Super Mario Odyssey - Busted Buttons Ep. 22

Red and I talk Nintendo Switch's Super Mario Odyssey the entire podcast. It's one of our favorite Super Mario games.

We dive into the gameplay and discuss some of the moves along with all of the capture abilities that Cappy can grant us. We also discuss some of the 2D retro areas that take us back to the original Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

We then tackle the story around Bowser, Broodals, Princess Peach, Mario, and Toad. Being that it's a Mario game, there isn't much to talk about when it comes to the story.

Afterwards, we get to the meat of our podcast, the kingdoms!! Red and I go through all the kingdoms and give you our opinions on each.

We end with a discussion on some of the bosses in the game, including the final boss Bowser.

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Transcript

Hick: 0:17

Welcome to Episode 22 of the Busted Buttons video game podcast. And man we got a fun one today we are telling you all for a while that we're going to start talking about franchises more in particular certain games. I guess the game could be on its own it's not really a franchise if there's well guess actually there's only one game it would be franchise anyway. That doesn't matter today because we want to have some fun. We're talking about one game today in only one game. A fantastic game. Super Mario Odyssey low podcast long it's gonna be a blast. Well, if you played it if you haven't played it, you're not gonna really liked this episode very much. So I tell you just to wait till the next one. Talk about the gameplay, the story the kingdoms were read you put worlds on the damn outline. It's kingdoms man, it also the boss fight. So like say, Man, I'm excited cuz like we told you all we really like we really want to talk about the games like in depth, and also the franchises and we just we haven't had really like you know, our lives are busy. So we haven't had a chance to sit down and really just research games as much as we want to buy said read. I want to talk to them. Super Mario Odyssey I know really excited. So read. Let's go. Hey, I'll cook it over to you. I guess we're gonna start off with some gameplay conscious go into that and what you thought about it was Super Mario Odyssey. Well, first and foremost, I have an absolute love hate relationship with Super Mario Odyssey. I love it. Because it's one of the best Mario games of all time. It's one of my favorite platforming games of all time. Back in 2017. For our TGPZ Video Game Awards, I actually voted Mario Odyssey as my game of the year over Breath of the Wild. That's how much I love it. But I have a little bit of hatred for it. And this is not Mario Odysseys fault at all. I had collected 877 of the unique 880 moons there's to get in this fucking game.

Red: 2:18

And my Nintendo Switch fucking fried on me. I was pissed. But so I will always have an absolute love for Mario Odyssey. But I also

Hick: 2:29

Yeah, I don't know. I don't feel sorry for you, because you're too damn cheap to buy the Nintendo Switch online, which we cloud are not going to go into today. But if you weren't so cheap, it was paid$20 that issue would have never happened. It wouldn't have But no,

Red: 2:43

in all seriousness, I really do consider Mario Odyssey to be not only one of the best Mario games, one of the best platformers and like I said, 2017 it was my favorite game. Yeah, of the year, even over even over Breath of the Wild, which is saying something. I mean, we're tgp z. I mean, that's where we started Zelda and I still loved Mario Odyssey. But like you said the gameplay. I have never played a video game that controls as well and is precise and just feels as good to play as Super Mario Odyssey. Like to me, I think, you know, gameplay when it comes to Mario games is the most important aspect. I mean, there's minimal story, there's minimal, you know, depth, whatever, but the gameplay is what really matters. And I can say hands down, I have never played a game that controls as well as Mario Odyssey does. And that is what really sets it so far up above and beyond, you know, just so many other games for me, just I love how smooth it is how precise it is, like just controlling Mario is an absolute joy. And is that something you experienced when you played it?

Hick: 3:48

You know, definitely. And that's what like, you know, we kind of talked about this in the past couple episodes, whichever one it was, like we're talking about can Nintendo compete with like, you know, Xbox and PlayStation is Super Mario Odyssey is a great example that like Nintendo knows their shit and they know how to do it. I'm not gonna say perfectly but Super Mario Odyssey in the way that the gameplay controlled was almost as perfect like you said it's any game that I've ever played, like just all the like, you know, all the moves that you could do like he said the fluidity, like how smooth everything was and all the moves and how smooth those moves were they were some of them were not easy moves like your path you're running, jumping to it then bouncing off of that cap, and it just feels so natural. So like a big nod to Super Mario Odyssey. It didn't get like you know, not that awards matter. Um, it's a game that I don't think got the recognition it deserved a lot that was because of Breath of the Wild. Of course, of course when it was every day and war award. So can we deserved well deserved? Yeah, being selfish. I kind of wish you had been released later. Not the top, but I wish nowadays it would have been released at a later date because, like said, Look, people love it. A lot. People have played it but it just doesn't get the recognition. Sometimes that think it deserves but you know first of all Cappy what a huge innovation in the game just a great idea to like use your CAD to you know first of all use as platform it's like jump over areas and do certain moves which I didn't actually figure out how to do the whole throws cabin bounce off of it until I was playing through just like run through today kind of preparing for this podcast till today so wow the hell I was doing you know the first 70 out of you got like wow, but then like just the controlling the enemies like that was such a great mechanic and McCain I really never thought about but I'm sure it's a mechanic that many people have thought about and really wanted since the first Marvel games like the ability to be these other characters or enemies in the game we see a lot nowadays like you know people want to be know have the choice of either a male character or a female character or you know plays like you know, nom NPCs even though they're not playable, you know, sometimes they won't play as those non playable characters just basically get inside a different type of body in Mario Odyssey allowed allowed us to do that and it wasn't like one or two peep enemies that you could actually they weren't all enemies there was some that you could get you're like, oh, not healers that you know, just helped you mean you know what, but not scout the area so they helped me see farther. So they weren't all enemies but like, you know, like I said, it wasn't just one or two like, you know, it wasn't like a small gimmick. Like there was I don't know exactly, but I want to say somewhere in the 40s of capture abilities that you could do. Oh just they were so unique and they were also different in the added really so much to the game so just really a huge innovation by Nintendo right there on the whole Cappy thing.

Red: 6:44

It really was and like in pass Mario games you know, you could have diff going all the way back to I think Mario Brothers three for the original NES you could have different suits different outfits that gave you power ups and I think this the capture mechanic and every single enemy having or like said not just enemies but anything you control had a different kind of like attack or ability and I think it really took the the concept of wearing the different suits I mean, you think the two Nuki suit the Frog Suit like all these the cat suit like all these classic suits from Mario games and instead of like you being able to wear those suits use capture the enemy and everyone was so perfectly tuned to the level you're in and that's that's where Nintendo nails that charm and that level design is like it wasn't just they threw enemies into a level and said okay, capture them whatever know every single enemy that you could take over or NPC like you said whatever, in a level like was designed for that level. And it was just amazingly well done. And and you hit on this like the platforming and the jumping that you can do with Cappy. I mean, I like you

Hick: 7:56

can figure it out or you were actually playing the game.

Red: 7:59

And I get like a lot of these moves have been around like all the way back as far as Mario 64 like you've had the long jump, you've had ground pound you know, you've had a little bit of the wall jump and the somersaults all that stuff that's been there since Mario 64. But I feel like Mario Odyssey took those moves and let you combo them together, like so. Well, it took me a long time to learn a few of the moves like you mentioned, yeah, but just being able to like a long jump, and then throw the cap, dive to the cap and jump off of it again. Like it felt so good when you learn how to pull that

Hick: 8:33

off. And it Yeah, I didn't do that one. That was a little bit above my abilities I guess.

Red: 8:38

But it didn't necessarily like open up new items because the game is accessible The game is an accessible game, there are some of the moons that you had to have some pretty complex you know moves to get to I can tell you I found 877 of the damn things but like just the freedom that it gave you to string your moves together and to use not just your own natural jumping but also then putting caffeine in there I thought it was like the capturing enemies might be a one off thing I get that like Nintendo innovates every iteration with all of their games Mario is no different but I hope I really hope they bring back like using the cap to jump like just you know throw your cat and jump off of it was such it opened up so much and in this one isn't really like related to the cat jumping but like one of my favorite Mario moves going back all the way back to Mario 64 is just the wall jumping where you just jump off the wall is back and forth back and forth and like doing that to climb like the skyscrapers you know anything like that where you can just wall jump all the way up. It just it felt so right and so natural and it's just a I'm gushing about this gameplay because I do believe it controls like I said as good as any game at all time. But you know, I What, what did you have some of you like your favorite enemies or opponents that you liked. Capturing control because control Mario was great but man taking over some of the enemies was a lot of fun to

Hick: 10:07

Bullet Bill first of all bill I love taking over that one um the T rex even though it's not been a common enemy and games How can you not love controlling the T rex and then the one in the bouncers Kingdom I forgot the name I wrote Tokyo yeah pokeo that one was a ton of fun I don't don't I think it was in me actually. Um, but you don't have them all in front of me which ones you could capture but yeah, definitely like even though you couldn't do much with the Goomba it was still cool to be a Goomba and then in the wooded Kingdom you had the upwards I thought the upwards or one like just a fantastic idea in the to the way they used them for like platforming and also to fight enemies. Like that was just a great idea. So the binoculars you know, just go and strip in the air. Those were cool the look around the entire kingdom. Yeah, the pylons. Like why, you know, you hit that like button, not light bulb, but um, you know, but I'm like, in that would take you up like a line, you could go to like other buildings or like, you know, a other place. Not any other place, but to a certain place. Yep. In that kingdom. Like, there were just so many mechanics, you know, that were cool. Like, you know, even the worm or the caterpillar or wherever you want to call it in the last week loom wigler Yeah, he said, here's the thing. Like, there were some that weren't that great, but they were all different. So like, you know, while they weren't great, they did something different, like in the game. And so that, you know, just add another sense of, you know, kind of using the same words here uniqueness in the game. So, like I said, when I first saw the trailer, and like, saw them kind of tight, you know, as they revealed more and more, I kind of thought that, you know, like said, I didn't think there was going to actually be that many like, you know, you maybe saw 10 or so before the game came out. And then main you got into the game like damn, there's actually a lot capture ability. So um, I can mine Like I said, I can't think, folks we did some research, but we're not going to research and know every single damn thing in the game. But um, did you have any day like really stood out to you? Well, you hit a few of my favorites. I mean, the T rex just because of its destructive abilities, like Bullet Bill was a blast. pokeo was so much fun and bouncers castle, like just using it to climb like some of the walls and stuff.

Red: 12:23

One of my favorites that you didn't mention, though, was the tank show. Yeah, as its name like, especially in New York City, you take over these tanks, and you just, it's just fun. Like there's nothing like controlling a tank and blasting the absolute shit out of every enemy obstacle that you encounter. So I did love the tank. The other one I really loved was the hammer brother. Like cuz you could just throw tons and tons of hammers and there were not in a lot of levels. But man, those were the two but you hit on a few of my favorites. Like as soon as you came out and said Bullet Bill T Rex pokeo I'm like, dude, you and I are on the same page.

Hick: 12:58

You also had the fire boss to like you know not only do a lot but that's been an enemy since the very first Mario games so yeah, we're takeover him in like really nothing his perspective is any different. But just like you knew you were inside his body so yes, that that like it made you like realize how the game like what he's been feeling since the very first game. I don't know why we're talking about these people. Like they're real. But anyways, like, you know, just put you in his eyes. Yeah, like it wasn't a big deal. But it's cool. Another one that I love was the lava bubble in the lunch. Because the watching kingdom is big. But when you take over that lava bubble, and you can go all throughout the lava, the lunching Kingdom becomes humongous. So yes, that was some more I thought about while you were talking, I don't know. Can you think of any more that you liked?

Red: 13:43

Those were the big ones. For me like the chain shops. I thought were kind of fun, because you could use them to bust through blocks and stuff like that, but they're chained up. So they're their usefulness is a little bit limited. Those, those were definitely my favorites. But man, it's hard to talk about the gameplay of Odyssey and not talk about one thing that I thought was an amazing throwback to the old days of Mario, the 2d sections. I loved that you could enter these 2d sections and for the most part, they weren't big areas. They weren't complex areas, but like you get the music change to that for like that. Music and you go back to sidescrolling Mario and I absolutely love those sections. I wish there were more of them most worlds had a couple of them but did you enjoy the the 2d sections that we got?

Hick: 14:27

Oh, definitely because it was a throwback like you said to the original Mario and I'm glad they went with that instead of like Mario three. Yeah, Mario three was a great game they were there's no way in hell they're gonna do Mario too. So yeah, I absolutely love because like you said, first of all, the theme change to that retro like, you know, eight bit sound. Absolutely love that. And just yeah, it was cool. And, you know, I liked it so much because it was just a nod to that first game. Like, you know, just saying, Hey, we see you we still remember you. We respect you. And like that's just, it was not something they had to do like the game would have been great. Without those 2d sections, and like you said, they weren't very long, but they just, you know, it was just cool. It was just cool. And then when you get to new dog city, and they had a festival and acessible is all 2d, and then you get to that point where you like, you know, you had the old Donkey Kong or Tony's barrels and stuff. Like that was just awesome, because that was a nod to before the first Super Mario Brothers really dead in a donkey kong arcade game. That's where Mario start is. So like, you know, we Suzanne's young

Red: 15:28

man back then he wasn't even Mario.

Hick: 15:30

Yeah. And then we also have some Mario 64 references, you know, not as many but you know, basically we get the Mushroom Kingdom. That was a reference you also had the Mario 64 outfit. I'm not sure if there's a Was there any more than that, that you could think of? Like, like,

Red: 15:43

those are the big ones. Like you said, we do unlock Mushroom Kingdom after you beat the game like the Mario 64 outfit was nice. You know, that was the original transition to 3d Mario. But beyond that there weren't a whole lot but man, I'm glad you mentioned that festival of new dog city. Like

Unknown: 15:57

That

Red: 15:58

was one of my absolute favorite moments of this game. Like you do the sidescrolling you get the Donkey Kong the song like that they sing there. It's and it's jump up superstars, the name of it on the soundtrack. And it's it's just such a fun song in such a fun segment. And the whole time you're doing it like you literally get that very first Donkey Kong level. And it just it was such a nostalgic throwback to those of us who kind of you know, we grew up with video games back in the early mid 80s. I mean, that was I mean granted took us a little longer before he really you know, understood what was going on. Yeah, but you know, we're not young anymore. So it's like like just seeing that throwback I'm so glad you mentioned like that festival, new dog city. What am I absolute absolute favorite parts of the entire game. But you know, the gameplay obviously is amazing. But we we kind of have to talk a little bit about the story. Even though in a Mario game there's you know, there's Yeah, that story, let's be honest. But what did you think of the story that they came up with for Mario Odyssey

Hick: 16:58

I met that was a little bit better because like usually it's just on a browser kid and I have speech and that's really it. Like in in Mario goes into a speech like this one had like the wedding element. So like, more story, like he said, Mario games don't have a lot of story, but that's okay, because they never have had a last story they like, well, we expect for Mario games when we get a Mario game. We don't expect a great story. We expect great platforming, but I did like they added a little bit like you know, they had the whole wedding thing. And then bouncer was going between these kingdoms to basically get these items for his wedding. Like where there be a cakes, like you know, dresses, etc. So yep, you know, and I don't know that the airship was really much of the story. But I did just love that airship. So I assume that's where a lot of the cutscenes took place. I guess that's what I'm thinking. But like, say very simple story. That's how I like my Mario games. But we did have a little bit more of an element with the whole wedding thing going on. So I guess the story had more purpose than not that there was a lot of purpose. Yeah, but it had more purpose other than Hey, bouncer kidnet peach bang, Margo rescue Odessa game. So I enjoyed all that. And then you come to Cathedral at the very end on the moon. I thought that was awesome. Like you said, not much this story. Not much talk about we're not gonna spend a lot of time on it. But kind of go ahead and give your opinions if you have any more on the story.

Red: 18:20

I mean, I generally agree with you. I mean, it was a little more substantial, like you said than we normally get you have a Mario game which is you know, that's an A pretty damn low. Yeah, but but I did like how it gave us an excuse to visit each of the different worlds like you said, You You go to collect a cake, a dress, a ring, the champagne, like, but they were all tied to the worlds that you were visiting. So it made sense that you were chasing Balthazar and the bertels is that what they're Yeah, brutal, sorry. Brutal look real quick. I'm like, so it makes sense that you're chasing them because bows was trying to get all his wedding gear together. And you're following behind him. So I did like that it gave us a little more of an excuse to visit these worlds. Not that we needed in a Mario game. You could just say, Hey, here's all the worlds get the power moons call it a day. But like I did like that the story at least gave us a bare bones reason to go do it. And like Mario Sanders, like you said, it's a little bit better story.

Hick: 19:19

Yeah, then I got questions. Because like the brunos were different than the Koopa troopas. Like, you know, Ludwig, and I forgot, Stacy. I don't know the names are more, you know, most games I don't know if they're in every single game, but we've always gotten the Koopa troopas they're kind of like bouncers, minions or whatever. Yeah, so did you like to bertels more than the Koopa troopas? Or would you rather had to Koopa troopas in the story and in the gameplay?

Red: 19:45

I I'm down for something new Don't get me wrong and the fights with the brutal were actually pretty fun. A great I'm just so used to having the Cooper trip. And that involves like the ones all the way back from Mario three. Like you said, You got the Morton the Ludwig You know all of them. Yep. And it was different and I and yeah, fighting rabbits is whatever but it didn't make a lot of sense to me in terms of you know, the quote unquote lore. Yeah, there's not a lot of lore and there's not let's be honest but you know it was I'm glad they did something a little different there you know, of course all their attacks being like hat based made sense with what they're going for with Cappy and everything, but I think they could have done that with more traditional cheese Mario's. Oh, my brain just totally blacked out anyway, with more traditional Mario enemies like the Koopa troopas instead of going with the whole new Bruno's, but you know, at the same time it made for fun fights. I enjoyed the boss fights with all of them, you know, but I would have rather seen a little bit more of a throwback to the Koopa troopa like you said, the Morton's the Ludwig. Yeah, you know, all of them. So I'm 100 we have all these other throwbacks

Hick: 20:54

already so No, why not? Just keep the Cooper's in there but like you said, I am kind of a fan of like you know something new. I think I agree with you i think i would have rather had to Koopa troopas but you're not gonna hear sit here and complain that much about Super Mario Odyssey On this episode, but you know what story let's get out of the way we talked about it we addressed it we don't need to spend any more time on it. What about the kingdoms not the world read the kingdom or the kingdoms? Yeah, but let's kind of talk and this is kind of this probably will take up the majority of the podcasts or the rest of the podcasts we might talk about some boss fights and some other things but I mean the kingdoms that's where this game really stood out. And we're gonna we're gonna kind of go through them in order a little bit. But um, okay now first of all the kingdom this this is the worst starting Kingdom or world or level in my opinion anymore. Oh game like Yeah, not okay, understand the concept of Cappy. Like you know, I understood the code the whole concept of the cap kingdom and why they put it first but did you add to make it so black and white and so dark? Like I just I don't think of it like one think of a first Mario I'm just gonna call it a level for now. level that's not what I think about so now here's the thing I didn't really have a problem with the kingdom there wasn't a lot to it, but it's more of a rural area so like you know, there's not going to be a lot of it like just that was a bad starting area in my opinion of cat kingdom. What are your opinions?

Red: 22:20

I'm with you and to be honest like to have the first three kingdoms Yeah, the cat Kingdom bonnington and you had the same kingdom was the third one and two of the first three kingdoms were boring, and kind of dull like it was boring. I thought it was like it was a girl now

Hick: 22:37

when we get to that one,

Red: 22:39

but I really thought they'd come out swinging a little stronger than they did because you know it's a beautiful new engine it's a new system with the switch and like the Mario looks great the characters look great cafe looks great like and then they drop you in this like black and white area and like I said, it's basically a tutorial i get that but man bonnington was just I remember getting in there to start the game and being like really this Yeah, this is what we're dealing with. Thankfully, I'm not gonna spend too much time on bonnington because I'm with you. Yeah, I thought it was ugly bland, black

Hick: 23:11

hole fog mechanic was very cool though mechanic was

Red: 23:14

cool and like I said it was a good tutorial but man then you get to the cascade Kingdom second Oh, fossil falls and that was beautiful like you get the you know the fossils obviously fossil falls you get the T rex you get the waterfalls like cascade kingdom to me was where like the game really started out and you got to see the beauty of it put some of those mechanics good use. What did you think in the cascade kingdom?

Hick: 23:37

This like you said that was really this should have been the very first one like yeah, I understand the reason that they had a cat kingdom. But you know, we don't you know, everything has to make sense. In a Mario game. Don't call that one thing, Mario. That's kind of what think of with first levels. And here's something that we saw throughout the entire game, like some of the backdrops Okay, like the kingdoms You know, they're some of them are big, but for the most part, like, you know, compared like open world gaming, oh, they were very small. Some of the backdrops in these kingdoms were absolutely spectacular. And yeah, the cascade kingdom is a great example of that. But just I mean, when you got there in you know, can go now off topic, but here's what pisses me off actually about this whole game I was going through today. This is a 4k q LED TV, and oh my God, oh, my God, cascade Kingdom looks spectacular. So all I'm saying is, I wish you would have had a fork even though it's only like in 10 ap, I wish I would have had a 4k because it still makes the game look better. But anyway, it does get back to the cascade kingdom. Like don't you there the beauty of it just kind of introducing, yeah, cat Kingdom introduce you to the game. But then like the cascade Kingdom kind of pushing along farther, and then spam that T rex and like getting to control that because we saw that very, really early on. So I'm glad that they gave us the ability to capture him early on. But um, what are your thoughts on the cat or not the cat kingdom, the cascade kingdom?

Red: 25:05

Well, like I said, I mean, I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was like where they unleashed you with your powers controlling the T rex was just amazing. And we saw that, like you said early on in the trailers, we knew we could do it. I was shocked. We got to do it so soon, but it also gave us another brutal fight. You know, it gave us some of the you know, the good platforming. And like you said, some of the backgrounds were absolutely amazing. Like, just beyond the level, like just looking around at the horizon. Like cascade kingdom was one another one that really stood out and obviously we'll get to it eventually. But like, the, the seaside kingdom was another one where you look out and it's just like a beautiful, beautiful area beyond where you can go but now I enjoyed cascade kingdom. I like the fossils. I like the waterfalls, if you've listened to us enough on this podcast, you know, we love waterfalls. Yeah, on top of that, yeah, but let's get to the one that apparently we're gonna disagree a little bit about here, the San Kingdom toast arena. I thought it looked and like I said, I like I like desert areas and Zelda games. But for some reason, I was not a fan of just the bland read look of toast arena, but you barely liked it. So give me your thoughts on that.

Hick: 26:12

First of all, I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about. But you sit here talking about like read play and saying Yes, that is true. It does have some red bland saying. So the very first things that you hit in that kingdom is a extremely colorful village. So I don't know what the hell you're talking about. That village is absolutely beautiful. It's not one of the most colorful things in the game because of man. There was a lot of great colors and just eautiful areas in Super Mario Odyssey but that village right there. I mean for me that broke it up but overall I thought sand kingdom was an amazing kingdom. You know, it's kind of the second Kingdom like we seen. Technically. Yes, it is the third one but I don't like tutorials. Which is what we get in like almost every single Mario game almost said Zelda right there. We talk so much what we're talking about what I'm talking about, but for me, okay, like First of all, the kingdom was huge is one of the biggest kingdoms game I believe it has, if not the most power moons it's up there towards the top but just Okay, first of all, I actually love the red sand because it looked different than like, you know, regular saying, you know, depending on where you're at, I think most things kind of like you know, like tan or brownish so it may look a little bit different then he had the colorful village some great platforming throughout. And then you had the inverted pyramid. I thought the same Kingdom you know, huge hell power moons Yes, it was like you know, had a solid red color but also had a colorful village and the inverted pyramid I did you know that the kinome was absolutely fantastic. So read I think you're wrong, but you know what I do respect your opinion. So I will allow you to talk about that kingdom now.

Red: 27:54

Well, like I said, I just thought it was just bland right off the bat even with the village everything you were right the inverted pyramid was awesome and like the yellow change when you get in there and it's actually an icy area was a great contrast to the actual like sand of the rest of it. But you know, all in all, it was just it was just mad for me but you know, I gotta say the neck Well, you're wrong. It wouldn't be the first time it would not be the first time but the next game we got to though I think we could both agree was just gorgeous. The late Gundam like you get in there and I've always loved water levels in the 3d Mario game was like going back in the woody kingdom. I think you had option I think you could do either one.

Hick: 28:35

Okay, yeah. Oh, yeah, I think I do remember that. Okay, go ahead. Well,

Red: 28:38

the next one I went to was the lake because I'm like, hey, water levels in 3d Mario games have always been beautiful. Like I've loved them all the way going back to Mario 64 Yep, I jumped right into like, Lake lamode is what it's called. I thought it was gorgeous. It was a smaller level which is a kind of a nice change of pace. It had less moons less of the collectibles. I thought it was beautiful. Thought it was gorgeous. What did you think of

Hick: 29:01

Lake lamode Okay, first of all swimming as a cheap cheap that was unbelievable one that yeah, that's your abilities we didn't mention at the very beginning when was one of my favorite ones because it was just so much better obviously to swim through the water Yeah, he said wasn't a lot to the area wasn't too big. It looked gorgeous water levels always look gorgeous and Mario games the music it had a fantastic relaxing tone in glow. I absolutely love that glow that you go down into and I love that when you get into it there's no water inside of it so you can kind of go around as Mario inside of a globe inside of a lake Kingdom so not a lot to it did look beautiful was very relaxing. um you know that's really all there is to it. But and then let's go to the next one which will actually know the wooded sea. I'm all messed up because my kingdoms are separate from what yours are the one Kingdom Let's go there. That place will probably both agree on this one then Place was absolutely beautiful and it was so different from any other place that we been like in a Mario game like First of all, it's inside like an IT LOOKS LIKE if you look at the backdrop it's like an evergreen globe I guess you would say it's

Red: 30:12

ever saw the movie biodome with frickin Pauly Shore back in the day. It looked like we were in a biodome.

Hick: 30:17

Yeah what it looks like but I mean just like going through the forest and getting to this like steam facility or wherever you want to call it, like I don't know what it was about that level, but just I actually I do know what it was. It was all the flowers like the flowers just made that place look beautiful. They were all over the place. But you know, there's a lot of forest then you had this orange facility, which I think is really stood out in that area like Indiana made it pop. And then like you all know us, like in the people and you assholes on YouTube that always want to talk about Yo, so Berta Cody in like 20,000 this video. We know we do 100 cuts so we don't know what the fuck we say in some of our videos, but anywhere verticality. I love the verticality of the wooded Kingdom like the 101 a lot of verticality in this game, but be able to go to the top and just see everything the woody Kingdom beautiful me absolutely loved it. What are your feelings?

Red: 31:13

I love it too. I thought it had a unique look compared to the rest of the game. It was one of the more confusing levels I thought though I got lost in the wooded Kingdom more I think than any other level in the game and no excuse why it's probably just on me, but like I had a hard time like parsing where I was in that level but some of the platforming in the wooded kingdom was as good as it gets in this game like you said you can get all the way to the very top of this dome that you're basically and then like you said the contrast between like the jungle and then the like the structures was really cool so I wouldn't Kingdom it gave me some fits because I got turned around a lot in it but it still it was a huge level of very fun level in which is pretty much the exact opposite of the next level we ran into sorry, the next kingdom and that was the the cloud kingdom where which was literally basically just the the first fight with browser and I I'll be honest, I enjoyed the browser fights for the most part in this game. I liked how they incorporate the hats for it. But

Hick: 32:18

cloud Kingdom like that that first fight with bows are felt. I know it's the first fight with the main boss, but it still felt a little bit too easy. What did you think about fighting belzer in the cloud kingdom? We didn't need to fight him that early in the game. There's a reason file boss so why do you think he got put your file bosses earlier in the game Skyward Sword? Like I don't want to stay in it? You know, well, I guess demises the file boss but gear him was throughout the entire game. So to me, there was no reason like save bouncer for the final boss fight. We don't need to see him right there. But this is one of the parts of the game that pisses me off. Because Oh, there is so much potential with a cloud kingdom. Like ever since Mario three, when you go up, don't remember, it's like the sixth or seventh world unless you go up in the clouds. And you can see down below the world that you just went through. Like ever since that time the cloud with levels world's kingdoms have been awesome in Mario games. And you took this just be me. Okay, the colors were very similar. Like, you know, it's clouds is white, basically. But of course, you took this place that could have been beautiful. Could have been something you know, something like rainbow road from where I was 64 and why Yeah, and you did almost absolutely nothing with it. If you want to do some shit like that. do with it. Do the last kingdom. Like you know, we never Well, the last Kingdom actually kind of is built on swamp kingdoms and other you know, games. But anyway. Yeah, I don't know this just because I always loved the cloud levels. In Mario games. It just didn't capitalize on they did hardly anything with it. It was just a stop for bouncer, which we didn't need to do. He's a file boss say to the end. So I love Super Mario Odyssey. But Nintendo, you messed up with the cloud kingdom.

Red: 33:57

I'm with you entirely. And I got to say if we keep going at this rate at every single level, we will never make it through this podcast. So let's kind of do a kind of quick hits. On the rest of the levels. I just want to tell you a couple of my favorites from here on out. You mentioned the last Kingdom I loved it. I loved how it looked like it was perpetually like sunset. I like the I love the platforming, like climbing up the mountain that was in it. new dog city of course like just introducing skyscrapers like and we already talked about the Festival of course was absolutely amazing. But the platforming in new dog city in the metro Kingdom i thought was some of the best in the entire game. seaside kingdom was just beautiful. Like it's like perpetually Sunset on the beach. You got the beach you got the ocean. absolutely loved it. Ruin Kingdom you fought a dragon boom Yeah. And so what were some of your favorites like Quick Hits throughout the rest of the game before getting into the final fights?

Hick: 34:50

Well, last Keno First of all, like there wasn't really a lot to that place, but I absolutely love the colors. Like I said that was kind of based off the swamp concept that we've seen in other Mario games. So yes, not really a lot to do in that one, but the colors were absolutely beautiful. The sunset backdrop was incredible. kind of go through my, the metro kingdom. Okay, that's one of the best kingdoms in the game. And like for sure the very first trailer I think it was, I'm sure they showed them the first trailer, like, was the one that everybody was talking about, like, you know, Mario among humans and also like in a living city like morals are the games always kind of taking place like in these separate worlds? They're like, outside Okay, Morrow, you know, he definitely looks like a human but yeah, it feels like it's taking place outside like human beings because you don't see human beings other human beings suffer peach and boy I don't like toads a human being I guess we'll get into the technicalities of all that but it was just cool seeing him in his city below kind of climb the skyscrapers using the moped to get cost gats. You know, I didn't want us we didn't spend a lot of time with that one but I just want to say the metro Kingdom one of the top kingdoms in the game for me it was seaside oh my gosh see SAP probably the most beautiful Kingdom in the game you had the whole bottle tower whatever you want to call it bingo like getting that middle up to it the like there's a big underwater level like so much you could do underwater young carpet a water I don't really understand that whole concept but whatever but champagne Yeah, that's probably my favorite kingdoms in the game and then I'm actually had a before the room because I think you went on to the ruin young I had snow and luncheon mentioned I think might be a little bit out of order. So let's just go ahead

Red: 36:32

and order I just kind of skipped him because for me they were a little forgettable I was just going to the ones that really stood out to me

Hick: 36:38

talk about let's talk about let's talk about snow snow King long um there was really not and that was a disappointment because there's been a lot of great snow kingdoms in Mario games and really the only thing that was great about that when was the town below the ground called a what's it called a shivendra

Red: 36:58

area or Chimera? Yeah,

Hick: 37:00

like that was cool and then also the races I don't have my notes up for this all down too far skipped up too far. But um but I did like the races kind of What's your thoughts on the stoking them real quick? I liked

Red: 37:14

it like I thought I was surprised it was the only snow level at the end of the day I feel like most Mario games have had several and most of them are bigger. This was a smaller level but the bound bowl Grand Prix was an absolute blast the second race was way hard to me many times to be but it was one of the more satisfying challenges in the entire game the legend Kingdom the next one I don't have a whole lot to say about it. It didn't stand out to me your last fight I wasn't a big fan of the whole food theme. I like the lava stuff like we mentioned a little bit above like taking control the fire enemies other than that lunching Kingdom didn't do a whole lot for me but it sounds like you had some thoughts on it.

Hick: 37:52

Yeah, first of all absolutely love the color combination. synth wave or synth fill that absolutely love from the 80s so reminded me of that let it for that reason. But I'm just being go round as we said earlier, like the capture ability of a lava bubble just it made that place humongous like you can really go around and experience all like a lot of stuff. And just it was so unique. Like you know, it's basically you know, I think the coins were like they were I don't remember exactly what they were but like you know, you have like vegetables and like they're different colors. It was just to me it was something that we really never seen in Mario oz or Mario game. Yeah, we saw Mario Odyssey obviously. But just I don't know I absolutely I would say absolutely loved it. But I thought was very unique, I thought was very colorful. It was all cool. So like I enjoyed the lunching Kingdom um, now it's kind of get to another blood Kingdom the rune kingdom. Um, man, just like the cloud Kingdom missed potential here like this. This should have been the ghost Kingdom like you know you have those levels in Mario that are the ghost levels. That was this kingdom you get there you fight Awesome. Well, good dragon fight was fun as hell. The dragon looked awesome. But once again so much Miss potential. What's your feelings?

Red: 39:09

I'm with you like the dragon fight was a blast. I get that. Yes, it was another one of those kind of like filler levels, but man, they could have made like, just the ruins looked awesome. That could have been like you said the booze mansion. Like we talked about the ghosts levels like booze mansion. This could have been that this ruined area filled with spirits like it would have been amazing. The dragon fight was absolutely fun though. I mean, fighting a dragon in any game. I don't give a shit. I'm gonna have fun with it. They look awesome. Yeah, but I'm with you. I thought it was a little bit of a missed opportunity to do more with the ruins because I just thought they made it look really beautiful. But it did lead us to bouncers kingdom and I gotta say I was a big fan of like the samurai Japanese aesthetic. Yeah, or a static in browsers Kingdom plus it was a massive level. Yes, broken up you had like first wall so I can't wall you know, whatever, like all the front gate like, the way it was broken up and structured i thought was just a little more unique than the rest of the worlds and to me, I thought bouncers kingdom, there was a really fun and it's like the visuals like I said that Japanese Samurai aesthetic to me Yeah, really set it off what did you think about this kingdom? You know, I'm still not sure like, you know,

Hick: 40:23

I liked it, but I'm not it's like, you know in bounders kingdom or worlds you always have that love and level that's like you know I did love all the Asian architecture and obviously that makes sense because it's made by Japanese company of course so um you know I did like that I did like all the detail I did like the culture that they put in there even the music had like an Asian sound to it. I've never been there but you know, but it's kind of like if I went there that's why I would expect to kind of hear and most jazz music to sound like some you know, I did like that they put the Asian architecture in it, but then I was like, also really like that lava stuff. So yeah, I wish I could have maybe mixed a lava element into it. So yeah, you do something new with the Asian architecture and Asian sound love that. But then you also mix in a little bit of what we're used to in Mario games, that little lava element so I just think you know that would have made it a lot better for me but like you said that place is humongous I said it but the detail the attention to detail and how much is actually in that kingdom is in the

Red: 41:25

Poconos man? Yeah,

Hick: 41:27

definitely the pocos were awesome kindness using the climb up was one of the best capture abilities in the game. Boy, okay, there's also a random water cube that was just like there. I just absolutely loved it because Okay, here we are in this Asian architecture. You know what there actually was there lava in that kingdom?

Red: 41:46

There wasn't we finally got lava on the moon approaching. Okay, we'll get to that in just a second. But yeah, go ahead with your water pond. But

Hick: 41:54

anyways, I love that water cube The only thing that didn't like about this kingdom was that we didn't fight bouncer like we went through all this it's bouncers kingdom, and then we get to the top and we don't fight bouncer. So that was really my only complaint. I'll go and I won't say so people, we usually try to keep our podcast around 45 minutes because that's what we pay for. And that's how much we get. But I'm kind of enjoying talking about this. I still got enough beer leftover. So we're going to do this podcast. I don't know how much longer but just a little bit longer because I want to talk about some of these kingdoms. And some of these boss fights but um, I was kind of done with Basil's kingdom. Do you want anything else on that one?

Red: 42:30

No, I'm good with it. Just the pokeo to navigate up and down some of the walls i thought was such a fun innovation. We talked earlier. How much of a great capture that was. You mentioned the lava. You mentioned the lava that wasn't in bouncers kingdom. We did get it in the moon kingdom. And I remember the first time we go to the moon and being like, Oh, it's like bonnington it's ugly. It's black and white. Yeah, yes, you've got Earth looking beautiful in the background. Don't get me wrong, because you're on the moon. But I was so disappointed when we got to the moon. I'm like, this is ugly. The low gravity major jumps like huge and slow motion was fun. But where the moon really took off for me was when we got like, we're approaching Mouser and we actually get to go through those lava areas like we got to take over the Bullet Bills. We got to like try to get over this love and that was such a great throwback to like you said every other time we've approached bouncer through most of Mario history. We've had to go through lava so for me like getting to the moon was disappointing because they were like, oh this is boring and bland and ugly. But as soon as we were making our way towards bouncer I absolutely love that we did finally get that lava What did you think about the moon being our like kind of final boss approach

Hick: 43:43

okay first of all I love the gravity effect and being able to jump like higher and yes I thought that was very cool. Earth in the background looked amazing the cathedral looked amazing you had a solid space theme that took me back to Super Mario Galaxy I guess galaxy to also but he was back to Super Mario Galaxy absolutely loved that in maroga you know I almost had like three or four times I stopped myself in Mario games we usually get a space level like it's usually at the end it's kind of guest star world or something like that so yep this now she's like a special world so it kind of went along with that but it kind of didn't it um but overall very bland under like like said the cathedral looked amazing it dumb and then we kind of crap we get to do we get the boss fight on that we get the boss fight yeah right

Red: 44:31

yep honey honey

Hick: 44:32

loon Ridge yep we get the boss fight but you know other than that like he said you know i'm i'm so so on it. And then we have two special worlds that if you collect enough mood you get to go to dark side and darker side. Dark Side basically started as a boss gauntlet, really not much to it. And the darker side was kind of more of a platforming level like a very difficult platforming level. I didn't do it. You know, I want to say your say I wish I would have but I tried. Like, you know, I know my level. I know my patience levels. And I think I hit my point on trying like I can tell you I did not get very far but some of me which is that what kept on trying and beat it but overall dark side and darker sad. Do you have anything you want to say on those?

Red: 45:14

I do want to say this is and I meant to mention this in the gameplay earlier Mario Odyssey is not what I would consider a difficult Mario game like yeah, there there are 880 unique moons in it. Most of them are relatively easy to get. And most of them don't have a good like platforming challenge. So many of them are just about finding them or knowing where they are. And it's not like you have to overcome like great jumping, or platforming obstacles to get there. That's why I loved getting to darker side like that, to me, was finally the area of this game where it's like, okay, all this platforming shit. You've been practicing for the last, you know, 3040 hours however long it took you to play through. Yeah, like, we're going to test you now. And I never beat it either. I never beat it. Those are the three moons I mentioned earlier. I got 877 out of 880 Those were the three I never got. But I love that finally, like there were this was the the platforming challenge that I felt this game was really kind of missing a lot throughout it because you could skate through and beat this game without a ton of moons. Yeah, and like without a ton of platforming. Like I said, a lot of the moons were just you sort of know where they are, or solve a puzzle without doing the platforming so for me I was very excited to have like a darker side that was a great challenge. The boss gauntlet whatever you'd thought all them before so the first dark side was just okay but that's that's my that's my that is my one criticism of Mario Odyssey is like the Challenge Level if you're just playing through to beat it is not there now there are some moons Don't get me wrong that are fucking hard to get that for you can beat the game pretty easy. But, you know, speaking of the boss fights, we kind of hit on that a little bit with the moon. What were some of your fate almost almost every level in the game had a boss fight in it? What were some of your favorites throughout the game?

Hick: 47:06

I'm gonna really say any favors because to me they feel all the same. Like Yeah, because first of all, I believe there are four Bruno's and you've faced them multiple times. Yeah, so yeah, their attacks are a little bit differently. I don't remember every single boss fight even though I watched a video of every single boss. But um, yeah, overall, like they were okay. They weren't that difficult. Um, you know what that was? Okay. Um, I will say like, I'm not gonna really get into those too much because like I said, they all they're all kind of not similar. They all had different mechanics to them, but there just wasn't a lot to them. Now the bows are fine. I absolutely love the bows or fight the whole like using boxing gloves like obviously we're dodge and stuff like you know fire whatever, but using the boxing gloves and then him kind of like blocking it and then spin his tail trying to knock you down and kind of how that whole concept changed everything. I absolutely loved the bouncer boss fight that was one of the best in the franchise but I'm going can go ahead what your opinions are some of the bosses and then also the bows are fight

Red: 48:04

but I'll quick hit right here I the brutal I agree. They all felt kind of the same. The bosses I liked were like the non brutal fights. You had knockaloe tech, which looked like Bongo Bongo or golden from the Zelda series. Like it was the floating head with the two fists. You know that throwback to Zelda had a blast with it. Mecca wigler in the metro kingdom that you're fighting with the Sherm the tech. Yeah, the entire time.

Hick: 48:27

That was awesome. That was one in the rain. It was raining too.

Red: 48:31

Exactly. And then like the dragon was obviously I mentioned earlier fighting a dragon. The damn octopus that we had to fight in the seaside kingdom, it's mollusk, land sewer or something fancy. Yeah, I struggle with that damn fight. I could not catch up to him. The using the water bubble, compressions. Thank you. Oh my god, I struggled with that one. But the bouncer boss fight. I thought it was very fun as well like using his own hat against him with the boxing gloves. While still trying to dodge like his shockwaves his tail spins. I thought it was a great challenge. But more than that, I was a huge fan of like, once you beat him, you actually take control us sorry, spoiler alert, you actually take control of bouncer to escape the gear lapsing area and using bouncer to platform your way out of the bossfight like out of the arena, I thought was really fun. And it also gave it kind of reminded me of trying to escape ghanians Tower and Aquamarine of time when you're trying to get out of there while the whole gang is falling down around you except you're playing his frickin browser. And he's like, super powerful. He was breaking blocks shooting fire, like the fight itself was fun, but escaping the moon like that area was every bit as fun so I was all for it. But uh, you know, so obviously we've praised this game quite a bit we've met at mushroom kingdom

Hick: 49:49

because I feel like we can't leave that one out.

Red: 49:52

I feel like we have to it was a great throwback to Mario 64. Like you said, getting peaches castle that look just like the Mario 64 my one complaint with it is like to get the moons there you have to redo a lot of the boss fights yeah and and I don't like that mechanic in video games in general. It's like already beat these fuckers once and now they crank up the difficulty a little bit they crank up their attacks a little bit. I wasn't a fan but what did you think of the Mushroom Kingdom? I just

Hick: 50:17

love the whole Mario 64 throwback, like you said on the whole achievements. Like there's a crap ton of moons, but they're all like achievement moons. And you know, I'm okay without that. But just the airy look beautiful, a great throwback, like I said, and you said tomorrow 64. So I thought it was great as an after game kingdom. So I thought it really served a great purpose. And it gave us an area after we beat the game that we're not used to again in Mario game. So I wouldn't say I hear you say I loved it, but I appreciate it. And I was glad that they put it in. Some other things I want to talk about really quickly before we finish it up because we're going over all the outfits in the market and the Super Mario Odyssey That was so cool. Get all his outfits in it added a ton of replay value. Like you could sit there and play that game and play a game and get all these coins to buy these apples knowing that Yep, like that would add a lot of hours to the game. We're talking about the Mushroom Kingdom. I know we didn't even talk

Red: 51:10

about like those collectibles like that those purple coins though every love you either had 50 or 100. You could use them to buy outfits, which were cool. Or you could get stickers and souvenirs for your ship. Oh, I loved him. I love him. Anyway, go ahead.

Hick: 51:23

And then like here's what here's my one question. Why the hell have we not got any DLC for this game like a new kills? Like I don't understand that like Nintendo. They're like, I will spend I'm not gonna tell you how much I was spin. But easily $20 If you give me one or two new kingdom, so that's the missed business opportunity right there. And we're probably it's probably too late in the cycle to get some new DLC. But y'all know what the hell Nintendo was thinking right there. But um, let's kind of wrap it up real quick, not wrap it up. But like, overall, Penny's a Super Mario Odyssey it's my favorite Mario game. And I really went back and forth I really struggle between that is Super Mario Galaxy, but just I mean, the game was so much fun. Like we said it was so fluid. It's one of the greatest games, I would say it's the greatest. I think it's one of the greatest games ever made is pineapple my favorite games to play. But just a spectacular game. Enjoy the hell of it was beautiful. It was fluid. The mechanics was solid. It was classic Nintendo at work. What are your overall opinions?

Red: 52:24

At the end of the day? That's it. I mean, it control like we talked about this at the beginning. It is a joy to play this game because of how it controls. Like the worlds are beautiful. The boss fights are fun, they're diverse. Like there's the amount of moves you have and the different enemies you can control like just the diversity of what you can do in a Mario game has never been more on display than this game. And like I said, just just controlling Mario and all the different moves you can combo together it's a joy to play it is up there for me like I mean you you hear the classic Super Mario Brothers three Super Mario World Mario gal, you know Mario 64 Mario Galaxy Mario Odyssey is is up there with the absolute best and I'm not sure if I'm ready to sit here and say it's the best Mario game ever. But I have no problem saying it controls better than any Mario game ever. But I guess I do have to ask them. Is there anything from an old Mario game that you wish was in this game? That wasn't?

Hick: 53:21

No, not really? Cuz I think they had a lot in the game.

Red: 53:24

Yeah. Like, yeah,

Hick: 53:26

I didn't ask that question. I'm not on my head. Once this podcast ends, I will think of something that'll piss me off. But I'm overall now I don't really have anything like that. Um, I got that there was a bunch of great nods to the old games I was happy with. They put a bunch of new stuff in there. So overall, I was happy can't really think of anything that would have wanted in the game. The only

Red: 53:47

thing I could think of is I do miss kind of having like the hub overworld that we got. Mario 64 Mario Galaxy, this one's a little more linear than that. But hey, that is picking Yeah,

Hick: 53:57

I noticed he was bait the Odyssey was basically your hub so I do agree i would love the hub. But it's that time folks let's go ahead and kind of wrap this up because we went over a little bit in like we said we were gonna try to do this more often the best we can we love talking about these franchises. And these games you can see how excited like you know from this episode, how excited we get about actually talking about these games. But anyways, the wrap up all these links will be in the description you can support us on Patreon or PayPal or became support financially. Please leave a review or a rating it really helps us out with rank five stars vevo merch, we have merchandise on our websites. Those are affiliate shops and we may earn a commission. If you make purchases through our links. Those websites are two guys playing zelda.com and T GPC gaming.com. Reggie, can we talk about what else we got going on?

Red: 54:48

While we're all over social media on Facebook? We have two great groups we have the gaming realm where we talk about all video games of course, and we have Zelda realm where we specifically talk about Zelda. Both of those groups are a booming Doing great, we appreciate everyone who jumps on there. We're on YouTube. We got two guys playing Zelda and also tg PC gaming. Like you said on YouTube. You can find us we have a Discord server where we talk about Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, PC, booze, sports and anything else that you want to talk about. We're all over discord great conversation every single day. And of course on social media, you can find us on Twitter, and on Instagram and on Facebook. Thank you all for listening, I promise next episode. I know the big news this week was the you know, the Xbox presentation. I think we'll get to that next week. But we had an absolute blast talking about Mario Odyssey today. I hope you all had a great time. Listen, keep on gaming and we'll catch you next week.