Earlier this month, a player discovered a new secret in Super Mario Odyssey, a platformer released for the Nintendo Switch back in 2017 and has become a constant presence in the platforming community ever since. It’s a masterpiece, having pushed the 3D Mario titles to new heights with its imaginative, semi-open world level design and a central mechanic of possession that abandoned power-ups in favour of something far more experimental. It is a joyous game, and one I’ve replayed multiple times in the past six years.
And every time I do, I discover something new. Whether that be a hidden moon or a sudden environmental interaction that previously passed me by, there is so much love, care, and an excess of charm put into this experience that you need to stop and poke at everything. Even if you do, it’s impossible not to miss something. I’m not alone in that, especially when it comes to more nuanced mechanical discoveries that only hardcore players and speedrunners are set to uncover.
Secrets In Mario Platformers Always Hit Different
The player discovered that when possessing a Pokio in the Bowser’s Kingdom stage, you can destroy a metal crate by poking it with your beak exactly 200 times. You can do it in a single hit by just possessing the right enemy to earn the moon within, but this unorthodox method of getting in was uncovered by someone with far too much time on their hands.
It’s worth noting that you need to do the 200 pokes in succession, and moving away from the object will cause all the damage you’ve done to unload from memory. This is a battle of attrition for a comparatively miniscule reward, although the fact that it can be done at all is exciting in itself.
Secrets like this might not seem that interesting, but in mainline Mario titles the community is so dedicated – especially in speedrunning circles – that finding all of their little tricks is part of the experience. After six years, you’d expect everything to be done and dusted, yet here we are talking about a tiny surprise that reignites the conversation.
Fans on Twitter are talking about how this new discovery will change how runs involving absolutely no coins in a single playthrough are conducted, removing the need to use certain possessions to progress. It will take more time, but not every player is looking to break a world record. It also extends the longevity of Odyssey, since, at the time of writing, it has yet to receive a direct sequel. Maybe on the Nintendo Switch 2?
Discoveries Like This Help Keep Our Favourite Games Going
Secrets like this are common in games where speedrunning is popular because there’s a dedicated community looking for new strategies to trim down their times on a near constant basis. When a skip is found, it is rare for a player to keep it to themselves. So it spreads far and wide and gradually comes to change how the game in question is perceived. I will never forget how, when Bloodborne first launched, there was a wall in the opening area that you could get on top of from the right angle and with enough momentum, allowing you to jump over to skip an area that would otherwise take a couple of hours to clear. Then it was patched out.
But once that secret was discovered, its existence persisted, and to this day at big events, it is common to see people loading unpatched versions of Bloodborne because this skip can still be used, and there’s something beautiful about a game’s entire identity being altered, all thanks to something small like this. Soulsborne titles, Mario games, or sprawling adventures like Baldur’s Gate 3 are just a few games where new discoveries are being made all the time, and I won’t be surprised if, years from now, I stumble across a headline outlining some other unexpected find.
Super Mario Odyssey is one of the few games I think of that will live on forever. It is so fun, so filled with secrets, and home to such a dedicated audience of players that nothing can stop its greatness. Things might quieten down when a sequel comes along, but until it does, I’ll be in Bowser’s Kingdom poking metal crates with my Pokio.
- Released
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October 27, 2017
- ESRB
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E10+ for Everyone 10+: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief