As it turns out, the Luncheon Kingdom is inspired by Italy and other European countries, making it a fitting level to show off at Gamescom, which is essentially the European equivalent of E3. As the level’s name implies, the Luncheon Kingdom is themed after food, with various objects, enemies, and obstacles in the stage all representing the theme.
The Luncheon Kingdom theme extends to the items Mario can purchase in the level, such as a chef’s hat and outfit. Other stages in the game, like New Donk City, will have region-exclusive items to purchase as well. Players will be able to purchase these items using the regular coins Mario can find lying around or by collecting region-exclusive purple coins.
The Super Mario Odyssey Gamescom presentation also gives fans a look at some of Mario’s special abilities in the game. We see him put his hat Cappy to good use, using it not only to activate switches, but to possess a fireball so that he can safely traverse across a lake of lava. Mario also uses Cappy to possess Hammer Bros. in the video, though these Hammer Bros. throw frying pans (instead of hammers) to fit in with the Luncheon Kingdom’s theme.
Motion controls come into play when Mario is possessing these characters. For example, players can shake the Joy-Cons to pick up speed when playing as the fireball, as well as throw frying pans as the Hammer Bros. It’s unclear if these actions can be completed with standard button presses or if motion controls are required in the game.
While some fans may dislike forced motion controls, Super Mario Odyssey’s Luncheon Kingdom gameplay presentation was still impressive, and should leave Nintendo Switch owners excited for the adventure to come.
Super Mario Odyssey will launch on October 27th, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
