The only Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing that tempted me in all that consumerism feeding frenzy that has spread from the US to the rest of the world was a Nintendo eshop offer on Super Mario Odyssey.

I’ve only played a couple of levels. I should get back to one of the other games I’ve started but not finished.

But like Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, or Mario Kart 8, this game is a delight. You can’t help but play it with a smile on your face.

There is just something about Nintendo’s own titles that (most of the time) pay attention to the little things. Those little details that delight and surprise.

Odyssey continues that expectation and delivers in spades. The level design (so far in my very limited play) has been sublime. The game looks gorgeous. The hat as the new mechanic is great fun. Throwing it to attack, break stuff is fun. But even cooler, allows you to take over creatures like a frickin’ T-Rex on the second level. That was so much fun, and handled just like you’d expect the T-Rex to handle. It was slow(ish) and lumbering.

I’m looking forward to exploring and discovering the worlds Nintendo have created in Odyssey.