5/5 ★ – craiglezzz's review of Super Mario Odyssey.

I beat this game in its entirety back when it released in 2017, and it was right up there with the Mario Galaxy games for my favorite 3D Mario game. Recently, my fiance and I revisited this masterpiece and managed to completely 100% the game. I can now say without a doubt that this is my favorite Mario game that I've played to date. Period. The first reason that I hold this opinion is simply the way that Mario controls. All of his classic 3-D moves return in Odyssey, which include the triple jump, long jump, spin-jump etc. They're enhanced, however, by Cappy and the capture mechanics. Using Cappy can increase your long jump, help you reach higher places, or capture an enemy to reach an area that isn't accessible by Mario himself. This increase in movement variation mixed with the super tight controls creates a game where Mario feels absolutely flawless to control. It is fun to simply run around and try out different combinations of moves, even when you don't have a set objective. The second thing that makes this the best 3-D Mario game is the way that the game is structured. With 880 power moons found throughout Odyssey's 17 unique Kingdoms, there is no shortage of content for either casual players or completionists. Add to that 119 additional power moons that can be purchased at the in-game shops, a multitude of costumes and souvenirs to buy from each kingdom, and over 50 enemies to find and capture, and you will find a game that has no shortage of content. This game handles a collect-a-thon in the best way possible. While there are so many different things to collect, the game only forces you to lightly engage in each to beat the main story, and the rest is entirely up to the player. This allows casual players to finish the game with very minimal difficulty, while veterans are able to seek out more difficult moons or kingdom-specific coins to try and prove their level of skill. There is also a wealth of post-game content that entices the player to keep exploring long after the credits have stopped rolling. And quite frankly, who would ever want to stop exploring these beautiful kingdoms?