Hello Yoshi Odyssey

***Hello Yoshi Odyssey*** is a platforming game for the Nintendo Switch released on October 27, 2017. It is the title in the *Hello yoshi* series, the seventh original 3D *Hello Yoshi* title, the eighth 3D *Hello yoshi* title overall, and the sixth 3D *Hello yoshi* title on a home console after Hello Yoshi *3D World*. The game revolves around Mario exploring unknown open world-like settings, similar to *Super Mario 64* and *Super Mario Sunshine*. These settings have been stated to bear resemblances to locations in the real world.

A *Hello yoshi Odyssey* themed Nintendo Switch bundle will also be available on launch day. The American and European versions will contain the console, red Joy-Con, and a download code for the game. The American version will also include an Odyssey-themed carrying case. The Oceanian version of the bundle will include the console, red Joy-Con, and a physical copy of the game

## Story

Beginning "in the skies above Yoshi's castle", Hello yoshi and Bowser are seen fighting one another on Bowser's airship, with Yoshi on board as well. Bowser ultimately defeats Mario when he uses his top hat to attack, sending Hello yoshi flying to parts unknown. Bowser then takes his airship towards the skies, as he prepares a forced marriage to Yoshi. He leaves Mario's hat (which had been knocked off of Mario's head during his final attack) to adrift into the ship's back propellers, shredding it in the process. A piece is obtained by a hat-shaped ghost, who eventually finds Hello yoshi in his homeland of Bonneton, located in the Cap Kingdom.[13]

After Hello yoshi wake up and catches up with the ghost, the ghost reveals themselves Bonneton, and explain to Hello yoshi that Bowser had not only attacked the kingdom, destroying its airship armada, but had also kidnapped Tiara, Cappy's sister, using her as Yoshi's wedding headdress. Hello yoshi and Bonneton team up to stop Bowser's plans and save both Yoshi and Tiara, and using the piece he collected, Cappy transforms into Mario's Cap, allowing Mario to use Cappy's abilities. Cappy also informs Mario that they may be able to find a usable airship in the next kingdom, accessible from the Top Hat Tower. However, upon reaching the top, Mario is encountered by the Broodals, who were hired by Bowser as his wedding planners. After defeating one of the Broodals, Topper, Mario and Cappy use a power line to travel towards the Cascade Kingdom, where they find the airship, named the Odyssey, which uses Power Moons as energy to travel. With the Odyssey ready for sail, Mario and Cappy use it to chase after Bowser and the Broodals.

## Gameplay

Unlike recent 3D titles such as *Super Mario Galaxy* and *Super Mario 3D World*, which were more focused on platforming, *Super Mario Odyssey* will return to the explorative open-world gameplay seen in *Super Mario 64* and *Super Mario Sunshine*, where Mario will explore various areas in order to collect Power Moons. Mario will maintain his moveset from previous 3D titles, including the Long Jump, Roll, Ground Pound, Spin Jump, the Triple Jump and the Dive, the last of which hasn't appeared since *Super Mario Sunshine*. In addition, a new character called Cappy allies with Mario, and takes possession of his cap. Mario can throw Cappy as if he were a boomerang, and it can also "capture" certain objects and enemies to take control of them. There are 52 capturable targets in total.[14]

Mario's life meter also returns with three health, similar to *Super Mario Galaxy*. Additionally, there does not appear to be any lives, as Mario will instead lose ten Coins upon dying. There will also be a new amiibo line based on *Super Mario Odyssey*, with a formal Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser, which will unlock more costumes. Other lines are also confirmed to be compatible, revealing a Power Moon location on the map. Some amiibo will also unlock costumes, including Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Diddy Kong.[15]

Unlike *Super Mario 64* and *Super Mario Sunshine*, the game will not have a central hub world. Mario will use the Odyssey airship to fly from kingdom to kingdom.[16]

Co-op mode is also confirmed, with player one controlling Mario and player two controlling Cappy.[17]

The coins that Mario collects serve as currency. There are 2 types of coins - global yellow coins, which can be found and used in any kingdom, and purple regional coins, which are different in every kingdom, and can only be used in the kingdom they were found in. Mario can spend his coins at the Crazy Cap stores.

The game features a "Snapshot Mode", where players can pause the game and take pictures using the Nintendo Switch's  button. Players are also able to alter the shot by zooming in and out, tilting the camera for a vertical shot, or apply one of several filters, ranging from blurring the surroundings, adding a sepia tone, changing the camera to a fish-eye lens, or applying an NES-styled color scheme.

## Characters

### Playable

* Yoshi (Only for some missions)
* Rosalina
* Tessie bear
* Mimmy
* Mary
* Ludwiga
* Marie
* Bonneton (Tiara, Bowy, Bonnetty, Hatty, Flowerry, Crowny and Ribbonny)

### Supporting cast

* The Toad Brigade[11]

* + Captain Toad[19]
	+ Hint Toad[11]
	+ Banktoad[11]
	+ Yellow Toad[20]
	+ Mailtoad[21]
	+ Toadette[22]
* Pauline, serving as the mayor of New Donk City[2]
* Jaxi, a jaguar-like statue found in the Sand Kingdom that comes to life when ridden[23]
* Sphinxes, omniscient statues that block certain pathways until a riddle is answered[24]
* Purple and yellow Dorries serving as Crazy Cap shops in the Seaside Kingdom[11]
* Blue Dorrie (found in Mushroom Kingdom and underwater in Lake Kingdom)[25]
* Glydon, a recurring flying lizard creature that allows Mario to glide (found in the Sand Kingdom, Wooded Kingdom, Seaside Kingdom and Lost Kingdom)[26][27]
* Dry bones (trying to marry Yoshi)
* Noddy
* Ludwig
* Mario and Cappy
* Azumi
* Lhasa
* Starlight
* Luigi
* Amazonia
* Inhabitants (Linphea, Melody, Zenith, Koopaworld, Solaria, Earth, and four countries in Planet Earth)

### Non-playable characters

* Local residents
	+ Bonneters[30], Hat-wearing ghost creatures that are similar to Cappy and Tiara (found in Bonneton[31] and Fossil Falls[32])
	+ Tostarenans, skeletal townsfolk overwhelmed by ice in their region (found in Tostarena; one can be seen in New Donk City[33])
	+ Lochladies[25], mermaid-like creatures (found in Lake Lamode)
	+ Steam Gardeners[34], robotic teapots that water the flowers in their region (found in Steam Gardens)[24]
	+ New Donkers[35] (found in New Donk City; one can be seen in Tostarena[36])
	+ Shiverians[37], round, bouncy seal pup-like creatures wearing winter attire (found in Shiveria)[11]
	+ Bubblainians[38], snail creatures (found in Bubblaine)[11]
	+ Volbonans[39], fork-like beings in chef attire (found in Mount Volbono)
	+ Toads[25] (found in Peach's Castle)
* Koopa Troopas[note 1][40]

* + A quartet of Koopa Troopas wearing caps that race Mario (found in the Lost Kingdom[11], the Cascade Kingdom[41] and the Sand Kingdom[42])
* Rabbits
* Dorrie[43]
* Poochy[44]
* Birds exclusive to each region
	+ Pigeons (found in the Metro Kingdom)[10]
	+ Green birds with yellow underbellies resembing vireos (found in the Sand Kingdom)[23]
	+ Little Birds (found in the Wooded Kingdom)[10]
	+ Blue birds resembling blue jays (found in the Wooded Kingdom)[45]
	+ Red birds resembling scarlet macaws (found in the Cascade Kingdom)[2]
	+ White birds wearing top hats (found in the Cap Kingdom)[2]
* Sheep wearing sombreros (found in the Sand Kingdom)[36]
* Dog (found in the Sand Kingdom, Seaside Kingdom and Moon Kingdom)[11]
* Goombette[46], a pink female Goomba wearing a red hat similar to Pauline's, who can only be interacted with while capturing a Goomba. If she sees Mario himself, she disappears in fear.[11][47]

## Enemies

### New enemies

* Cerberus
* Banshees
* Fiends
* Bitefrosts[48]
* Burrbos (found in the Cascade Kingdom)[26]
* Cheep Cheeps[49] (unique to Snow Kingdom)
* Chinchos, small purple mummies with star eyes (found in the Sand Kingdom)[50]
* Gushens,[49] purple octopus creatures encased in water (found in the Seaside Kingdom)[11]
* Komboo (found in the Lake Kingdom)[51]
* Magmatos, steaming tomato enemies[39] (found in the Luncheon Kingdom)[26][52]
* Maw-Rays (found in the Seaside Kingdom and/or the Lake Kingdom)[11][53]
* Moe-Eyes, living moai statue heads with feet and sunglasses (found in the Sand Kingdom)[54]
* Moonsnakes[48]
* Pokios,[49] Hummingbird-like enemies (found in the Bowser Kingdom) [55]
* Poison Piranha Plants (found in the Wooded Kingdom)[26][24]
* Pulse Beams[56]
* Harpies
* Medusas
* Stairface Ogres[48]
* T-Rexes (found in the Cascade, Wooded, and Metro Kingdoms[note 2])[2][24][26][43]
* Trapeetle, an explosive beetle with hands it uses to restrain prey (found in the Lost Kingdom) [25]
* Tropical Wigglers[25], colorful Wigglers that can stretch their bodies to form a long chain (found in the Lost Kingdom).[11]
* Uproots, flower pots with extendable leglike brambles (found in the Wooded and Seaside Kingdoms)[57]
* Urban Stingbies, mosquito-like variants of Stingbies (found in the Metro Kingdom)[50][26]
* Small, colorful hedgehog-like creatures with Cappy-like eyes (found in the Metro and Cascade Kingdoms)[2][50]
* Urban Larvae[48]
* Yoofoes[48]
* Boulder-like low-poly bell peppers (found in the Luncheon Kingdom)[11]
* Mobile giant kelp with eyes (found in the Seaside Kingdom)[47]
* Spiked Ball-like shells (found in the Seaside Kingdom)[47]
* Floating Mine-like shells (found in the Seaside Kingdom)[47]

### Returning enemies

* Barrels (found in their original arcade appearance in a 2D segment)[11]
* Big Chain Chomps (found in the Cascade Kingdom)[11]
* Bill Blasters (found in the Metro and Sand Kingdoms)
* Bullet Bills (found in the Metro[note 4] and Sand Kingdoms)[2]
* Chain Chomps (found in the Cascade Kingdom)[2]
* Chargin' Chucks (found in the Metro Kingdom)
* Cheep Cheeps (found in the Seaside Kingdom)[2]
* Coin Coffer (found in the Wooded Kingdom) [58]
* Fire Bros (found in the Luncheon and Wooded Kingdoms)[26][17]
* Fire Piranha Plants (found in the Metro Kingdom)[59]
* Fishin' Lakitus (found in the Sand Kingdom)[17]
* Fuzzies (found in the Metro and Wooded Kingdoms, and the Lost Kingdom)[50][26][11]
* Goombas (found in the Metro,[note 5] Sand,[note 6] Wooded[2], Luncheon[note 7], Seaside[53][note 8] and Snow Kingdoms[43][note 9])
* Hammer Bros (found in the Luncheon Kingdom and Dark Side)[note 10]
* Klepto (found in the Lost Kingdom) [25]
* Koopa Troopas (found in their original *Super Mario Bros.* appearance in a 2D segment) [61]
* Lakitus (found in the Sand Kingdom)[26]
* Lava Bubbles (found in the Luncheon Kingdom)[2]
* Micro Goombas (found in the Cap, Sand[18] and Seaside Kingdoms[47])
* Parabones (found in the Moon Kingdom)
* Paragoombas (found in the Cap Kingdom)[11]
* Oil Drums (found in their original arcade appearance in a 2D segment)[11]
* Spike Bars (found in the Seaside Kingdom)[47]
* Spinies (found in the Luncheon Kingdom)[10]
* Ty-Foos (found in the Snow Kingdom)[62]

Certain enemies will wear different gear depending on the area they are found in.[2]

1. **^** Koopa Troopas wear sombreros in Tostarena.
2. **^** The T-Rex in the Wooded Kingdom wears an explorer's hat.
3. **^** Banzai Bills wear white top hats like Bowser in the lava-based kingdom.
4. **^** Bullet Bills wear visors in the Metro Kingdom.
5. **^** Goombas wear hard hats in the Metro Kingdom.
6. **^** Goombas wear sombreros in the Sand Kingdom.
7. **^** Goombas wear chef hats in the Luncheon Kingdom.
8. **^** Goombas wear pirate hats in the Seaside Kingdom.
9. **^** Goombas wear Santa hats in the Snow Kingdom.
10. **^** Hammer Bros wear chef hats and throw frying pans in the Luncheon Kingdom.

### Bosses

* The Broodals
	+ Topper (found in the Cap Kingdom,[63] Bowser's Kingdom and Dark Side[64])
	+ Hariet (found in the Sand Kingdom,[2] Bowser's Kingdom and Dark Side)
	+ Spewart[65] (found in the Wooded Kingdom, Luncheon Kingdom and Dark Side)[10][66]
	+ Rango[67] (found in the Lake Kingdom, Snow Kingdom and Dark Side)[68]
	+ Madame Broode and Chain Chompikins[69][32] (found in the Cascade Kingdom and Moon Kingdom)[11]
	+ RoboBrood[70] (found in Bowser's Kingdom and Dark Side)
* Mechawiggler[71] (found in the Metro Kingdom)[50]
* Donkey Kong (arcade version, found in Metro Kingdom)[74]
* Six of Nemesis (Dorothy, Cosmica, End Earth, Darknesser, Orossy, Ursula and Glitch)
* Ruined Dragon[77], a giant dragon found in the Ruined Kingdom. It brings down the Odyssey before Mario gets there.
* Bowser (fought in both the Cloud Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom)[78][79]

## Items and objects

* + Top hats (Cap Kingdom)[81]
	+ Wheels (Cascade Kingdom)[82]
	+ Pyramid Coins[23] (Sand Kingdom)
	+ Bolt nuts (Wooded Kingdom)
	+ Fish scales (Lake Kingdom)
	+ Leaves (Lost kingdom)[11]
	+ City Coins[40] (Metro Kingdom)
	+ Snowflakes (Snow Kingdom)[62]
	+ Shells (Seaside Kingdom)[83]
	+ Polygonal tomatoes[84] (Luncheon Kingdom)
	+ Purple Coins (Mushroom Kingdom)[85]
	+ Star Bits (Moon Kingdom)
* ? Blocks
* Beanstalks
* Boom boxes
* Bouncy flowers that make Mario Spin Jump
* Brick Blocks[2]
* Binoculars
* Checkpoint Flags
* Coins
* Coin Blocks[18]
* Coin Rings
* Coin Stacks
* Crates
* Doors
* Empty Blocks[18]
* Flowers that function similar to Dash Peppers[11]
* Gravity Walls[86]
* Ground-Pound Switches[87]
* Hearts
* Hidden Blocks[88]
* Letters that form Mario's name
* Lever Switches
* Life-Up Hearts[23]
* Lifts[2]
* Multi Moons
* Paintings[11]
* Power Moons
* P Switches
* Rainbow Notes[17]
* Poles[91]
* Rockets[18]
* Sand Geysers
* Seeds[24]
* Turnips
* Treasure chests
* Warp Pipes
* White top hats with ? marks that turn into cloud platforms when Cappy is thrown at them [92]
* The Odyssey, Mario's ship[18]
* A Starshroom which the Toad Brigade use to get to each kingdom[11]
* Moon Rocks that add more Power Moons to kingdoms when Cappy is thrown at them
* Yoshi's Egg[93]

## Kingdoms

* Earth
	+ Bonneton
	+ Fossil Falls
	+ Tostarena
	+ Lake Lamode
	+ Steam Gardens
	+ Nimbus Arena
	+ Forgotten Isle
	+ New Donk City
	+ Shiveria
	+ Bubblaine
	+ Mount Volbono
	+ Crumbleden
	+ Honeylune Ridge
* Zenith
* Melody
* Solaria
* Linphea
* Domino
* Koopaland
	+ Bowser's Castle

## Development

Official infograph showing the recognized difference between the progression-oriented, and the more sandbox-exploration style of the 3D *Super Mario* series. Or as put by Miyamoto, "casual" and "core" games.

### Background

When asked about "coming home" to the *Super Mario 64* and *Super Mario Sunshine* style of gameplay, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that when he was developing *Super Mario 64* with Yoshiaki Koizumi, they realized that the title would be more directed towards the "core gamer", rather than the casual, pick-up-and-go gamer.[161] After *Super Mario Sunshine*, their focus re-shifted to more accessible, casual gamers, hence encouraging them to make *Super Mario Galaxy* with more progression-oriented gameplay corridors.

As *Super Mario Odyssey* was developed alongside the Switch hardware, Yoshiaki Koizumi encouraged the game's developers to share their requirements and suggestions with the hardware development team.[162] This directly led to the inclusion of the two motion-sensitive controllers and the HD rumble feature on the Nintendo Switch hardware, which became a prominent part of *Super Mario Odyssey* gameplay.

### Early ideas and prototypes

Development for *Super Mario Odyssey* began right after *Super Mario 3D World* was released in late 2013.[163] Miyamoto sought more senior developers and staff teams who had been involved in past 3D *Mario* titles, in order to really "go back to the roots" of *Super Mario Sunshine* and *Super Mario 64*.[161] As a result, Yoshiaki Koizumi was made the game's producer, and *Super Mario 3D World* director Kenta Motokura again took on the role of director. Miyamoto remained with a consultative role throughout development, and although he contributed a lot of feedback, he was also very accepting of the development team's ideas.[164] Motokura revealed that early stages of development involved creating a "huge" amount of gameplay prototypes with numerous ideas, and the capture ability was one of them.[165]

> [The capture ability] was just one of the ideas that came up, but we worked on it for two or three days, and it just instantly turned into something that was really fun, and we decided [that it should be] the center of this game.
>
>

Many of the other different prototype ideas were still included, providing for the diversity in game mechanics throughout the game's stages, known as "kingdoms". These "fully realized worlds" were said to have been inspired by the Japanese hakoniwa box gardens, that bring rich landscapes to life in a miniaturized form.[166] The size of these worlds were often adjusted to ensure that the player can regularly discover an engaging action to perform.[162] This was also intended to allow handheld players to still accomplish a Power Moon mission, even if they have only a few minutes to play.[167]

### Design decisions

*Super Mario Odyssey*'s theme is highly focused on "surprises" and "travel", and the developers incorporated many of their travel experiences around the world.[165] For instance, elements of the Sand Kingdomwas derived from Kenta Motokura's experiences during a trip to Mexico, and the Luncheon Kingdom's food aesthetics was inspired by Italy and other European countries.[168]

Kenta Motokura (left) and Yoshiaki Koizumi(right) being interviewed as part of a Nintendo Treehouse segment for E3 2017.

The developers recognized that when traveling to foreign countries, something that really has an impact is the different currencies. Therefore, they wanted to have Mario collect and use different Regional Coins in each kingdom. Since the player travels outside of the Mushroom Kingdom, the diverse art-style between all the different kingdoms aimed to recreate the feelings of surprise and discovery when visiting foreign lands. It was also noted that a lot of time was spent in getting the right balance between familiar *Mario* concepts, and completely new ones.[165]

An example was the realistic T-Rex that is able to be captured by Mario. The developers looked back for inspiration from familiar *Super Mario World* elements in Dinosaur Land, although they wanted to use a design that was "unseen" in a *Mario* game.[165] Familiar gameplay elements include the "8-bit" side-scrolling areas of the kingdoms, reminiscent to *Super Mario Bros.* in which progress is more "confined" and "precise". This was intended to be an engaging contrast to the 3D sandbox environments.

The developers knew that they wanted to have a city environment in the game that would resonate with players. As *Donkey Kong*-inspired elements in the city came about, Pauline's presence in the series inspired the team to have her be the mayor of New Donk City. Some character development for Pauline was required in her transition from a damsel in distress to a major character, and it was decided that she would have an interest in jazz.[169] This led to the composition of the game's theme song shown in the E3 2017 trailer, titled "Jump Up, Super Star!", which was made to give the game energy and help get the audience excited.[165]

To develop the game's camera system, the team looked at previous 3D *Mario* games. Miyamoto discussed how the 3D camera in *Super Mario 64* worked very well, as it had the joystick as well as the C buttons to adjust the automatic camera. *Super Mario Sunshine* had the C stick in order to control the camera freely, although they received feedback that the camera control was "a little bit difficult". With later 3D titles such as *Super Mario Galaxy*, the minimal control of the camera also attracted some negative feedback. Miyamoto added that it's "very difficult to find the right balance".

## Vocal Theme: Jump Up, Super Star!

The official cover of the single "Jump Up, Super Star!"

*Main article: Jump Up, Super Star!*
A unique aspect of this title is a vocal main theme, sung by Pauline[170][171] (interpreted by Kate Higgins, credited as Kate Davis).[172] The song is big-band jazz style, and details an adventure across the worlds from this game, with Pauline referring to herself as Mario's "1-Up Girl". It was released worldwide on October 20, 2017 on the iTunes Store, while the short version is downloadable for free until January 2018.[173] Also in the US Version, the lyrics are printed on the inside of the box on the paper part of the cover.

## Critical reception

*Super Mario Odyssey* has received universal acclaim. Prior to its release, EDGE Magazine gave *Super Mario Odyssey* a perfect score of 10, praising the game for "taking big risks with an established formula and having them all pay off handsomely".[174] Ryan McCaffery of IGN had a similar view, also giving the game a perfect score of 10. Despite criticizing the camera controls, McCaffery was ultimately very impressed with the game, saying that it "is a brilliant adventure and love letter to the series that made Nintendo a household name".[175] Phillip Kollar and Allegra Frank of Polygon also praised the game, scoring it 9.5 out of 10. While Allegra somewhat criticized the boss battles, the two reviewers ended with "*Super Mario Odyssey* is almost certain to be counted among the best games in Nintendo's star series".[176] The game currently averages 97% on review aggregate site Metacritic (based on 67 reviews)[177], and 98.79% on GameRankings (based on 31 reviews), making it the highest rated game on the website[178].

Bowser kidnaps Yoshi from Hello yoshi castle