After losing our lunch with Breath of the Wild's VR mode update, we entered the Cap Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey with a sense of trepidation, as well as a slight headache. We’d been excited to explore Hyrule with the Labo VR Goggles and it was disappointing to have our latent fears concerning the Switch’s limited VR prowess confirmed.
Happily, then, it was most pleasant to discover that Mario’s tailor-made mini-missions are far better suited to prolonged play sessions. The bite-sized nature of these trips to the Cap, Seaside and Luncheon Kingdoms means you won’t be spending very long with the Goggles held to your face, but even so, you’re unlikely to experience dizziness or pain in your temples either.
Once you’ve downloaded the update you can access the VR levels from the main menu. Starting in the Cap Kingdom, the camera is rooted to a fixed point in the middle of the level from which you control the plumber and guide him to close-by treble clefs. Collecting the notes that appear after touching them reveals a musical instrument to deliver to one of three musicians milling around.
That’s it. You shouldn’t go in expecting much – you’ll visit three kingdoms in total but the whole thing will probably take you 15 minutes, if that. However, that’s 15 fresh minutes in the delightful world of Super Mario Odyssey, and compared to the migraine that is the Breath of the Wild VR update, this is a lovely little treat.
Having the camera stuck in the same spot means Mario can move pretty far away – far enough that you’ll be able to count the pixels in his cap – but fortunately hitting ‘L’ or ‘R’ zooms to give a better view of distant detail. If you lose sight of Mario at any time, clicking the right stick will snap the camera round to frame him in the centre again, otherwise an onscreen indicator points you in the right direction. Get too far away and you'll be plucked up and delivered back to the play field. Slingshots exist which fling you to other small areas of the level and there are a handful of secreted coins to discover, but you won’t be staying anywhere very long.
Even if you don’t own the requisite Labo kit to enjoy the VR, you can still play using the console’s gyroscope. You might lose that feeling of immersion, but you’ll gain a massive increase in resolution and it plays just fine outside of VR, too.
Once you’ve found the musicians in the three kingdoms it’s off to the concert with you for another encore of Odyssey’s signature song. We remember 'Jump Up, Super Star!' bringing a tear to the eye the first time we heard it, although it doesn’t quite have the same effect the 562nd time. Pauline takes centre stage, of course, and you still have control over Mario. Jumping on Pauline’s head causes her to stop singing, which we found hilarious for some reason.
Also viewable in stereoscopic 3D are the opening and closing cutscenes. Presented in ‘Theater’ mode, you can't move your head and it feels almost identical to watching cutscenes on a 3DS. A nice extra, but hardly scintillating.
The patented Nintendo ‘take a break’ advice screens are present and correct which is a tad irritating when the whole mode is so slight, but Super Mario’s Odyssey’s micro-brand of VR is very pleasant indeed, especially coming after the disappointing implementation in Zelda. It’s a fluffy, throwaway thing, but cute nonetheless, and the fact that its also available without VR means there’s no reason not to give it a try. We wouldn’t buy Labo VR just to play this update, but the cumulative value of this and the Labo VR Kit itself (specifically the Starter Kit + Blaster) makes Switch’s VR experience worth investigating if you are at all curious. On the strength of this, we'd be up for seeing more VR novelty updates for other Nintendo games - a blaster-based on-rails update for Splatoon 2, for example, wouldn't go amiss.
How did you find Super Mario Odyssey's VR update? What other games could benefit from a little Labo VR seasoning? As always, let us know below.
Comments 13
Super Merry-Oh!
Mario in VR, this should be bigger than what it is currently.
A few years ago when VR slipped into the game industry, everyone wondered if Nintendo will do VR and excited at the prospect of seeing a Mario game in VR.
Well, here it is. A DLC for a cardboard VR. Wa-Wa-Wahhhh.
Games that deserve VR updates:
ARMS
Mario Tennis Aces
Splatoon 2(maybe)
Metroid Prime 4
Took a lot of playing, but I got it working on PSVR... Not quite the same setup as using PSVR for "cinema mode" for an external source.
Unplug the HDMI cable that comes from the PS4 into the VR breakout box from the breakout box, leave that slot empty. On the front of the breakout box, the double HDMI cable that plugs into the headset, unplug the right side and plug that into the Switch dock. Run another hmdi cable from the port on the breakout box you just unplugged to the tv. Leave everything else plugged in.
PS4 needs to be turned on to turn on the headset, and it won't output to the tv, but it works in the headset. There's no head tracking, but that makes BotW more playable.
Turn in the VR mode on the switch before you dock it, the screen is garbled in the headset without it in this setup.
@nintendolie Mario needs the Astro Bot treatment. I have no doubt that Nintendo can do something great with the tech once they've got a better setup going for it.
@nintendolie I see where you’re coming from. I remember getting well hyped for the “Nintendo On” (remember that?).
This said, I think this is a good idea - a playful dip into the area. I’m sure once all the hardware and customer expectations and costs are all aligned we may see something more to what we may be hoping for.
It’s more game on super Mario odyssey even if it’s 15 minutes. It’s free
@Rutty_YT
a VR update for splatoon may be interesting. (assuming they create it so that you have the option from playing in first person view.) imagine you and all off your opponents enjoying a round of turf-war in VR from a first person point of view. 3rd person point of view may be acceptable.
VR for ARMS may be interesting, but for now lets see how Nintendo handles are feedback on VR and see if they release a few updates to fix the VR experience in these games.
an interesting experimemt for them would be for them to add VR to super mario bros. U deluxe or some other 2D platformer and see what happens. experiencing a 2D platformer from a different point of view may be interesting.
just imagine the possibilities for VR options in Super Mario Maker 2. nintendo adding VR support in that game can add more possibilities for level creation options. however, some 2D levels should never be played in VR mode and vise-versa.
@stevenw45 I almost forgot about ARMS and how you have to hold the screen up to your face. I use motion controls in ARMS, so I probably wouldn't’ like it.
@Rutty_YT
they could make an update to fix that.
update one: make a headstrap type thing so that you can wear the system like it were a heave set of glasses.
update two: make an update so that the player can use multiple controllers in the game.
controller set one (the joy-con controolers) would be used with the VR head set for the gyroscope capabilities and whatnot.
controller set two, would allow you to use the pro controller or a second set of joy-cons for controlling your character in the world around you.
update three would be slight tweacks making it so that having joy-con controllers attached to the VR head-set optional so that us game players can use the standard controller for changing the point of view of the character like always.
or Nintendo could make an actual head-set for use with the system. that way we won't be forced to put the system to our face and use the joy-cons in an uncomfortable manner.
The screenshots look great as stereograms (“magic eye” sort of images)
@Rutty_YT i would love to see ARMS and Mario Tennis Aces for VR. they would bee great fits for VR.
i also would like to see an update of Mario Kart 8 in VR, it would continued the trend of the game getting labo update (i think it used two of the labo's?) and there's also a Mario Kart VR game is out there in arcades.
Finally a reason to use my VR besides pointless mini games!
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