#10: Super Mario Odyssey
Again a masterpiece Mario game. This time even a bit better. I think Odyssey is the best Mario game in terms of quality. With a central mechanic that is kinda messed up when you think about it and some fantastic level design. Said mechanic is executed flawlessly. This is easily the most beautiful Mario game and the one with the most content, you can gather 900 moons and a ton of purple coins. The kingdoms are all fun to explore, some more than others, some are more challenging than other too.
Bowser is less ambitious in this one, basically just planning a wedding but leaving chaos wherever he goes.
Odyssey is a great adventure with a sense of wonder like I haven't experienced since Super Mario Sunshine. Mario's moveset is the best and biggest in the series, he's so much fun to control. I love the Galaxy games but there's just not really much to explore, which is what I love about Odyssey. And since you're not kicked out of the level after every moon and can just keep going and with the huge amount of moons to find, exploring is really encouraged. The camera mode is one of the best things in the game, it offers a very high level of customisation and was then also introduced in 3D World + Bowser's Fury, where I also had alot of fun with it.
Odyssey does basically everything right. There's not much to criticize. Only it's still great soundtrack doesn't quite live up to the grandeur of the Galaxy game's soundtracks.
My favorite part of Odyssey and the most memorable is the New Donk City festival, which is like a celebration of Mario as a whole. The song is fantastic, the level is fun to play and only after a few years it already makes insanely nostalgic. This should be on every list of greatest moments in games.
I find it impressive how every 3D Mario game seems so borderline flawless to me. This just shows how brilliant the developers are. And since Odyssey was mainly developed by completely different people than 64 and Sunshine and how fantastic Bowser's Fury was I'm very optimistic about the future of 3D Mario platformers.
Super Mario Odyssey is the fifth 3D Mario platformer on my list so far.
