Super Mario Odyssey is one of my favourite Mario games of all time. It finally returns to the open-world style of Super Mario 64 and Sunshine in the form of multiple kingdoms where you must collect a certain amount of moons to move on to the next one. It's so much fun exploring different kingdoms especially since they don't all follow the basic pattern of grass, desert, water, ice, jungle, cliff, cloud, lava, but instead have unique aspects such as a forest with robots or a desert covered in ice. That said, some kingdoms are better than others so I thought I'd rank all 17 kingdoms in Super Mario Odyssey. (Of course this is just my opinion, not a definitive list).
The wooded kingdom is probably the most vertical level but it works pretty well. This kingdom is just some great platforming. Also, it has one of the best soundtracks in the game.
8. Seaside Kingdom:
This kingdom is how you do water levels right. It looks great, the capturable enemies such as the cheep cheeps and gushens allow for faster and easier movement, it has a lot of areas to stand on and the water isn't too deep so you don't spend as much time underwater and can get back over land quickly. I think Nintendo should keep this formula for water levels in the future.
As you can probably tell from this list, I love soundtracks in video games. And the Cap Kingdom has my favourite soundtrack in Odyssey. It also feels really spooky in a Mario way.
The luncheon kingdom feels the most cartoony of the kingdoms. The art style is very different to the rest of the game but it works. It feels very unique playing in this kingdom because of the changes and capturable Podoboos that allows you to travel through the lava.
A lot of people will be surprised that this isn't my number 1 or 2 pick. I do love this kingdom, it has some great collectibles, a great boss and the concert is mind-blowing. The reason it isn't higher is because I still don't like playing as Mario in a world with real-life looking humans. It doesn't feel natural. Despite this, it still has some great power moons.
The sand kingdom is the biggest kingdom and has the most moons (except for the Mushroom Kingdom which doesn't really count as a lot of them are Toadette power moons). For the sheer amount of content in this kingdom, it's already great but it also includes a cool town and uses bullet bills that you can capture very well.
This was the ultimate fan service, playing around in a re-imagined Super Mario 64 Peaches Castle was amazing. The easter eggs such as Yoshi on the roof, staring at the ceiling and draining the moat also helped make this kingdom amazing.
This is my favourite kingdom for many reasons; The Soundtrack, The Enemies, The Power Moon Locations, and most importantly the aesthetic. It feels very mysterious, running through the lost kingdom with the sounds in the background and it just feels like a great, unique kingdom that makes me want to keep on coming back to mess around in even after I've got all the power moons.
SPOILERS FOR SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY BELOW
17. Dark Side:
I strongly dislike the Dark Side. You have to fight all of the Broodals again which you've already had to fight twice and then RoboBrood in a row. I already didn't like the Broodals as they were very repetitive and I would have preferred new original bosses but as a reward for 250 moons, I was expecting a bit more than 'The Dark Side of the Moon'. I feel like this kingdom should have been a secret area in the moon connected by a spark pylon (the electricity thingy).
16. Ruined Kingdom:
When I first arrived in the Ruined Kingdom I was shocked. It was such a strange style for a Mario game and it worked very well. The dragon fight was awesome...but that was it. There was very little to do after and what there was to do was nothing interesting. There was so much potential for a more realistic medieval kingdom but all we got was a boss fight and some puzzles.
15. Darker Side:
Like I said with the Dark Side, I was really expecting some big prizes for getting to 250 and 500 moons, but again I was disappointed. That said, this kingdom is still pretty decent and acts as a hard final level in the game.
14. Lake Kingdom:
I don't enjoy water levels in Mario games that much compared to the standard ground ones so it wasn't a surprise that I didn't find the Lake Kingdom foo interesting. It's fine, it does what it tries to do well but I just don't find much enjoyment out of swimming around as Mario. However, the cheep cheeps can make it more interesting at times.
13. Cloud Kingdom:
I really like the Bowser boss battle and the aesthetic of this kingdom but like the Ruined Kingdom, there isn't much to do. What makes this kingdom higher on the list is that I found the puzzles more enjoyable compared to the ruined.
12. Moon Kingdom:
You're probably noticing that I don't really like the kingdoms on the moon. The low gravity made everything feel a lot slower and it didn't really work for me. What did work though, was the underground lava section and church. Especially the lava section as it seemed to bring together all of the things you've encountered on your journey into one epic platforming level.
11. Snow Kingdom:
The Snow Kingdom is pretty fun but it's nothing special. The underground village is pretty cool but the overground area's design is pretty dull. There's still lots to do and discover though.
10. Bowser's Kingdom:
This kingdom is quite unique for the Mario series as usually the 'Bowser' world would take place in a lava filled castle but this time it's a bunch of large Japanese-style structures surrounded by colorful clouds. It's more linear than other worlds but that's fine as it's done very well. It also includes my favourite capture of the game-Pokio.
9. Wooded Kingdom:
The wooded kingdom is probably the most vertical level but it works pretty well. This kingdom is just some great platforming. Also, it has one of the best soundtracks in the game.
8. Seaside Kingdom:
This kingdom is how you do water levels right. It looks great, the capturable enemies such as the cheep cheeps and gushens allow for faster and easier movement, it has a lot of areas to stand on and the water isn't too deep so you don't spend as much time underwater and can get back over land quickly. I think Nintendo should keep this formula for water levels in the future.
7. Cascade Kingdom:
This kingdom looks and sounds amazing. The platforming is good but the main reason I love this kingdom is the overall design and amazing sights.
6. Cap Kingdom:
As you can probably tell from this list, I love soundtracks in video games. And the Cap Kingdom has my favourite soundtrack in Odyssey. It also feels really spooky in a Mario way.
5. Luncheon Kingdom:
The luncheon kingdom feels the most cartoony of the kingdoms. The art style is very different to the rest of the game but it works. It feels very unique playing in this kingdom because of the changes and capturable Podoboos that allows you to travel through the lava.
4. Metro Kingdom:
A lot of people will be surprised that this isn't my number 1 or 2 pick. I do love this kingdom, it has some great collectibles, a great boss and the concert is mind-blowing. The reason it isn't higher is because I still don't like playing as Mario in a world with real-life looking humans. It doesn't feel natural. Despite this, it still has some great power moons.
3. Sand Kingdom:
The sand kingdom is the biggest kingdom and has the most moons (except for the Mushroom Kingdom which doesn't really count as a lot of them are Toadette power moons). For the sheer amount of content in this kingdom, it's already great but it also includes a cool town and uses bullet bills that you can capture very well.
2. Mushroom Kingdom:
This was the ultimate fan service, playing around in a re-imagined Super Mario 64 Peaches Castle was amazing. The easter eggs such as Yoshi on the roof, staring at the ceiling and draining the moat also helped make this kingdom amazing.
1. Lost Kingdom:
This is my favourite kingdom for many reasons; The Soundtrack, The Enemies, The Power Moon Locations, and most importantly the aesthetic. It feels very mysterious, running through the lost kingdom with the sounds in the background and it just feels like a great, unique kingdom that makes me want to keep on coming back to mess around in even after I've got all the power moons.
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