History YMMV / SuperMarioOdyssey

** ''Odyssey'' comes on the heels of the already critically acclaimed ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld''. While ''3D World'' was already considered a vast improvement from its own top-notch (if comparatively debated) predecessor, ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', ''Odyssey'' is considered ''even more'' of an improvement due to its unique, creative characters and bizarre worlds and exploratory nature as well as having a bit more than your typical ExcusePlot, reaching the heights of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''.
*** ''Odyssey'' brings back the focus on story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial focus on the relationships between Mario, Peach, and Bowser; a plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', which many felt prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise, ''Odyssey''[='s=] Power Moons always feel creative and fair to collect, avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty that ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had, with the Moons completely achieving what the Green Stars tried to do.

** A few fans across the two franchises tend to state (jokingly or otherwise) that ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' "stole" from ''Mario'' in a number of ways, the most well-known being the style of ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'', which was often compared to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''[[note]]never mind that Sonic actually did it first in a level of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''[[/note]]. This time, it seems the plumber is the one taking a little inspiration from his ex-rival, if the comparisons made to ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' purely on the trailer seem to be any indication. The addition of a ''vocal theme song'', a first in ''Mario'' history, which Sonic games have been doing as early as ''1993'', only compounded the comparisons, as well as Mario's ability to curl up into a ball and roll to gain speed, one of Sonic's signature abilities. Also, Mario spills coins when he dies which can be recollected, similar to Sonic spilling rings upon taking damage, and Pauline's voice actress in this game, Creator/KateHiggins, previously provided the voice of Tails in ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''Lost World''. Odyssey even borrows heavily from ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', in the idea of a colorful mascot embarking on a world adventure with a cute little sidekick and an major gameplay gimmick centered around a transformation.

** ''Odyssey'' comes on the heels of the critically acclaimed ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld''. While ''3D World'' was already considered a vast improvement from its own top-notch (if comparatively debated) predecessor, ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', ''Odyssey'' is considered ''even more'' of an improvement due to its unique, creative characters and bizarre worlds and exploratory nature as well as having a bit more than your typical ExcusePlot, reaching the heights of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''.
** ''Odyssey'' is also considered to be one to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the prior adventure-themed 3D game in the franchise (not a hybrid 3D game that plays like a 2D game like ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''). ''Odyssey'' brings back the beloved story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial focus on the relationships between Mario, Peach, and Bowser; a plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''Galaxy 2'', which many felt prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise, ''Odyssey''[='s=] diverse Power Moons always feel creative, fair, and fun to collect, completely avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had that several weren't fond of, with the Moons truly achieving what the Green Stars tried to do.

* MagnificentBastard: In this game, [[Characters/SuperMarioBrosBowser Bowser]]'s scheme is to force Princess Peach to marry him on the moon, and he handily defeats Mario when he tries to stop him. When Mario and his new friend Cappy chase after him, Bowser and the Broodals go on a successful crime spree by stealing important items for the wedding from various kingdoms and forcing Mario to deal with the chaos left in their wake. Even when Mario catches up to Bowser, the Koopa King is able to get him off his tail by shooting down his ship, and then tames a powerful electric dragon to go after Mario when the plumber bounces back. Showing a lot more cunning than usual, Bowser [[NearVillainVictory leaves Mario in the dust time and time again]], never failing to look stylish in the process.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: This game has so many fun and catchy songs that it now has [[AwesomeMusic/SuperMarioOdyssey its own page]].
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[[folder:B]]
* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Broodals. Some view them as intriguing new characters and a welcome substitution for the Koopalings, Boom Boom, and Pom Pom, while others consider their fights too basic and feel their presence is no better than the Koopa underlings of before and that they could have been used again rather than inventing new characters.
* BestBossEver:

* BestLevelEver: ''So'' many.

** Small, non-capturable enemies like the yellow Goombas and the multi-colored Burrbos can be incredibly annoying due to their habit of attacking in large groups and respawning when defeated. Due to the fact that the Burrbos are TheSpiny and cannot be jumped on, they can become borderline DemonicSpiders if, for whatever reason, you encounter them in a place where it is difficult to throw Cappy at them. In fact, their presence makes certain sections of Culmina Crater way harder.

** While the Broodal BossRush on [[spoiler:the Dark Side on the Moon]] isn't too tough otherwise, the boss fight against Topper more than makes up for it due to the fact that the ''massive'' amount of hats he fights with can become a big problem in a hurry. Not only is it easy to be overwhelmed when he uses the attack where he sends them all spinning across the arena, but his hat slam and spin attack follow-up are tough to dodge due to coming out quick and covering a huge amount of ground. The moon physics certainly don't help, either. The worst part, however, is the fact that he's the ''first'' boss, meaning he's liable to eat up most of your health and make the remaining fights all the more difficult.

** ''Odyssey'' has gotten some very positive attention from fans of ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'', as both games aim to modernize the exploration-based style of 3D platformers that fell by the wayside by the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames Seventh Generation]]. However, with some of the mixed reception stemming from Yooka's throwback nature, some of this has degenerated into a FandomRivalry which proclaims that Odyssey is the "true" modernization of open-ended platformers, especially in the face of Odyssey's numerous [[AntiFrustrationFeatures quality-of-life features]] that would help make things less frustrating for the player, in comparison to Yooka's negligence to even address issues that have plagued games of its genre since the N64 days (like CameraScrew).

** A canceled UsefulNotes/PhilipsCDi game called "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds" would have featured Mario traveling through Earth-inspired levels. And "Jump Up, Super Star!" includes the lyric "this great wide ''wacky world''".

** At one point, Mario faces off against [[spoiler:a dragon known as the Ruined Dragon, whose character design seems like it came out of a decidedly less cartoony video game like ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''. Interestingly, Creator/CharlesMartinet, Mario's voice actor, also voiced a dragon from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', which has also become the first game in that series to be released on a Nintendo console. [[UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch The same one]] as this game, no less]].

** Mario has traveled outside of the Mushroom Kingdom in "strange new worlds". ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' featured multiple different kingdoms to save (which were thematically pretty similar, admittedly), and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' is centered around Mario and Luigi's adventures in the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom. Luigi has also done this in games like ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing''. And of course, the ''VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames'' series involves the characters participating in the real-world Olympics outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. And as far as crossovers go, Mario, Luigi, and Peach were {{Guest Fighter}}s in the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] versions of ''[[VideoGame/{{SSX}} SSX on Tour]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/EASportsStreet NBA Street V3]]'', both of which are set outside of the Mushroom Kingdom as well.

** The rematch against [[spoiler:Bowser after getting all 880 moons]] is not much tougher than the original, despite being a BonusBoss. [[spoiler:His attack pattern remains largely the same, and the only differences from the original fight are Bowser's defensive tactics. After throwing three fireballs, he will jump away, making it harder to land the initial punch, and it takes more punches and tail swings before he's down for the count. At this point, a player would already be familiar with his attack pattern, and these changes don't fundamentally change how the battle plays out, so he's not much more difficult than the original version.]]

* EvilIsSexy: [[EveryoneLovesBlondes Hariet]] [[CuteAndPsycho Broodal]] seems to have this appeal to her judging by all of the various fanart of her.

* CatharsisFactor: This game allows you to capture and use the abilities of some of the more frustrating Mario enemies, such as the Hammer Bros. and Chargin' Chucks.

** ''Odyssey'' is also considered to be one to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the prior adventure-themed 3D game in the franchise (not a Hybrid 3D game that plays like a 2D game like ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''). ''Odyssey'' brings back the beloved story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial focus on the relationships between Mario, Peach, and Bowser; a plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''Galaxy 2'', which many felt prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise, ''Odyssey''[='s=] diverse Power Moons always feel creative, fair, and fun to collect, completely avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had that several weren't fond of, with the Moons truly achieving what the Green Stars tried to do.

** While "Jump Up, Super Star" is the first vocal song to appear in a mainline console game, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' had the first vocal song in the series in its Remix 10 update, which added a voiced theme song for the mode (released in September 2017 while ''Super Mario Odyssey'' was released in October 2017). The idea of Mario characters doing vocal songs even goes further back to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFyxnYpIIQY "Save Me With Your Charm"]], a song sung by Daisy on a disco album released in the 90s. She has a British accent. And the idea of using a lyrical song ''in'' a Mario game goes as far back as the "DK Rap" from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' in 1999.

** While "Jump Up, Super Star" is the first vocal song to appear in an actual game in the main series, the idea of Mario characters doing vocal songs goes back to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFyxnYpIIQY "Save Me With Your Charm"]], a song sung by Daisy on a disco album released in the 90s. She has a British accent. And the idea of using a lyrical song ''in'' a Mario game goes as far back as the "DK Rap" from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' in 1999.

*** Then there are those who believe [[spoiler:Peach [[IDontWantToRuinOurFriendship merely sees Mario as a friend]]]].

** ''Odyssey'' is also considered to be one to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the prior adventure-themed 3D game in the franchise. ''Odyssey'' brings back the beloved story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial focus on the relationships between Mario, Peach, and Bowser; a plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''Galaxy 2'', which many felt prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise, ''Odyssey''[='s=] diverse Power Moons always feel creative, fair, and fun to collect, completely avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had that several weren't fond of, with the Moons truly achieving what the Green Stars tried to do.

** ''Odyssey'' is also considered to be one to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the prior completely 3D game in the franchise (''3D World'' and ''3D Land'' are 2D-3D Hybrid games). ''Odyssey'' brings back the beloved story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial, really important to Mario's, Peach's, and Bowser's relationship, plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''Galaxy 2'', which many felt prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise ''Odyssey''[='s=] diverse Power Moons always feel creative, fair, and fun to collect, completely avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had that several weren't fond of, with the Moons truly achieving what the Green Stars tried to do.

** Similar to [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Bowser's car]], [[SharpDressedMan Bowser's suit]] has received a lot of positive fan reception.

** The ending did NOT go down well with long-time fans, who were divided over Mario trying to propose to Peach and making a scene in front of her, with her kidnapper Bowser, no less. Some felt Peach was being an [[UngratefulBastard Ungrateful Bitch]] for her general coldness towards her rescuer. Others felt Mario was having an OutOfCharacterMoment, and only saves the princess, ''because it's the right thing to do'', and forcing such an commitment upon her like that, was the kind of absurd entitlement ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' made a parody of, nearly ten years prior.

* BrokenBase: Does ''Odyssey'' have too much content? Criticism of ''Odyssey'' highlights the game's rather bloated nature, with almost 900 moons to collect from challenges and such. Many have noted that you could cut the vast majority of these moons and nothing of value would be lost, since dozens upon dozens of them are barely challenging to reach in the first place and often repeat content found in other Kingdoms. Some argue that dropping the moon count to roughly 300 or 400 would make the game more fun to play and have better pacing as well. Others argue that having this many moons to collect turns the game into a meditative, fun experience, and 100-percenting the game isn't something that should be done in one sitting, and that after the resident BrutalBonusLevel (locked behind 500 moons), no new content is added past that.

** ''Odyssey'' is also considered to be one to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the prior completely 3D game in the franchise (''3D World'' and ''3D Land'' are 2D-3D Hybrid games). ''Odyssey'' brings back the beloved story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial, really important to Mario's, Peach's, and Bowser's relationship, plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''Galaxy 2'', which many felt their removing prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise ''Odyssey''[='s=] diverse Power Moons always feel creative, fair, and fun to collect, completely avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had that several weren't fond of, with the Moons truly achieving what the Green Stars tried to do.

** ''Odyssey'' is also considered to be one to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the prior completely 3D game in the franchise (''3D World'' and ''3D Land'' are 2D-3D Hybrid games). ''Odyssey'' brings back the beloved story elements from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with a substantial, really important to Mario's, Peach's, and Bowser's relationship, plot of its own after being replaced with a complete ExcusePlot in ''Galaxy 2'', with many feeling their removing prevented the game from being on par with the original; and gameplay-wise its diverse Power Moons always feel fair and fun to collect, completely avoiding the FakeLongevity and FakeDifficulty ''Galaxy 2''[='s=] Green Stars had that several weren't fond of, with the game truly achieving with the Moons what they tried to do with the Green Stars.