How Super Mario Odyssey pushes Switch to its limits

Digital Foundry on the techniques used to create the most advanced Mario title yet.

[EddieNX]

Perfectly fine for solid 60fps and lots.of detail

[remixx116]

People are so fickle, looks great to me. I hate when people pick a games visuals apart just to find flaws.

[EddieNX]

It's a beautiful game on my TV and the 60fps makes all the difference. It's the way the game is designed though, like the layout of the levels that is most impressive.

Knack has better graphics than Odyssey but Odyssey is still a much better designed game and it looks better because of that. Knack is dull af

[mikeslemonade]

Ehhh it's Nintendo fan servicing. But I agree it should be better than the overrated Galaxy games.

[DrJones]

It's a good looking open world game and it still runs at 60 frames per second on a much weaker system. Impressive, other devs should learn from Nintendo

[chrisoadamson]

"Depending on the action, Odyssey ranges from a high-end at 1600x900 to lower resolutions like 1440x810 and even 1280x720"
such a shame nintendo dont realease their games on capable hardware

[Sgt_Slaughter]

The game plays extremely smoothly with no hiccups from what I've seen. Why should resolution matter at that point?

[Kyizen]

Xbox One X says 4K is where it's at for gaming. Where have you been?

[Istolla]

@Kyizen
- Only 10% of people have 4k TVs.
- Most people can't tell the difference between 4k and FHD.
- Most 4k TVs upscale non 4k comment very well
- The only people that care about 4k in gaming are insecure tech whores.

4k gaming isn't the end all be all of gaming. Full HD games are still beautiful. I own a 4k TV, and the Switch is my go to gaming device.

[corroios]

The title of this news should not be this. It doesnt push nothing in terms of tech. The rez is very low, not locked, got some strange rez settings, full of artifacts, backgrounds are just bad and its not locked at 60 frames on a cartony game.

Tech wise it just shows that Nintendo hardware is max out a couple of months on the market. The did the best they can, but it just lacks the horsepower. I think its good for the tech they are using, but very far away of 2017 tech.

[marloc_x]

The PS4 Pro has trouble rendering this much fun.

[Vegamyster]

The title doesn't suggest it pushes tech forward, it says it pushes the Switch to it's limits which you admit they did the best that they could with the tech available. The game looks perfectly fine on my TV & runs buttery smooth, obviously certain things could be better but you can say that about pretty much any game.

"I think its good for the tech they are using, but very far away of 2017 tech."

Considering it's size, if they went with anything more powerful it would drastically increase the price. Why do you think gaming laptops cost significantly more than a desktop setup? For a system that's probably 1/10th the size of a PS4 that you can take anywhere i find it very impressive, then again i grew up playing with the original brick Gameboy & link cables to play Pokemon together ect.

[jagermaster619]

Says the guy who doesn't own a switch and mario. It looks amazing you wouldn't be complaining if you played it yourself!

[BlacKJesu5]

I played it...leaves much to be desired....you would know how garbo it really looks if you had a 4k tv!!

[Istolla]

BlackJesu5 you're 4k TV must be garbage if it can't upscale very well.

[Instantnoodles88]

And they’re still able to create GOTY quality titles! Well done Nintendo, they really are quite impressive.

[kevnb]

60 fps and its portable, go away.

[conanlifts]

Next week i will pick up xbox x for the visuals. Despite this switch is home to 2 of the best games this gen with zelda and mario. You don't always need power for an amazing experience.

[SinkingSage]

*docked
640x720 vertical interlace in portable mode.

[Shuckylad]

Funny how a games resolution matters little when your having so much fun.

[2cents]

I'm loving this game, just got to New Donk City... So surreal.

This game really feels good, so much nostalgia, charm, love and passion. So glad I got a switch.

[blady_man]

I am getting this game on monday and will play it non stop!!

[2cents]

It's so good, if you are a Mario fan, you will be in heaven.

Happy Gaming Friend!!!

[blady_man]

@2cents thanks!!

[Prince_TFK]

Metro Kingdom is my favourite one so far, alongside Sand and Lake Kingdom.

Having a blast with this game. One of the best titles in 2017 so far.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I think they might have been able to get away with making the worlds larger, but that might have sacrificed some of the quality if they couldn't continue thinking up things to fill that space, so all in all I think they struck a good balance between size and content for a Mario title.

[Triggytrolls]

The game looks fantastic on the big screen, it really does.

[Nodoze]

While there is a bit of aliasing and shimmer, it is absolutely fantastic. Can't put it down.

[higgins78]

Switch, many breathtakingly beautiful games and people still wheel out the old 'underpowered' nonsense. The games on any console either look/run good or don't, and Odyssey, A Breath of the Wild, MK8, Arms, Mario + Rabbids, etc, etc, all I could dream of and then some. I could give a jot how many mghz + ram is involved...

[Nodoze]

Absolutely fantastic game. I cannot put it down. The biggest test thus far is waiting as the Switch charges. Man this thing needs a bigger better battery.

[captainexplosion]

Mario and Zelda games are always so overrated visually. IMO the art design is weak and the resolution is so low its distracting. I keep hearing its 1080p but there is no way it is. The resolution clearly changes because sometimes it looks as high as about 900p but often it looks like its 720p or lower. Its worth getting, obviously, but the graphics aren't nearly as good as people say. Just like BOTW. Also, the motion controls SUCK.

[Istolla]

It's a good thing your opinion doesn't matter. It never will. Lol.

[masterfox]

"Super Mario Odyssey pushes Switch to its limits" <--- Switch barely 7 months out and already reaching its limits, wuhahaha yeah my 350 dlls or more perfectly justify with the Switch, right?, lol seriously people The Switch is selling because is a fad at the moment, but if you just stop for a second and think a bit about the Switch if really is worth the purchase you will realize is not, just look at the facts:

* Too expensive of what if offers
* only two good games in a period of seven months
* limited specs, overheating issues, battery issues, storage issues
* barely handles full HD games in docking, 720p image on handheld we are 2017 you know.
* Nintendo re-release last years games marketed as a reason to purchase a Switch
* Inferior multiplataform games priced same as the Superior versions
* Old multiplataform games re-releases marked full price, inferior version of course(Doom example)
* Switch games prices marked the same as console games, and most of them way inferior in quality.
* Pathetic multimedia options, I think it doesn't even play MP3 files
* Ridiculous overpriced accessories
* Mediocre online infrastructure, you need to plug your smartphone to chat online,lol
* Pathetic game library releases schedule for 2018 and beyond, this year was the same only two good games, all others range from average to mediocre.

Man I can go on and on , one of the main reasons all these negatives facts are present is because of the price is not justified, if it was lower all these negatives would be forgettable but is not, with that price you can buy a console with dozens of high quality games already out not to mention way cheaper, I mean buying Doom for 59.99 for the switch looking way inferior is just dumb, if the game ran on the Switch full HD / 60 fps, holy damn!!, I would definitely see the Switch with another eyes and consider buying it right away!, a reasonable price for the Switch because is a handheld I think is no more than 200 bucks, if it had this price I would definitely consider a possible purchase I think, and I'm saying possible cause the current game library just plain sucks!, and no I won't purchase a gaming device for just two damn good games released in a period of seven months!.

[Many-hat5]

In spite of knowing much of what you say is correct, I still got one! People aye, what you gonna do! :)

[masterfox]

What you gonna do ?, lol absolutely nothing :D, the thing is when I see something and facts aren't fully displayed I tend to display it for them, sorry if all those points looks like aren't favorable for the Switch but one thing is for sure is not about hating the Switch is about telling the reality of things, if I hate something that would be false advertisement. Everyone call me "oh is a Sony fanboy bla blah" ..lol, but no I'm not I have an impartial opinion to things, people, etc. If Sony screwed up with the PS4 I would be there to tell them facts, well in a form of opinion of course. :D

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

One long spam post about how much you hate the system and don't recognize that it has any games.
Reported as such. You seriously need to stop coming onto every Nintendo article for the sheer sake of heckling it for reactions.

[Prince_TFK]

Lmao. Don't worry, you are allowed to have more than one console. There is no rules or laws that state you can have only 1. Unless, of course your parents is paying you for it, then forget what I said.

[masterfox]

"Don't worry, you are allowed to have more than one console",<-- and thats totally awesome!, I remember the time when I had, SNES, Sega Genesys, N64, Playstation, Gamecube, Saturn, Sega CD, 32x, Gamecube, Xbox original, Gameboy, Gamegear, and lots other rare gaming things, it was so awesome back then, console performance were almost equal on each of them on their respective gen, in the past the fight between company were always about who had the best performance machine and games so knowing this, these causes each company to release their best game yet, each game had their own uniqueness , in other words there was a healthy competition between them. hehe and no I pay for my stuff .

The problem today of the competitiveness is the games company mentality, in one hand we have a company that say it doesn't care about specs and performance and yet again they acknowledged that Oddisey must run at full HD and 60 fps,..hmm hypocrisy any one?, and the other hand we have a company that is about to unleashed "the beast" lol very expensive with no games to backup that supa powa. So as you can see the gaming competition is a complete mess right now, the only game company that is bringing the games like the old times is only Sony at the moment, their slogan for the Gamer so far has been true.

[WickedLester]

So what you're saying is the Switch isn't for you. Got it, thanks!

[Many-hat5]

While it's true the hardware is pretty crap, the (Nintendo) games are superb. And what I find ironic, is how people on this site constantly post that devs should prioritize frame rate over resolution, then when a company actually does this, you complain about resolution! Many of the big AAA games on the so called powerful hardware from MS and Sony, just about mange 30FPS on many major titles. Preferring instead, to push the resolution god. Personally, and I mean this is just an opinion of mine! I would much rather play BOTW than any equivalent on my PS4 or Xbox. I'm a gamer, Nintendo makes brilliant 'fun' games. I have PS4,Xbox, gaming PC, Switch and practically every other major platform ever produced(soon to have my Scorpio). When I get bored of so called hardcore gaming, Nintendo reminds me how fun and simple gaming can be.

[LoveSpuds]

Exactly, I am currently playing through my Wii and WiiU backlog. Even with those much reduced resolutions, the gameplay and sheer fun Nintendo pack into their games is unrivalled in my opinion. Replaying Zelda: Wind WakerHD and Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 recently has been an utterly incredible experience.

I am playing Wolfenstein 2 on my PS4Pro and it is dazzling, great action, amazing production values, just an all round fantastic game but having games like Mario offers such a great contrast to these heavy games. Like you say, Nintendo games are fun in a way no other games can replicate.

[Kyizen]

That's not good for a year one game to hit a systems limit! RIP Switch it's downhill from here

[WickedLester]

Jesus Christ, folks this is a HANDHELD that can dock to your TV. Please show me another gaming handheld on the market today that is as capable as the Switch. There isn't one! Stop trying to compare a handheld to true home consoles. This is as absurd as trying to compare the PS3/360 to the 3DS.

[DrJones]

They prioritized 60 fps and it still looks good in a open world game on a much weaker system. PS4/Xbox take note