Super Mario Odyssey has been confirmed to have infinite lives and no Game Over screen. Mario will still be able to “plunges to the depths”, according to Nintendo. However, instead of losing the limited amount of lives you have and getting a Game Over, you will just lose 10 coins. Even if you don’t have 10 coins, you will still be able to continue and you will not get a complete game over. 1-Ups will not be in the game, either, as the life system has been replaced by Coins. According to game producer Yoshiaki Koizumi, he said to Polygon during E3 last month that the team wanted to allow players to “get into a kingdom and you can just kind of continually keep going through that kingdom without being pulled out”, so this is why they made this decision. Super Mario Odyssey releases on October 27th on the Nintendo Switch.
You Will Not Be Able To “Game Over” In Super Mario Odyssey
Wow. Mario is dead to me now.
If this breaks the decision to buy the game, you’ve got some problems
No not at all. I don’t even have the system.
It’s iconic Mario and they’re changing the formula after decades, hell yeah it bothers me and it should bother any longtime fan.
I’m not really sure how this would be significant. Game overs really pose an annoyance in RPG’s nowadays if you don’t remember to save frequently, but in a game like Mario you just have to make your way to the level again serving only 2 minutes of an annoyance.
As much as I am kinda sad about this too. I think it will work better in the game.
I’m just thinking of Zelda BotW. If Mario Odyssey is how I suspect it is, a game that is similar in the exploration aspect, then it makes sense. I think that lives is largely a feature of the older games, and it might be the result of how the gaming industry has changed, like how open world is very common now.
I don’t think they will do. away with lives for every game from now on, but I think I can imagine why removing lives makes sense for this game.
Plus people complain that Nintendo releases the same games over and over, but I’ve noticed how Nintendo always try to change it up, and add something new. This could also be the reason.
P.s I’m not saying that I necessarily like this either.
“It’s iconic Mario and they’re changing the formula after decades”
They’re literally changing the formula all the time. You probably just weren’t paying attention. Super Mario 64 was completely different from any Mario before that. Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy did a lot of things differently still. Not to mention Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, which each focussed on entirely different gameplay styles. But yeah, Odyssey is definitely the first Mario game to change the formula.
“hell yeah it bothers me and it should bother any longtime fan.”
-> “My opinion is the only correct one, and thus everyone who doesn’t agree with me is incorrect”
Yeah, no. “Longtime fans” definitely know better than to be so closed-minded.
How could he be dead if he can’t die/game over anymore?
Zing!!
With this he officially died in the last title and never returned.
That’s… really dumb.
“It should bother any long time fan”
No it shouldn’t, loosing lives haven’t been a big threat since Super Mario World, you would have to either suck really bad at Mario games or go out of your way to get a Game Over. I’ve been playing since SM64 and I’ve played and beat all of the 2D games, this doesn’t bother me a bit.
Bravo to you young Padawan. The iconic 1-UP knows no bounds.
Odd response. Lighten up, have some fun.
Thats BS! You lie to yourself that a very nostalgic part of mario has been taken out but no one really cares about they way games handle lives and stuff like that (unless its really bad)
Lives/game overs are ancient relics of arcade games that needed game overs to get you to put more quarters into the cabinet. They have served very little to no purpose for a long time now.
Pauline can’t be our 1-up girl if there aren’t any 1-ups.
She’s our 1-up girl because there are no 1-ups. She’ll always be there for us even when 1-ups won’t be
Thank you.
-10 coins biotch
@RPG Hacker
-> “My opinion is the only correct one, and thus everyone who doesn’t agree with me is incorrect”
Yeah, no. “Longtime fans” definitely know better than to be so closed-minded.
Thanks for responding to someone else so I’d have no rebuttal, making you a hypocrite.
I said SHOULD. And open minded fans see the good and the bad.
Not sure I like this decision. But not a game killer.
Oh ok I guess that kinda make sense sure it’s a negative tid bit about the game but k guess I
That doesn’t mean anything since I never had a game over in a Mario game like three time in a Mario rpg but I usually salvage lots of lives and coins been doing it since 64 so this isn’t a probes for me
I only really got a game over in the old 2D Mario games and Mario Sunshine, I wonder how many of the people complaining won’t even be affected by this change, lol.
Lol true
Eh, it’s been ages since I’ve got a Game Over in a Mario games, the last time I remember getting one was when I played Galaxy two years ago. It’s not going to make the game bad and it really doesn’t bother me, I’m fine with it honestly.
For this kind of game it makes sense for game over to be removed… I mean think about it… it’s legitametly pointless to have…
Take Mario Sunshine… you died? Okay you’re taken out of level
You got a game over? Okay you’re still taken out of the level but put at the overworld default position (in front of the statue)… That’s it
See? A game over is pretty pointless for this kind of game…
I think it might be to do with how the industry is changing.
A lot of games are more open world, and with lives, it would take away the experience of exploration.
So I also think maybe for the type of game it is, it doesn’t make sense.
I’ve always thought it stupid that my lives counter is pegged at 99 in every Mario game I play. 1-Ups haven’t meant anything to me since the 90’s. This is a smart decision.
Game overs in modern games don’t really serve much of a purpose anyways. Back in old games you literally had to start over when losing all your lives, but nowadays it only serves as a minor annoyance when being booted back to the main menu and having to make your way to the level again.
Doesn’t really matter to me. I have absolutely no idea when the last time I got a game over was, anyways.
Eh, Game Overs really don’t carry the same significance these days anyway.
Game Overs in Mario games typically just end up with you trying again anyway, so really not much changes.
Literally changes nothing about the game, for me at least. Mario games always give away lives to the point that there’s no way to reach a game over screen. I prefer this to having lives
So what’s the real consequence of losing coins?
Bankruptcy. Go immediately to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 coins.
There are things you can buy in the in-game shops with coins. Every kingdom has a shop with exclusive items to buy from it. Some items are bought with coins, others are bought with the kingdom-specific currency.
Even though it won’t really affect me I’m still like “…what?”
Lives are kind of outdated at this point. All they really do is serve as an annoyance.
I have no problems with this. I think the last time I ever got a game over was in Mario Sunshine. And it felt like more of a hassle than anything, having to navigate back to where I was. I think lives/game overs make sense for certain 2D platformers, but for most any other genre I think it’s an outdated concept.
While it wouldn’t be a total deal breaker for me, it’s a very odd direction to take the game. I personally love seeing a Game Over screen because it means I didn’t put enough into whatever I was playing. I’m sure the game will be phenomenal any way.
Lives are a relic of a bygone era of video games that ought to be abandoned wholesale. They offer no real challenge and just serve to inconvenience the player.
See the recent remake of the Crash Bandicoot games, playing those games again just makes me see how tired a concept they really are.
TL;DR: Lives are stupid, good on Nintendo for removing them from Odyssey.
This doesn’t sound good to me. It sounds like the kind of game where you can play blindfolded and still complete. If I end up not liking this Mario game, it’ll probably be the last Mario game I ever care about trying again. Since I’ve felt myself losing interest in Mario games for years. When I played Super Mario 3D World, it bored me SO much.
I’d just play the game for the world building and collecting stuff in Mario games. Game Overs are becoming a thing of the past now.
But but but. Gameover makes you rage and try again.
Without having played the game, it’s difficult for me to decide whether this is a bad idea or not. If I recall correctly, a Game Over would make you start the level from the beginning while losing a life would make you start from a checkpoint. Mario Sunshine and 64 didn’t have checkpoints so I don’t remember what the point of game overs was in them. Odyssey takes after those two games but does have checkpoints making it the first Mario with non-linear level design to have checkpoints, so it really requires playing it to make a judgement about this.
First time I even heard of no Mario game having a Game Over in ever! lol
https://youtu.be/dsx2vdn7gpY
This game kinda just freaks me out. Real people in a mario game just takes away from the fantasy game like Mario. I don’t mind the health/coins as they’ve been kinda doing that since Mario 64. You basically just keep going anyway however there were lives.
Mario Galaxy pretty much ruined collecting 1ups since every time you would load the game, it would start you out with 5 lives. It would delete all the 1ups you had on every load. So whats the point of exploring the levels and finding all the secrets for if you lose everything or there is no actual game over?
It just ruins the mechanics and makes exploring pointless.
I feel like the real looking people wouldn’t freak me out as much if New Donk City didn’t look so bad. Most of the other areas look quite a bit better but overall the game isn’t as visually solid or cohesive as 3D World or even the Galaxy series. I’m mainly talking about the jungle area and New Donk City though.
The people complaining should get over it. Stop ruining the damn game for yourselves and enjoy it.
they should add a harder mode and add lives, limited lives like a max of 6, have a game over and start from the last activated checkpoint just so people will stop b*tching about why the game has no lives and then later b*tch about how they should remove the lives and start the b*tching cycle again.
I really like the game over screen. I guess it won’t be in the game.
They should at least have you get a moon again when you hit 0 coins or die a certain amount of times.
So what are coins used for again?
So Mario is like Sonic now :p
||Game Over in almost any game today is just pointless anyway since you only start around the same area or progress…||
Personally, I think I’m kinda bothered by no “Game Over” screen because it tells me that games, in general, are strafing away from the textbook definition of a game (win or lose). If this game isn’t challenging, then I’m not surprised they put that out.
I don’t get why people dislike this change, I think it’s an amazing idea!
Lives always been a frustrating concept and I rather have endless tries than having to re-go to where I was in the level to be able to try again.
I really like how Nintendo is getting more modern with this one! It really felt like they wanted to get rid of it because the lives system doesn’t do them any favor imo. And having to pay 10 coins to re-pop is smart so there’s still a small penalty for dying so you don’t abuse it.
But honestly, I think unlimited lives is perfect for platforms, especially for hard ones and exploration-based ones so it’s way less frustrating and you can experiment a bit with the level design unlike when there’s lives and you’re too scared to try anything so you play it way too safe..
Like “I wonder if this place contains a secret” and you can check and if it’s something like leading to a one-hit death, you’re like “Oh well it wasn’t but I’m glad I didn’t wasted any lifes on that one”. I like that!
Well OK, it depends on what you get by having those coins, because if you get something cool then that is an incentive to not die.
I’m really not sure what to think. On the one hand, I’m like ‘cool’, on the other hand I will miss the triumph of finding yet another green mushroom.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V1xN4M_lNVI/maxresdefault.jpg
Oh come on a Game over screen must be on the game. Please Nintendo don’t do this. It reminds me Kirby’s epic yarn (it’s a good game but you never lose).
So it’ll be like Witcher 3 where if you died, you lost some money. I’m okay with that as long as you still get sent back to a certain point instead of picking up right where you left off. In other words, as long as it isn’t like Mario Kart where a cloud guy picks you up out of the chasm & puts you right back where you fell off of for the price of some coins, I’m okay with this change. Still, I’m gonna miss the green mushrooms.
Now excuse me while I go have a bit of a cry in a corner somewhere… D:
There are checkpoint flags, which serve as your starting point if you die. They also serve as quick-travel points. If you’re in an area (like a stage within the kingdom) without a checkpoint flag, it seems to start you from the beginning of the area, judging from the treehouse footage.
Essentially like what most other open world games do.
Got it!