Does 'Super Mario Odyssey' live up to the hype?

You may have heard that Super Mario Odyssey is being heralded as the best game of the year. I am here to set the record straight. [Insert dramatic pause.]

It's been a long time since I loved a game the way I loved The Witcher 3, which changed what open world gaming could be.

Super Mario Odyssey can also be described as a "game changer" in an industry that believes that a game is only as good as the amount of people (or aliens, or zombies) you can kill.

Odyssey turns that on its head and instead has focused on creating an incredible play experience with ingenious use of the Joy-cons (controllers of the Nintendo Switch video game console).

With every shake of your controllers Mario does a different thing along with his wide-eyed hat companion Cappy.

You'll find yourself twisting and shaking as you traverse the colourful kingdoms, getting Mario to do somersaults and hat spin throws, while trying to save the world from the devastation caused by Bowser's forced wedding to Princess Peach.

Throwing those Joy-cons around is lots of fun and never gets boring.

WATCH | The game trailer for Super Mario Odyssey

On top of that Nintendo has been able to cram the things gamers love into an engaging storyline, dynamic open worlds, secret puzzle levels, several things to collect, outfit changes, revisitable levels and unlockable moves.

What's more it has played to the strengths of the series and built in moments of Super Mario 3 nostalgia with retro gaming moments. There are also iconic obstacle monsters to battle you in different lands.

Sure it doesn't have 4K graphics or the processing power to run monster games, but it can run behemoth-name games like Fifa 2018 and Call of Duty WWII (coming to the Switch soon.)

Plus the pick-up-and-play capabilities are great. The game continues when you pick up the screen and slot the Joy-cons in exactly where you left off.

So, there you have it, Super Mario Odyssey is most definitely the best game of the year.