Super Mario Odyssey Is More Fun With Two Players

Super Mario Odyssey is everything a good platformer should be. It has simple mechanics that allow for complicated interactions with the environment, likable characters and a beautiful setting that will keep players hooked in. If you’ve been holding out on buying a Nintendo Switch until you knew it was worth it, Super Mario Odyssey is all the confidence you need. SMO has a unique mode, never before seen in a Mario game: couch co-op. One player does all the platforming, controlling the plumber like normal, while a second player takes control of Cappy, an anthropomorphic hat with a slew of magical powers.

My girlfriend loves video games, but only ones that don’t require pinpoint accuracy. RPGs like South Park: The Stick Of truth and rolling adventures like The Witcher 3 are her favorite gaming past times. But she’s very stubborn in her ways, often refusing to play games that she deems herself bad at within the first few minutes. She has a level 12 Overwatch account, two percent completion in Sonic Mania and a Zelda: Breath Of The Wild save file that ignored the main story for taking pictures of all the fauna of Hyrule.

It’s hard to find a game we can both can play that she won’t get frustrated or bored of, which puts a damper on our time together, But everything changed when the world’s greatest plumber and his sweet hat walked into our lives. I get bored when I’m not constantly engaged, which is why I love to play as Mario, but having a co-pilot to control Cappy is invaluable. She can back me up, collect coins or kill enemies with ease. It makes the game that much more enjoyable, especially when just a little communication can sync Mario to jump on the hat.

It’s nearly impossible to collect purple coins in challenging places like Sand Kingdom and Lake Kingdom without a buddy. They are either stuck at hard to reach angles or are just a bit further than Mario can jump, which can be frustrating for a completionist. My girlfriend definitely falls under that title and can get a bit angry when we don’t go down every path and find every hidden goodie. Hidden stars in Super Mario Odyssey can put a halt to progression and motivate players to run in the same level for hours—her constant need to sleuth helped tremendously to collect innumerable moons that I otherwise never would have found.

Although I played a couple levels of Super Mario Odyssey on my own, the game is infinitely more fun with a partner. If you have a friend that really isn’t into gaming, it might be a good way to get them to try your hobby. The game itself is pretty short and can be completed in one hardcore gaming session, so the time commitment is minimized. Two-player mode also seamlessly transitions into single player whenever the co-pilot has had enough.

Have you tried the co-op mode in Super Mario Odyssey ? How did you like it? Write your answer on a hat and throw it hard as you can out of your window.