Gameplay (10/10)

The gameplay is truly mesmerising. The controls are near perfection, the game’s graphics and visuals are stunning, and the amount of freedom the player has at their disposal is simply unbelievable.

The game, as per usual, revolves around Bowser stealing Peach and Mario chasing to rescue her. Nothing special here. The game’s gimmick lies in the ally Mario obtains at the beginning of the game: Cappy (a sentient hat-ghost that possesses Mario’s iconic cap). With their newly formed alliance and shared goal of rescuing someone from Bowser, the two journey off in the partially-broken flying ship known as “The Odyssey”. Now, the feature that Cappy brings to the game is the new ability to have Mario throw his hat at objects/people/enemies, where it lands on their heads and allows the player to CONTROL them. That’s right. Goombas, Hammer Bros, Cooper Troppers, giant clouds, a T-Rex, even a tree! They’re yours to command. And each capture offers the player different abilities. For example, Goombas can stack on top of each other to reach new heights. Hammer Bros can jump high and throw hammers. Cheep cheeps let you breath and swim underwater. The list goes on!

In order to keep the Odyssey in the air, “Power Moons” are required to recharge and repair the ship. Thus, the game revolves around searching for Power Moons in a number of exotic, unique locations.

There are 999 Power Moons in the game. The player only needs approximately 120 to complete the game. Yep, the game has that much variety. “Don’t feel like getting that moon? That’s fine, come get this one instead.” This freedom accommodates a number of different approaches to the game and a number of different play styles.

Controlling Mario is fantastic in this game. From triple jumps, to ground-pound-boosted jumps. From rolling, to throwing your hat in front of you mid-air so that you can jump towards it, bounce on it and fly further forward. Yeah… it’s that crazy. This is the game’s main strength, in my opinion, because without the various options for controlling Mario there would be no way to allow various play styles, thus the large selection of moons wouldn’t even matter that much.

The staggeringly huge choice of Power Moons to collect paired with the amazing controls is like a match made in heaven.