Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is an upcoming platform game for the Nintendo Switch set to release on October 27, 2017. It is the sixteenth 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 Mario leaving the Mushroom Kingdom to reach an unknown open world-like setting, like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. This new world has been stated to bear resemblances to the real world.

Mario will maintain his moveset from previous 3D titles, including the Long Jump, Roll, Ground Pound, the Triple Jump and the Dive, the last of which hasn't appeared since Super Mario Sunshine. In addition, he will be wearing a different cap in this game, which has eyes, implying it may be alive. A new mechanic in the game allows Mario to throw this cap as if it was a boomerang, and he can also jump off of the cap in midair like a platform. Mario can also throw his hat onto certain objects to possess them, including enemies and inanimate objects, with the possessed character or object receiving Mario's cap and mustache. Judging by posters seen in the announcement trailer, it seems that the game's story will involve, at least in part, Mario preventing a forced marriage of Princess Peach to Bowser. Mario's life meter also returns with three health, similar to Super Mario Galaxy. Additionally, there does not appear to be any lives, as Mario will instead lose ten Coins upon dying. There will also be a new amiibo line based on Super Mario Odyssey, with a formal Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser, which will unlock more costumes. Other lines are also confirmed to be compatible.

Playable

 * Mario

Supporting

 * Princess Peach
 * Cappy
 * Jaxi, a leonine statue that comes to life when ridden
 * Pauline
 * A tyrannosaurus rex

Villains

 * Bowser
 * Broodals, a quartet of rabbits that were hired to plan Bowser's wedding

Non-playable characters

 * Humans (present in New Donk City)
 * Fork creatures in chef attire (present in the )
 * Green-yellow robots which appear alongside aforementioned fork creatures (present in the )
 * Colorful skull-headed creatures in ponchos and sombreros (present in the )
 * Rabbits (present in the )

Enemies
Enemies will wear different gear depending on the area they are found in
 * Goombas
 * Goombas wearing hard hats (New Donk City)
 * Goombas wearing sombreros (Desert)
 * Goomba Towers
 * Piranha Plants
 * Big Piranha Plants
 * Spinies
 * Bullet Bills and Bill Blasters
 * Bullet Bills wearing visors (New Donk City)
 * Hammer Bros that wear chef hats and throw frying pans (present in the )
 * Flower pots with stretching bramble legs (present in the )
 * Small purple creatures with star eyes (present in the )
 * Small tanks that wear top hats and spit bullets
 * Sentry Beam- or Ring Burner-like robots
 * Chain Chomps
 * Cheep Cheeps
 * Lava Bubbles
 * Frogs
 * A robotic caterpillar
 * Micro Goombas
 * Hedgehog-like creatures.
 * White ghosts wearing black hats
 * Black spherical fly-like creatures.

Other

 * A pink Wingo-like bird in chef attire (present in the )
 * Yellow, spinning plant-watering machines (present in the )
 * Moving and stationary taxi cabs

Items and objects

 * Currency for specific areas, 100 of each are found in each area
 * Coins depicting Pauline's head (New Donk City)
 * Triangular coins depicting the pyramid
 * Screw nuts
 * Polygonal sphere-shaped objects
 * Beanstalks
 * Bollards
 * Boom boxes
 * Brick Blocks
 * Binoculars
 * Bubbles
 * Checkpoint Flags
 * Coins
 * Coin Blocks
 * Coin Rings
 * Crates
 * Doors
 * Grand Moons
 * Hearts
 * Lifts
 * Power Moons
 * ? Blocks
 * P Switches
 * Lever Switches
 * Turnips
 * Treasure chests
 * Warp Pipes
 * The Odyssey, Mario's ship

Locations

 * New Donk City, a city with many references to the Donkey Kong series
 * Sand Kingdom, a cold desert with several glaciers and some "bus stops" where the rideable sculpture sits
 * A colorful town inhabited by the skull characters
 * Ruins with obstacles
 * An area with an upside-down floating pyramid
 * A series of midair platforms near a castle building
 * A cave filled with glaciers illuminated by blue light where ruins are found as well
 * Wooded Kingdom, an area with a forest surrounded by mountains and a glassy wall
 * A section called "Iron Road," a set of red iron buildings
 * A section called "Deep Woods", a spooky looking dark forest where a t-rex resides
 * Mount Volbono, a colorful area filled with crystal-like food and produce inhabited by the fork creatures
 * A prehistoric world with realistic dinosaurs
 * A misty world whose black, white and gold color scheme and hat theme match the interior of the Odyssey
 * Bowser's airship, colored white and purple

Development
As part of the "Treehouse Live" event on January 13, 2017, Shigeru Miyamoto was hosted as a special guest, and interviewed for the Super Mario Odyssey segment. When asked about "coming home" to the Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine style of gameplay, 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 reshifted to more accessible, casual gamers. This is why they chose to make Super Mario Galaxy.

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. And so speaking of casual gamers, we have Super Mario Maker out, and we also have Super Mario Run. 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.

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.

With all the different ideas that Miyamoto received from other, "younger" developers and programmers, some actually worried him about how well Mario would "fit in" to these different worlds, although he was "open minded" to all ideas that were presented. Miyamoto also sought more senior developers and staff teams who had been involved in past 3D Mario titles, such as Yoshiaki Koizumi, in order to really "go back to the roots" of Super Mario Sunshine.

Vocal Theme: The Odyssey
A unique aspect of this title is a vocal main theme, seemingly sung by Pauline.

Here we go, off the rails Don't you know it's time to raise our sails? It's freedom like you never knew

Don't need bags or a pass, Say the word, I'll be there in a flash You could say my hat is off to you

Oh, we can zoom all the way to the moon, From this brave wide wacky world, Jump with me, grab coins with me, oh yeah!

It's time to jump up in the air, (Jump up in the air), Jump up, don't be scared, (Jump up, don't be scared), Just jump up and your cares will soar away, (oohoohooh), And if the dark clouds start to swirl, Don't fear to shed a tear 'cause I'll be your 1-Up Girl

So let's all jump up super high, (Jump up super high), High up, in the sky, (High up in the sky), There's no power-up like dancing, You know that you're my Super Star, No one else can take me this far I'm making the switch, Get ready for this, Ohh, ohh, let's do the Odyssey!

Odyssey, ya see (X7), Odyssey, Odyssey!

Spin the wheel, take a chance Every journey starts a new romance A new world's calling out to you Take a turn, off the path Find a new addition to a cast, You know that any captain needs a crew

Take it in stride, don't you look side to side, They're just different points of view Jump with me, grab coins with me, Oh yeah!

Come on and jump up in the air, (Jump up in the air), Jump without a care, (Jump without a care), Jump up 'cause you know that I'll be there

And if you find you're short on joy, Don't fret, just don't forget that You're still our 1-Up Boy

So go on, straighten up your cap, (Straighten up your cap), Let your toes begin to tap, (Toes begin to tap), This rhythm is a power shroom (oohoohooh)

Jump on it, you're the Super Star (You're the Super Star) No one else can make it this far Put a comb through that stache, Now you've got panache Ohh, ohh, let's do the Odyssey!

It's time to jump up in the air, (Jump up in the air), Jump up, don't be scared, (Jump up don't be scared), Jump up and your cares will soar away, (oohoohooh), And if the dark clouds start to swirl, (Dark clouds start to swirl), Don't fear to shed a tear 'cause I'll be your 1-Up Girl

Now listen all you boys and girls, (All you boys and girls), All around the world, (All around the world), Don't be afraid to get up and move You know that we're all Super Stars, (We're all Super Stars) We're the ones who've made it this far Put a smile on that face, There's no time to waste, So let's do the Odyssey!''

References to other games

 * 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 the vocal theme song.
 * Super Mario Bros.: One part of the game allows Mario to walk around in a mural that uses sprites from that game.
 * NES Open Tournament Golf: One of Mario's outfits originates from this game.
 * Yoshi's Cookie: One of Mario's outfits originates from the NES version of this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country series: Characters' names from this series appear as street signs all over New Donk City such as Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, Rambi the Rhino, Expresso the Ostrich, Squawks the Parrot, Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong, and King K. Rool.
 * Mario's Picross: One of Mario's outfits originates from this game.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Super Mario Odyssey is the first 3D main series game since Super Mario Sunshine to feature open sandbox-style levels, as well as Mario's Dive move.
 * Wario World: When losing a life, the player must pay an amount of coins to resume playing a stage.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: The animation of Mario and Cappy getting a Grand Moon is similar to Mario getting a Grand Star in this game.
 * Super Mario Maker: One of Mario's outfits originates from this game. A sprite of Costume Mario's Cat Mario costume can be seen on the side of one of the skyscrapers in New Donk City.