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Super
Mario Odyssey
15 Accessibility Features

We've documented 15 accessibility features for Super Mario Odyssey, including Control Assists, Motion Aiming, Speaker Indicator, Fully Subtitled (Or No Speech) and Minimal Reading. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Controls but it also has features in Reading, Navigation and Difficulty to reduce unintended barriers.

This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.

Super Mario Odyssey is a running and jumping game in the long-running Mario series where you save Princess Peach from Bowser. While it's a familiar setup, here you explore vast open worlds and use your hat to help you get around, fight, and even possess enemies to gain new abilities. It's a clear departure from what's come before, yet still retains the same lighthearted charm and focus on fun and fluid movement.

Our accessibility examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Super Mario Odyssey accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 2 years ago.

NotesAccessibility Notes

The difficulty starts low and rises, but the Assist mode (that can be selected at any time during play) helps direct you and grants extra health. This Assist mode means that you get double the health and if you die you continue from where you died, making the game unfailable.

You can use motion pointing as a second player to stun enemies. You can also use motion aiming when in tanks and other vehicles.

The Super Mario Odyssey amiibo figures offer Wedding Outfits that reveal the location of regional coins (Bowser) and grant temporary invincibility (Mario). These aid difficulty but are items you need to purchase.

There is minimal reading, although text size can't be adjusted. In the shop, the text is small including prices and how many coins you have. Motion controls are integral but not essential and you can't remap any buttons or sticks. Assist mode superimposes blue arrows on the ground to show players where they need to go next. You can unlock outfits that offer higher contrast. Controller rumble tells you when you are walking on a secret and directs you to it. Auditory cues exist for some other events, but this isn't comprehensive.

DetailsGame Details

Release Date: 27/10/2017

Price: 27% off

Out Now: Switch

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Players: 1-2

Genres: Action, Platform (Adventure, Collecting and Traversal)

Accessibility: 15 features

Components: 3D Third-Person and Open World

Developer: Nintendo (@Nintendo)

Costs: Purchase cost

 

ControlsControls

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Controls in Super Mario Odyssey which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.

Motion

Games that can be played with different sorts of motion controllers.

Motion Aiming: Can use small movements of the gamepad to fine-tune aiming or as the main aiming mechanism. This is sometimes known as Gyro-Aiming. This usually provides the ability to calibrate these controls to taste.

Motion Gesture: Can motion with the controller to direct an in-game action. This can be a one-to-one motion for analogue sword or camera movement. It can also be a simple shake to trigger a one-off action. This is sometimes known as Waggle or Shake controls, as popularised by the Wii.

Controller Vibration

Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.

Informative Vibration: Controller vibration indicates events or interactions in the game, echoing visual and audio cues. This can provide additional information about progress, approaching enemies or hitting a target.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls

If you want to play Super Mario Odyssey, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:

DifficultyDifficulty

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Difficulty in Super Mario Odyssey which deals with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play.

Adjust After Setting

Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Difficulty

If you want to play Super Mario Odyssey, but it doesn't offer the Difficulty accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Difficulty accessibility:

Getting StartedGetting Started

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Getting Started in Super Mario Odyssey which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.

Assistance Getting Starting

These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.

Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.

Practice Area: You can practice freely without opponents or time pressures. This can be a specific practice option, or the ability to play levels with the easiest opponents to improve understanding and skill.

Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.

Assistance For Progressing

These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.

Assisted Progress With Hints: The game notices if you get stuck (or you can press a button) and provides information to help you progress. This can offer hints or tutorials popping up during play. This includes hints after you have died, where it can suggest strategies or difficulty settings to adjust or offer to skip past problematic levels.

Save Progress Anytime: The game automatically saves progress or you can save any time. This doesn’t mean you never lose progress, but it does mean you can stop whenever you want (without having to get to a save point) without losing progress.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

If you want to play Super Mario Odyssey, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:

ReadingReading

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Super Mario Odyssey which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.

Reading Level

How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.

Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.

Subtitles

All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.

Captions

Speaker Indicator: Textual captions indicate who is speaking (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or placing text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

If you want to play Super Mario Odyssey, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

NavigationNavigation

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Navigation in Super Mario Odyssey which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.

Head-Up Display

Head-Up Display Navigation: Indication of where to go next with overlaid arrows, minimaps and waypoint markers. This supplements in-game visual and audible cues with additional guidance about where you are and where you need to go.

Game Map: View a map of the game world during play, with the landscape, points of interest and missions highlighted throughout the entire game. This enables the orientation of the player and the world, confirming a direction of movement and the location of destinations or points of exploration.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation

If you want to play Super Mario Odyssey, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:

VisualVisual

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Visual in Super Mario Odyssey which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game. The following games are similar to Super Mario Odyssey, and offer accessibility features for Visual:

AudioAudio

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Audio in Super Mario Odyssey which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see. The following games are similar to Super Mario Odyssey, and offer accessibility features for Audio:

System Accessibility Settings

In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:

Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
 
Read more about system accessibility settings.

VSC LogoAccessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson


Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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