I’d have liked to hear a bit more reasoning behind his thoughts!

Personally Zelda exceeded nearly all my expectations. I won’t fight anyone over it, but I really think it’s a phenomenal creation that continually had me in awe. I don’t think I’ve ever found a video game world so compelling.

Mario on the other hand... I think there’s a lot of really great stuff in there, but the way it’s all put together left me somewhat wanting.

It’s a toybox in every sense of the word; overflowing with all manner of colourful goodies, but sort of thrown together at random with some of the best stuff buried at the bottom under piles of duplicates you’re not really interested in.

Compared to the more streamlined experience of the Galaxy games, Odyssey seems to have a lot more downtime where you’re not doing much more than running around looking for something (while not being entirely sure what). I guess you could call this ‘exploring’, but often it feels too vague and aimless to really warrant the term. I think of ‘exploring’ as an active and engaging act, not just passively wandering around hoping to bump into something.

Certain worlds do get around this problem; the Lost Kingdom is not only denser than average, but littered with traps and challenges that actually require you to make the most of Mario’s marvellous move set. The satisfaction of simply manipulating Mario is something Odyssey really excels at, but the frequently flat, challenge-less levels don’t really provide much necessity to use it. The Lost Kingdom is constantly asking you to dig into the game’s mechanics, and its verticality provides a genuine sense of progression as you work your way up the mountain. This high-rise design also prevents it becoming too sprawling or sparse, making for one of Odyssey’s tightest levels. Bowser’s Kingdom also does a good job of constantly giving you something to do, and the Forest Kindom isn’t bad. But really, I felt the whole experience could have done with some tightening up.

Another thing that robs the game some sense of achievement is equating random exploratory moons with challenge moons. It makes the whole experience feel a little flat when the reward for completing a genuinely tough piece of platforming is equal to the one you found rummaging through the dustbins outside. I know games like Banjo-Kazooie and DK64 have been criticised for having too many types of collectibles, but I feel Odyssey could have done with something more to differentiate the moons you find lying around from the ones you actually need to work for.