreros (Sand Kingdom, Wooded Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom)
 * Dog (Sand Kingdom, Seaside Kingdom, Moon Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom)

Common enemies
Certain enemies will wear different gear depending on the area they are found in. Enemies whose use is mandatory to advance, such as capturable enemies, respawn shortly after getting defeated or after being captured. De-capturing an enemy leaves it in a short dizzy state, which offers the player another chance to capture it before it disappears and respawns at the place it was first encountered.

Kingdoms
There are seventeen named locations that Mario can explore, most of which are in what are known as "kingdoms". Each location has a specific theme, some being similar to themes seen in previous Super Mario titles, others being original themes. Some locations are based on a real-world location (e.g. Metro Kingdom's main area, New Donk City, is based on ). Bowser is after various items in some of these locations, which all tie to his preparations for his wedding.

Background
When asked about "coming home" to the Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine style of gameplay, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that when he was developing Super Mario 64 with Yoshiaki Koizumi, they realized that the title would be more directed towards the "core gamer", rather than the casual, pick-up-and-go gamer. After Super Mario Sunshine, their focus re-shifted to more accessible, casual gamers, hence encouraging them to make Super Mario Galaxy with more progression-oriented gameplay corridors.

Then in recent years, we made Super Mario 3D World and even though that's a 3D game, it's a little more accessible to everybody. [...] So when we thought about making a Mario for Switch, we wanted to make it [...] something a little bit more on the core side, that people who like action games can really get into.

As Super Mario Odyssey was developed alongside the Switch hardware, Yoshiaki Koizumi encouraged the game's developers to share their requirements and suggestions with the hardware development team. This directly led to the inclusion of the two motion-sensitive controllers and the HD rumble feature on the Nintendo Switch hardware, which became a prominent part of Super Mario Odyssey gameplay.

Early ideas and prototypes
Development for Super Mario Odyssey began right after Super Mario 3D World was released in late 2013. Miyamoto sought more senior developers and staff teams who had been involved in past 3D Mario titles, in order to really "go back to the roots" of Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64. As a result, Yoshiaki Koizumi was made the game's producer, and Super Mario 3D World director Kenta Motokura again took on the role of director. Miyamoto remained with a consultative role throughout development, and although he contributed a lot of feedback, he was also very accepting of the development team's ideas. Motokura revealed that early stages of development involved creating a "huge" amount of gameplay prototypes with numerous ideas, and the capture ability was one of them.

[The capture ability] was just one of the ideas that came up, but we worked on it for two or three days, and it just instantly turned into something that was really fun, and we decided [that it should be] the center of this game.

Many of the other different prototype ideas were still included, providing for the diversity in game mechanics throughout the game's stages, known as "kingdoms". These "fully realized worlds" were said to have been inspired by the Japanese hakoniwa box gardens, that bring rich landscapes to life in a miniaturized form. The size of these worlds were often adjusted to ensure that the player can regularly discover an engaging action to perform. This was also intended to allow handheld players to still accomplish a Power Moon mission, even if they have only a few minutes to play.

Design decisions
Super Mario Odyssey ' s theme is highly focused on "surprises" and "travel", and the developers incorporated many of their travel experiences around the world. For instance, elements of the Sand Kingdom was derived from Kenta Motokura's experiences during a trip to Mexico, and the Luncheon Kingdom's food aesthetics was inspired by Italy and other European countries.

The developers recognized that when traveling to foreign countries, something that really has an impact is the different currencies. Therefore, they wanted to have Mario collect and use different regional coins in each kingdom. Since the player travels outside of the Mushroom Kingdom, the diverse art-style between all the different kingdoms aimed to recreate the feelings of surprise and discovery when visiting foreign lands. It was also noted that a lot of time was spent in getting the right balance between familiar Mario concepts, and completely new ones.

An example was the realistic T-Rex that is able to be captured by Mario. The developers looked back for inspiration from familiar Super Mario World elements in Dinosaur Land, although they wanted to use a design that was "unseen" in a Mario game. Familiar gameplay elements include the "8-bit" side-scrolling areas of the kingdoms, reminiscent to Super Mario Bros. in which progress is more "confined" and "precise". This was intended to be an engaging contrast to the 3D sandbox environments.

The developers knew that they wanted to have a city environment in the game that would resonate with players. As Donkey Kong-inspired elements in the city came about, Pauline's presence in the series inspired the team to have her be the mayor of New Donk City. Some character development for Pauline was required in her transition from a damsel in distress to a major character, and it was decided that she would have an interest in jazz. This led to the composition of the game's theme song shown in the E3 2017 trailer, titled "Jump Up, Super Star!", which was made to give the game energy and help get the audience excited.

To develop the game's camera system, the team looked at previous 3D Mario games. Miyamoto discussed how the 3D camera in Super Mario 64 worked very well, as it had the joystick as well as the C buttons to adjust the automatic camera. Super Mario Sunshine had the C stick in order to control the camera freely, although they received feedback that the camera control was "a little bit difficult". With later 3D titles such as Super Mario Galaxy, the minimal control of the camera also attracted some negative feedback. Miyamoto added that it's "very difficult to find the right balance". With Super Mario Odyssey, we made sure that the camera controls are really really smooth and easy to use, and the Switch controllers can really serve to that. [We] really made a sandbox-style game that's really easy and feels good to control.

Music
A unique aspect of this title is a vocal main theme, "Jump Up, Super Star!", sung by Pauline (interpreted by Kate Higgins, credited as Kate Davis). The song is big-band jazz style, and details an adventure across the worlds from this game, with Pauline referring to herself as Mario's "1-Up Girl". It was released worldwide on October 20, 2017 on the, while the short version is downloadable for free until January 2018. The song's lyrics are also printed inside both the Western and Japanese packaging on the paper part of the cover.

Super Mario Odyssey's ending also features another song with lyrics, called "Break Free (Lead the Way)", and has a version with Japanese lyrics as well.

On December 21, 2017, Nintendo announced an original soundtrack album for the game, which will be released in Japan on February 28, 2018. The album contains four discs with 136 tracks in total, as well as two stickers and a booklet containing concept art of Pauline and comments from the staff. Additionally, the Super Mario Odyssey Sound Selection containing 12 tracks was released worldwide on the iTunes Store on December 22, 2017.

Nintendo Switch bundle
A Super Mario Odyssey themed Nintendo Switch bundle was available on launch day.



Critical reception
Super Mario Odyssey has received widespread critical acclaim. Prior to its release, EDGE Magazine gave Super Mario Odyssey a perfect score of 10, praising the game for "taking big risks with an established formula and having them all pay off handsomely". Ryan McCaffery of IGN had a similar view, also giving the game a perfect score of 10. Despite criticizing the camera controls, McCaffery was ultimately very impressed with the game, saying that it "is a brilliant adventure and love letter to the series that made Nintendo a household name". Phillip Kollar and Allegra Frank of Polygon also praised the game, scoring it 9.5 out of 10. While Allegra somewhat criticized the boss battles, the two reviewers ended with "Super Mario Odyssey is almost certain to be counted among the best games in Nintendo's star series". The game currently averages 97% on review aggregate site Metacritic (based on 67 reviews), and 97.42% on GameRankings (based on 58 reviews), making it the third-highest rated game on the website.

Awards and acknowledgements
Super Mario Odyssey was nominated for six awards at The Game Awards 2017, winning one, in the following categories:


 * "Game of the Year" (Nominated). Lost to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
 * "Best Game Direction" (Nominated). Lost to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
 * "Best Score/Music" (Nominated). Lost to .
 * "Best Audio Design" (Nominated). Lost to .
 * "Best Action/Adventure Game" (Nominated). Lost to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
 * "Best Family Game" (Won). Other nominees were Splatoon 2, Sonic Mania, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

References to other games

 * Game & Watch series: The silhouette of a hat-wearing Mr. Game & Watch appears on minigame icons.
 * Donkey Kong: The location New Donk City looks to be a throwback to Mario's early origins as Jumpman. There are steel girders that resemble the ones seen in this game, and the taxi cabs have license plates reading "1981-ND", referencing the year Mario and Donkey Kong made their debut. The name New Donk City is also a reference to Donkey Kong himself. Pauline can also be found here, who originated from this game. The melody from the 25m theme can be heard halfway through "Jump Up, Super Star!", as well as during the ending cutscene variation of "Break Free (Lead the Way)". The bassist can also be heard playing the 25m theme when Mario first finds him. Also, the sound effect played when Mario jumps over a barrel in the game can be heard at the end of the aforementioned riff. During the New Donk City festival, if the player does not talk with Pauline, she'll at one point dance by thrusting her hips back and forth, mirroring her sprite animation from the original Arcade game. In an 8-bit segment using sprites from this game in New Donk City, Mario must dodge barrels while climbing girders. Oil Drums also appear, along with Coins spelling out "DK". Pauline's original design (then known as Lady), as well as Donkey Kong's original design, also makes a brief cameo as a graffiti art on a building. Pauline's purple sunhat in her standard attire may be a reference to the Pauline's lost items from the game. In addition, the lost items were twice referenced in the side mission "Personal Request for the Mayor", one in regards to selecting a parasol, a hat, and a purse regarding her treasured items, while the other is hunting down Pauline's gift, with all options being the aforementioned items. In addition, in the same sidequest, one of her questions mentions what had happened in her past involved being abducted by a giant ape, referring to the plot of Donkey Kong. Mario's Classic Cap and Classic Suit costume is based on his classic outfit in Donkey Kong.
 * Super Mario Bros.: Several parts of the game allow Mario to walk within walls from a 2D perspective, uses sprites and sound effects from this game, as well as altering the stage music to an 8-bit variation. A remix of the overworld theme from this game plays in the New Donk City Auditorium. The castle theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser. With its sunglasses on, Moe-Eye sometimes hums the first few notes of the overworld theme as well as the ending theme from this game while walking around. A replica of Super Mario Bros. can be played at New Donk City where Mario traverses through World 1-1. The 1-Up jingle can be heard in two separate parts when one pauses and unpauses the game.
 * Family Computer Golf: U.S. Course: Mario's Stars and Stripes outfit originates from this game.
 * Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally: The Mechanic Suit and Mechanic Cap outfit originates from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Mario holds and throws vegetables found in the Luncheon Kingdom the same way as he does in this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: The music that plays in the slots minigame room is an arrangement of the minigame music from this game. The sound effect that plays when using a Rocket Flower is the sound effect that plays when the P Meter is full in this game. The final boss battle theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser. Jizo Statues in Bowser's Kingdom resemble the original design of Statue Mario.
 * : The Sombrero and Poncho originate from the Game Boy version of this game.
 * Super Mario Land: A notable species is the Moe-Eyes, with glasses similar to the Moai statues and enemies found in the Easton Kingdom in this game.
 * Dr. Mario: Mario's Doctor Outfit originates from this game.
 * Super Mario World: A piano remix of this game's overworld and underwater themes can be heard on radios in New Donk City. When controlled by Mario, Moe-Eye sometimes hums the game's ending theme while walking around with its sunglasses on. Sprites of Fuzzies from this game are used when Fuzzies appear in 8-bit segments. A remix of the music that plays in this game during the bonus areas plays in some of the challenge areas. The final boss battle theme from this game plays when Mario captures Bowser. Yoshi's House is set up in the same way as it is in this game (with a fireplace and three trees acting as shelter), with the notice even starting with the words "Hello! Sorry I'm not home, but I've gone to". This reference was kept in the German and Spanish localizations but not the French.
 * NES Open Tournament Golf: Mario's Stars and Stripes outfit is iconically used in this game.
 * Mario Paint: Mario's Painter's outfit from this game's artwork appears.
 * Super Mario Kart: A cover of Mario Circuit's music from this game is used in the RC Car Challenge in New Donk City.
 * Super Mario All-Stars: Mario's black top hat originates from this game.
 * Yoshi's Cookie: One of Mario's Chef Outfit originates from the NES version of this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country series: In addition to New Donk City being named after Donkey Kong, characters' names from this series appear as street signs such as Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong, Cranky Kong, Candy Kong, Rambi the Rhino, Expresso the Ostrich, Squawks the Parrot, and King K. Rool. Diddy Kong is also the basis of an outfit and cap Mario can wear.
 * Mario's Picross: The Explorer Hat and Explorer Outfit originate from this game.
 * Super Mario 64: Super Mario Odyssey is considered a spiritual successor to both this game and Super Mario Sunshine. The structure of the kingdoms carry over what was established in this game, such as the lack of a time limit and having areas change each time the player visits them, based on what the player has previously completed. This game also first introduced utilizing caps as power-ups. The number on Mario's football jersey is "64". There is a minigame involving foot racing Koopa Troopas, much like with Koopa the Quick. Mario can jump into some paintings in specific kingdoms to get to other kingdoms. Mario's idle animation is similar to this game, in which he falls asleep and begins to mutter about various pastas. The jingle that plays when collecting a non-plot-specific Power Moon is a similar to the "Course Clear" jingle from this game, though the original jingle plays when collecting a Power Star in the Mushroom Kingdom. There is an outfit and cap, aptly named "Mario 64 Suit" and "Mario 64 Cap" respectively, that when both are equipped, will change Mario's clothes and face to the polygon-like texture used in this game. Another outfit and cap, called "Metal Mario Suit" and "Metal Mario Cap" respectively, changes Mario into his metal form in this game. Yoshi can be found on the rooftop of Peach's Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom just like in this game. The music that plays when fighting Bowser in this game plays when Mario captures Bowser, and can also be heard during a part of "Break Free (Lead the Way)". Mario can perform this game's variation of the Spin Jump when he jumps off one of the red, bouncy flowers found in-game. The backyard in Peach's castle from this game returns. The jingle that plays when the player has triggered an event returns. The map that Hint Toad consults is a map of Bob-omb Battlefield. Torkdrift is also a notable Spindrift.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Super Mario Odyssey is the first 3D main series game since Super Mario Sunshine to feature open sandbox-style levels. Additionally, Mario can once again sidle while grabbing on a ledge. Mario retains this game’s version of the Spin Jump move as well. Some areas feature platforming challenges without the aid of Cappy, similarly to some of the secret courses in this game requiring completion without the aid of F.L.U.D.D. The Gushen enemy capture grants Mario abilities very similar to F.L.U.D.D's various nozzles, including the ability to clean burning goop in the Seaside Kingdom, being propelled forward upon the surface of a body of water, and providing a method of defeating Mollusque-Lanceur which is very similar to how numerous bosses in Sunshine are defeated (dousing in water by hovering from above). Isle Delfino, the main setting of this game, is visually referenced on the world atlas present on an Japanese billboard advertisement for Super Mario Odyssey.
 * Super Mario Galaxy series: The animation of Mario and Cappy getting a Multi Moon is similar to Mario getting a Grand Star in these games. The low health buzzer sound also plays when Mario is low on health. Ground-Pound Switches also reappear. Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade together with the Toad Brigade theme, appears in the game. The Life-Up Heart functions exactly like the Life Mushroom from these games. Mario's idle animation of falling asleep is similar to these games. The sound clip of Mario when he touches lava is reused from these games. The currency in the Moon Kingdom resembles Star Bits and is described as such. Rosalina has a sprite of her doing a spinning jump found on a vegetable on the Dark Side of the Moon and in a wall on the Darker Side of the Moon. . The jingle that plays when the Odyssey is restored is a remix of the jingle that plays when Mario collects a new power-up in these games. A few of Yoshi's sound clips are reused from Super Mario Galaxy 2 as well as being able to find him in eggs. With its sunglasses on, Moe-Eye sometimes hums Gusty Garden Galaxy's music from this game. Also, there is a musical Easter Egg in the Pause Menu, where it plays one of few different notes. If one combines them right, they will hear the Comet Observatory theme from this game.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: The Tail Tree appears in the Mushroom Kingdom. The invincibility theme, when tapping any Mario amiibo, is taken from this game. Bowser attacks by stomping to creating fire rings and swinging his tail, similar to this game. The regional coins of the Lost Kingdom look similar to how the Super Leafs look in this game. Statue Mario's design appears when controlling the Jizo Statues.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: Gold Mario appears as an unlockable outfit.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Some of the elements and sound effects are reused in this game. Cat Mario's Costume Mario sprite from Super Mario Maker can be seen in walls of the kingdoms, on the side of one of the skyscrapers in New Donk City, a building in Tostarena, and a pillar in the Mt. Volbono region; and Cat Peach's sprite can be seen behind the right black-colored wall in the New Donk City Auditorium and on the base of the lighthouse in the Seaside Kingdom. Captain Toad retains his design from this game. When the Broodals are defeated together, the fireworks of their faces explodes in the sky, similar to how Bowser turns into a firework of his face when he is defeated in the final battle.
 * Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Mario's Mechanic Outfit features some logos of sponsors appearing in the game, including Bowser Oil.
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: The Jaxi maze in Tostarena uses the same arrangement of the Super Mario Bros. underground theme from this game. Toadette returns and retains her outfit from this game. When encountering Captain Toad in the Lost Kingdom, he mentions he was dropped by a giant bird, but a different bird than usual.
 * Super Mario Maker: The Builder Helmet and Builder Outfit originate from this game. Sprites of Cat Mario and Cat Peach can be found in hidden areas of most of the kingdoms. Koopa Shells retain their spinning animation from this game's Super Mario Bros. style. A remix of the Super Mario Bros.-style airship theme plays from this game in the intro cutscene. The sprite for Bowser in the 2D sections is the same as the sprite used when Bowser is seen when Mario collects a Big Mushroom in this game.

Trivia

 * Super Mario Odyssey is the first ever Mario series title to receive a B rating by the in Japan. All other titles released prior have been rated at A. Similarly, Super Mario Odyssey is the first Super Mario series title to receive "Everyone 10+" by  in North America. All other titles released prior have been rated E. According to the ESRB, this is because of the following content contained in the game: the ways the enemies are defeated, the capture of a cartoony military tank (the enemy Sherm) to fire large cannonballs at Mechawiggler and the large explosion that occurs upon the defeat of the latter, the various punches landed at Bowser during his fights, and the pink liquid trails that Cookatiel spits out towards Mario during its boss fight.
 * This is the first 3D Mario game where Luigi doesn't make a physical appearance since Super Mario Sunshine.