Super Mario Odyssey ANALYSIS - Reveal Trailer (Secrets & Easter Eggs)

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Ho-ly crap. Super Mario Odyssey looks amazing. I get excited every time I watch the trailer. And theres so much to look at! Its a good thing we sent the old analysis
machine for a tune-up right before this analysis...Because its come back with our longest analysis
every based on just a single trailer! And wit that, lets not waste any more time
and dive right in So Super Mario Odyssey is a return to form
for 3D Mario, with even Nintendo stating its a sandbox-style game in the same vein of Super
Mario 64 and Sunshine--which is music to the analysis machines ears.

What that means is that levels are should
be grander in scale and nonlinear, offering multiple paths and objectives. Essentially, theres no single goal, nor
single correct way to get through the level--its largely up to you. And Super Mario Odyssey seems to be stepping
it up a notch, with Mario going on a globetrotting adventure spanning a variety of huge unique
environments--all in order to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser--shocking isnt it? Now we have no idea how many levels will be
in the final game, but what we do know is that the trailer reveals at least four of
them: A New York-type city, a forest, a desert, and well, whatever this place is--hey, theres
a volcano, so lets call it the volcano level. Now on the surface, these themes may seem
pretty standard.

But hold up just a second... Those levels
arent quite what they seem at first. The desert isnt your typical desert--instead,
its been frozen over in places. Thats a little weird, isnt it? And even stranger: the pyramid is upside down! Its a literal inversion of your expectations.

Then theres the natural-looking forest...Which
isnt quite as natural as it may seem at first glance, being inhabited by man-made
robots and full of steel structures. Next up is the volcano level, which strangely
enough, seems to be all about food, except the food appears to be polygonal--almost as
its virtual in nature--yeah, I dont think that would quite qualify as organic. And last but not least, theres the city
which puts realistically-styled humans right up against the cartoonishly-proportioned Mario. Clearly these arent just your typical levels--instead,
they seem to adhere to a grander theme, in that theyre based on a contrast, or a juxtaposition
of some sort.

Now besides sharing the idea of contrasting
elements, they have some others common attributes as well. Of course, the usual gold coins and ? Blocks
are back, but then we have some new common elements to, like these collectible purple
objects, as well as the Crazy Cap store--but well dive into all those a bit more later. Anyways, since this is an adventure that spans
an entire planet, a central hub, like the castle in Mario 64 or Delfino Plaza in Super
Mario Sunshine might not make sense based on the vast distances Marios traversing. And sure enough, weve found no evidence
of one here either--yep, even the city appears to just be another level, which well get
into more later.

So instead, Mario seems to be get around by
way of this strange aircraft thats shaped like a Top Hat, with the brim serving as a
walkway. We can see Mario land it in some levels, and
departing others via it too--and presumably even flying between them in this scene. Oh, and theres even a freakin globe
too--which also has a diagram of a compass underneath of.. So our guess is that this ship functions similar
to the Faceship in Super Mario Galaxy 2, allowing access to a World Map of sorts that you use
to choose which level to visit--and maybe that globe is the map that Mario chooses from.

Now the globe reveals this this world, though
Earth-like, isnt actually Earth itself. Yeah, its not a huge surprise--but that
idea of the world being Earth-like might tie into the level themes, with some seemingly
being based on real-life locations, such as with the New York City stage and the Mexican
town in the desert--while of course being quite different at the same time. But heres a question: is this the same
planet as the Mushroom Kingdom, or a different one entirely? I mean, weve never seen humans like that
before. And after Super Mario Galaxys stellar setting,
wed say anythings possible.

Now the airship appears to run on a weird
combination of wind power based on the sail, technology with the spinning gears underneath,
and maybe even a hint of magic with all the glowing dust coming from both of those? Yeah, the whole things pretty mysterious. Especially since we never see anyone besides
Mario riding on it. I mean, where did Mario get the ship from? And whoever the owner is seems to have gone
a little overboard with the hat theme--I mean, theres a Hat-shaped insignia on the front,
as well as on the door, and the nearby hat-shaped lamp, then the Window Mario looks out of...And
as for the 5 exhaust pipes sticking out the back? Yep: all hats. Heck, theres even a little Hat decoration
on top of the flagpole.

Does the Mad Hatter run this or something? You might say the owner is a little...InHATuated. Besides hats, theres a few other peculiar
things too. Like how the openings for the exhaust pipes
all have their own cover that can seemingly flip back up to close, presumably after the
pipes retract. Whats the purpose of that? Can the ship transform in some way--perhaps
to be watertight, like a boat something? That would explain the sail...In addition,
there are some rivets in the top of the hat too, which makes us wonder if the top can
possibly open up, perhaps to store things or expose a special tool? We can also see a circular cover underneath--is
that hiding something? Theres also a weird purple sphere on the
roof full of a yellow liquid--could that be whats powering the whole thing? It is the same color as the magic sparkles
after all.

Maybe the amount of liquid you have dictates
how far you can go--and which levels you can explore? But more importantly, that purple and yellow
color scheme actually matches that of the Crazy Cap shop that can be found in several
levels--which we think indicates the the two are connected. I mean, they are both about hats after all. And on that note, the end of the trailer reveals
that Marios cap is now a sentient-being too, sprouting a pair of eyes...And we dont
think its a coincidence that the two Cs in Crazy Caps logo also look like eyes. So we have a feeling that this new Hat is
involved with that Shop AND probably the ship too.

Which could possibly mean that Marios not
really alone on that airship after all. In addition, it seems that hat will grant
Mario some new powers--or at least one new power, being the ability to throw his hat
so that it hovers in place for a couple of seconds so he can use it like a trampoline
to cross long gaps or reach high areas, almost like a power-up. And by the way, the same type of magic sparkles
seem to appear around the hat when its thrown, as emitted by the Airship when flying--further
cementing the two are connected. And we can see those same sparkles again when
the hat appears in the logo.

Hmmm Now one thing that Marios famous for is
power-ups--yet theyre nowhere to be found in the trailer at all...Or are they? Because we have a feeling thats where the
Crazy Cap shop comes into play. We can see Mario enter one in the desert scene,
and theres even has a selection of hats on display outside. So what if the Crazy Cap stores are the replacement
for power-ups, where Mario goes to swap hats that grant him different powers? And its not like swapping hats is new,
as that ability harkens back to Super Mario 64--the main difference is that it would be
done at a central location in each level. And we would also assume that theyre not
time-sensitive, similar to switching nozzles in Mario Sunshine.

Now all of this raises a question--is that
sentient hat a being in the shape of a hat, or something else? I mean, it would be a little weird if it just
happened to come in the exact shape and color of Marios normal hat, right? Plus if Mario can switch hats, does that mean
each one hat its own personality? Instead, we think it might be more likely
that the hat-being is actually a spirit or something that can possess a variety of different
hats, and imbues them with special powers. But its just a idea--we dont even know
that Mario can switch hats for sure--but those Crazy Cap shops have to be for something important,
right? Besides potential power-ups, now might be
a good time to quickly explore Marios moveset, as it seems to be the most robust its ever
been in the past 20 years. So first up are the return of some classic
moves from Super Mario 64, such as the Double and Triple jump for extra height, then theres
long-jumping, side-flipping, and wall-jumping. Then he can swim, climb, grab ledges and sidle
along them, carry things SMB2-style, and even dive again--both on land and into water where
it turns into a proper dive! Now interestingly, whenever Mario performs
a dive, we can see and hear some speed-lines appear behind him--and that seems to be for
a good reason, as it looks like it gives him a bit of a boost.

So this could make performing a dive a crucial
maneuver as a last minute save, like if youre going to fall short of clearing a jump or
something. But as it turns out, you can teach an old
plumber some new tricks, as Mario has a brand new move too, in which he turns into a ball
and rolls downhill. Now at first, it looks like he performs a
dive to enter ball form--but he doesnt seem to get a boost like he did the other
times. Which means it has to be a completely different
move.

But interestingly, Mario can hop while rolling--and
thats when we see and hear similar action-lines--or sparks--appear, which also gives him a speed
boost. And if we had to guess, wed say that this
will allow him to bowl right through enemies--similar to sliding downhill in the 2D games. Who does Mario think he is? Kirby? So clearly Mario has quite a few moves at
his disposal. The only real thing missing is any kind of
front-facing attack, like punching or kicking.

Okay, yeah, we do see Mario kick a construction
barrel at one point, but it seems to be automatic, just like in Super Mario Galaxy, meaning it
can probably only be used on objects and enemies already in a weakened state. But, we have a feeling his hat throw may be
the replacement, giving Mario an odd-job like long-range attack. Although if Mario can switch hats, its
possible this ability wont carry over. One other thing to point out is that Mario
can be seen looking at points of interest whether its Taxis, Pylons, or whatever
else--its a nice touch, and might also offer a clue as to where to go next.

And speaking of whats important--we have
no idea of what the main collectible is this time! You know, like Mario 64s stars or Sunshines
Shine Sprites? Theres no sign of anything similar here. Now this could be because the reward is hidden
until you meet certain requirements, like defeating a boss, or helping someone out--much
as it was at times in both 64 and Sunshine. And if thats the case, it might mean there
wont be any of those collectibles just out in the open--since again, we cant see
any here. But despite the lack of a clear end-goal,
there might be still hints of them...Sort of.

But well touch on that more later. Alright, so we finally have most of the basics
out of the way, so lets dive into the levels themselves. And what better place to start than with the
City Level, which is not only how the trailer begins, but is where a good portion of the
action takes place. And theres a looooot to cover to here.

I mean were going to be here for a while,
so buckle up. Now it doesnt take an analysis machine
to point out that this city is clearly based on New York City--I mean, between the manholes
spewing steam, Yellow Cabs everywhere, and general downtown appearance, its a deadringer. Heck, there are even similar-looking landmarks. That tower is pretty darn similar to the Empire
State Building, and the bridge in the background is evocative of the Brooklyn Bridge...

But despite the similarities this isnt
actually New York City--its New Donk City, as we can see that name plastered everywhere,
including on signs, banners, and even the ground. Its a weird name--and its just the start
of the rabbit hole of weirdness that is Donk city--no, Im not talking about you rabbits! YOure not even part of this level--get
out of here! Well be dealing with you later. Okay, for starters, as we touched on earlier,
this level is far more realistic than your typical Mario level--and as part of that,
it features normally-proportioned humans. Which make Mario, whos presumably also
human, look a bit freakish by comparison with his cartoonish appearance--hell, have you
seen how his nose now bounces around? Yeeeeah.

So yeah, its kind of weird to see real
humans and Mario side by side. Is there an actual explanation for that? Are normal-looking humans considered aliens
to Mario--kind if like that Twilight Zone episode where the beautiful woman is considered
a freak? Its even weirder when you consider that
mario himself, was originally said to be from New York--even though that doesnt seem
to be canon these days. But despite the humans being realistic, theres
something odd about them too--theyre all dressed nearly identically in 1950s style
clothing--or at least we think its 1950--its an old style no matter what. Which is especially weird considering we can
see a woman working on a laptop in the background meaning its the modern era.

So I guess whats old is new again, right? Either that, Or this is a city full hipsters. And thats just the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to weird stuff, because in this clip that offers a wonderful view of the city,
we can see the entire thing is actually located far above the ground, with skyscrapers extending
up through the clouds below. So whats going on here? Is there even more city below the clouds? And is this district built on top of a giant
building itself? And whats the point of Taxis if they cant
even leave this little island...Although the roads do look as if they may wrap around and
continue down the side--so can the Taxis escape gravity and just drive on down the side to
ground level? Were not sure--although that corner does
look like it might be a little rough on the undercarriage though... And were still not done with the strangeness.

Because despite the realistic visual-style,
theres still a clear Mario influence. Such as how all the Crosswalk Signals are
actually Question Blocks--not only are they yellow cubes, but they even feature the ? Mark
on the screen as the Walk symbol. Which you know...Probably isnt the best
idea for a crosswalk. Although since they are based on Question
Blocks, does anything happen if you hit them? Like the signal changing? And thats not all...Because lets take
a closer look at those signs...Like this one here that says Diddys Mart...And its
apparently located on DIxie Street, which just so happens to be this street based on
the street sign...And speaking of Dixie, she even gets her own theater too on that same
street.

Wait a second...Diddy and Dixie...As in the
Kongs? And were just getting started! And we dont just mean the fact that Dixie
has her own theater on that same street. No, we mean even more Kongs! If we freeze the trailer at the very start
we can see a sign for Tinys Piroshkis--Tiny being Tiny Kong from Donkey Kong 64. Who knew she got into the Russian pie business? Then right across the street is a sign for
something that says Candys...As in Candy Kong. Which is a name we havent seen in a very
long time.

And just in front of that is another sign
for a shop called Banana Bagels--and of course, the Kongs love their bananas. Then right next to the Dixie st sign is another
for Crank st, as in Cranky Kong. And across the street is one for Squawks Park--as
in Squawks the Animal Buddy. And speaking of animal buddies, elsewhere
in the city, we can see a street sign for Expresso, the Ostrich as well as one for Rambi
the Rhino.And right next to his is one for K Rool, as in King K Room, being the main
villain of the Donkey Kong games.

Huuuuh. So between all these connections to Donkey
Kong Country, were pretty confident the Donk in New Donk City is short for the
Donkey in Donkey Kong. And to sell that idea even further, we can
see red girders throughout the city just like in the original Donkey Kong arcade game. And speaking of which, did you notice the
license plates on the cabs all say 1981-ND.

ND obviously stands for New Donk, but 1981
is the release year of the original Donkey Kong arcade game. So what the hecks going on here? Now Donkey Kongs been a part of Mario ever
since...Well, the original Donkey Kong. But theyve never crossed-paths again in
the mainline Mario games...Until now. Its almost like the series has come full-circle--except
this time Donkey Kong brought the whole DKC.

Crew with him--or at least references to them. Now you might be asking yourself...What the
heck is DK and the rest of the crew from Donkey Kong Country doing in a big city like this? Well, its easy to forget that Donkey Kong
didnt get his start in the jungles of DK. Island, but instead in the construction site
of a literal Big City, as made clear in the pseudo remake, Donkey Kong 94, where the location
was literally called Big-City. And that city might have gone on to reappear
in Donkey Kong Land the following year, but this time called Big Ape City.

So could New Donk City possibly be the same
city? Maybe, though the name would have had to have
changed at some point. Either way, its clear Donkey Kong has a
bit of a history when it comes to cities. And the fact that New Donk City seems to be
named after him, strongly suggest Donkey Kong has a major influence here. Is he the mayor or something? Is this where the entire Donkey Kong crew
hangs out now? Or are they just references for the sake of
being references? After all, outside of signs and text, theres
no sign of them at all other.

Which is pretty weird right? Okay thats enough about DK and the other
Kongs for now...Lets talk about the city itself a bit. And we can see its basically a jungle gym
for Mario, with him able to nimbly make his way around, effortlessly climbing buildings
by jumping between them, clambering up light poles and flinging himself from street lights,
or carefully climbing across the ledge of a building--he can even use Taxi Cabs as mobile
trampolines for a jump-assist. The entire city is like a giant play-place
for Mario--almost like he was born here! And by the way, did you notice how the taxis
trunk and hood pops open briefly exposing the engine when Mario bounces off one? Its a neat touch--though that cabbies
going to be pissed if insurance doesnt pick that up. At one point, we even see Mario long-jump
off the tower as a quick way of reaching the ground.

And its during that jump that we get amazing
and revealing view of the city. Such as how we can see several of the buildings
to the top-right have rooftop gardens or parks. We can also see some blue tarps or something
on several of the rooftops, as well as on the girders to either side and on the ground
over here--which we actually get a close-up look at in this scene, seemingly confirming
it as a tarp--so can Mario bounce off them maybe? Or are they hiding something of interest underneath? Anyways, the view from up here is so good
in fact, that we were able to stitch together a picture that offers a nearly complete look
at the city--so complete in fact that we can use it to map out where every single city
scene takes place. So lets go ahead and start going through
it scene-by-scene, pointing out details you might have missed, while mapping it all out
at the same time, Breath of the Wild-style.

(Yeah, we take our analyses VERY seriously). Okay, so the trailer of course opens up with
a Taxi speeding past the camera--at a speed much faster than every other cab in the city. You can even hear it squealing around the
corner ahead and see its weight shifts onto the outside tires--what the heck is its deal? Is it trying to get away from something? And did you notice that as it speeds past,
it actually blows some gravel around, which you can even hear! Thats a pretty impressive detail! Mario then jumps onto the scene from a manhole
immediately after, which just so happens to be down the street from that Empire State
Building-like Tower--which, as it turns out, is the tower Mario leaped from that gave us
that amazing view. So if we go to our map, that Tower is right
here at the bottom, and the manhole Mario pops out of is at the opposite end right here.

So lets go ahead and mark that manhole
with a Mario head indicating his starting point--and heres a little arrow to show
the direction that the cameras facing. Now we can see that the spot Mario enters
from is basically at the edge of the world with almost nothing behind it--which is pretty
interesting considering the fact that Mario takes off in that very direction after he
pops out of the manhole. Why? Is he chasing after that Taxi, perhaps? That taxi was trying to get away in a hurry,
suggesting it might have something or someone of importance inside. Then again, maybe Marios trying to get
to his airship, which can be found on a building just across the gap that hes running toward.

Except for one problem--we can see that ship
fly by at the very start of the trailer--just seconds before Mario appears. Meaning it hasnt landed yet. So whats the deal here? Has Mario not met up with the ship and the
magic hat yet? Why else would it be flying by itself? To add credence to this idea, we can see a
column of light shining from the Airship in the scene where Mario jumps from the tower--and
this is the only time in the ENTIRE trailer that the airship glows like at all, which
strongly suggest its an objective Mario hasnt yet reached--at all. So were guessing that getting to that airship
might be one of Marios first objectives.

And if thats the case, that would also
likely mean that this scene takes place near the start of the game, and that this level
might be where Mario first meets up with the hat and the airship. New Donk City does seem like it would make
sense as an introductory level, in that there are no enemies to be found here at all--well,
not yet at least--but more on that in a bit. And by the way, did you notice that even though
the manhole drops back down, it doesn't actually return to its spot, leaving the hole exposed? Could this hint that the sewers might be an
important part in getting around--kind of like how they were in Mario Sunshine Delfino
Plaza? There are manholes all over the place after
all. At any rate, the road between here and the
tower that the Taxi raced down is Cranky street, which we can tell by the street sign right
here.

And right next to that is Dixie St, being
this roadway right here--which is where all those Donkey Kong-themed businesses we pointed
out were located. But theres one more we have mentioned yet--a
giant banner for Crazy Cap. Except we dont think its just a banner--but
the store itself, since it looks like theres an entrance made of glass just below, complete
with a scrolling sign below that says Go cap crazy! I mean, come on--this has to be a place where
Mario can swap hats, right?! And it seems to be a fitting location being
not just close to where Mario pops out of, but also close to the Airships landing
pad too. Now right next to the Crazy Cap store is a
light bulb with an electrical symbol on it--and its connected via a wire or pole to another
just above.

That electric symbol is just like the one
we spotted in the desert town back in the original Switch reveal trailer. This seems to suggest that electricity will
play some kind of role in the game. So were pretty sure you can interact with
it in some way--were just not entirely sure how. Maybe one of the Hats you can get at Crazy
Cap is the key? Now to the right of Mario, we can see some
grass--which as it turns out, is part of an entire park in the corner here, as shown on
our map.

And were pretty darn sure that park is
called Squawks Park based on the Squawks Park street sign for the adjacent street--a street
which, by the way, appears to wrap around the entire park. And that park is exactly where the rope-skipping
scene takes place--see, theres the street sign, and the Tower at the end of Cranky street. And speaking of Cranky street, quite a few
of the clips either take place either on it, or near it. Which makes sense seeing as its a major
throughway.

So first up is this scene that shows Mario
running away from the Tower, toward the manhole he popped out of. So lets go ahead and mark this on the map
as Location 2--and again, heres an arrow showing the direction the cameras facing Now if we pause it here, we can see another
light in the back that also has an electrical symbol on it, like the one before--and in
this scene, we can see that it too is connected to another light on the rooftop via a wire. So what are those about? At any rate, well mark this as Location
3 on our map. This next clip shows Mario just a little further
down Cranky Street, facing toward the tower, and facing away from where he came from.

See, theres the manhole he popped out of,
and we can see the airship on the building behind that, complete with the column of light. So well mark this as Location 4. And do you see that Street sign down there? Thats Expresso Street, which is this road
on the map. But well get back to that in a second.

Now at the start of the clip, we can see a
rooftop with a water tower and some construction barrels--which is the exact rooftop that Mario
leaps form in this scene to reach another building--specifically, these two buildings
on the map--so well mark this as Location 5. You can even see the Water tower and constructions
barrels from here. And while were looking at out map, take
note the red girders hanging off the right side, because theyre the same Girders we
can see in the background of this scene, which offers us a better look at Expresso Street--even
though Mario isnt on it himself. Instead, hes wall-jumping between these
two buildings on the map--and yep, one of thems the one he lept to in the previous
clip.

So lets mark this as Location 6. Also, we can also just barely see a checkpoint
flag on the building in the back, by the water tower, which is right here on the map. This next clip takes us back to ground level
on Cranky Street with mario flinging himself toward the base of the tower--which puts it
right here oh the map as Location 7. And we can see that the tower has a rather
grand-looking entrance, complete with a plaza.

Now its tough to see the words written
in the grass here, but if we go back to this scene, we can see it says New Donk City, and
has the same skyline logo as on the banners earlier. And just behind it is another checkpoint flag
in the center of the plaza, meaning this is probably a pretty important area. But well have a lot more to say about the
Tower in a couple minutes--but lets finish up our tour of the city first. So next up is this clip that shows Mario running
along the left side of the Towers Plaza, toward Cranky S.

We can even see the checkpoint
flag in the Tower plaza here. So that would put Mario right about here on
the map as Location 8. Unfortunately, we werent able to figure
out what the name of this street is, since the sign is impossible to read in every shot
of it. But this next shot on the opposite side of
the plaza is a bit more fruitful.

So for reference, thats the Tower right
there and the checkpoint flag, putting Mario right about here on the map as Location 9. And that clip reveals two more Street names. The street Marios on is Rambi, which were
assuming runs from here up to Cranky Street. And the cross street Mario turns on to is
KROOL, which connects to Espresso.

This area is also where the woman with the
laptop is working that we pointed out earlier, just at the base of the tower. And keep a close eye on the construction pylon
here--it actually wiggles as Mario runs past, showing theyre interactive. Now we get a top-down view of Rambi street
in this shot with Mario climbing along the edge of this building, just across from the
Tower--see, theres the Tower plaza right down there. Which well mark as being Location 10 on
our map.

Now it is worth noting how thick that ledge
is, which were guessing means he wont be able to clamber along the smaller ones
below--although we can see another thick one near the base. Alright, theres only one more city scene
to place! And this ones pretty self-explanatory,
as Mario takes off in his airship from the very same location weve already pointed
out, being this building in the back. And based on the angle, we can see that the
Airship has its back to the city. See, theres the Tower, Cranky Street, and
right about there should be the manhole that Mario popped out of.

And when the airship takes off, we can see
that it had landed on an actual helipad. Cool. But heres a question...How the heck do
you get to or from the Airship here? Thats quite a gap from the main city. Granted, the Helipad appears to be high enough
that you might to jump from it to the main city--but what about getting back? Or getting to it for the first time? Well in this case, our only guess is that
the red girders are involved in some way--we can see they lead from the Helipad to a tower
seemingly made of out of the same red steel as the girders--maybe Mario can use the sewers
to reach the base of that Tower that he then climb to the Airship? Were just spitballing.

And then theres the red block on the building
over here too--whats that about? And speaking of girders, how do the ones on
the left and ride sides of the city factor in? The ones on the left appear to lead down to
a platform at city-level with a blue tarp. Whereas the ones on the right seem a lot more
ambitious, stretching beyond what we can see, although we can see another blue tarp there
too. Do those girders lead anywhere important? However, we do get another look at those girders
in this scene, showing some Gold Coins inside, which suggests that Mario can walk through
some of them. Okay, so were almost done with our general
overview, but theres a few more interesting things to point out before we move on.

So first up: this is clearly a bustling city,
with pedestrians everywhere and taxis roaming the streets. Except it may not be quite as bustling as
it seems--and no, not just because every single vehicle a taxi. Whats the deal with that anyway--does no
one own a personal car here? At any rate, it looks like those Taxis really
get around town, as theyre visible in almost every scene. But as it turns out, their range may not be
quite as robust as it seems--and not just because the majority of streets are one-way.

Instead, it seems the taxis follow a strict
pattern with extremely limited movement. Lets take Cranky St for example, which
is a major 2-way arterial...Or is it? Well, as it turns out, the cars mostly only
drive down it one direction--away from the tower, effectively making it a 1-Way street. And we have this jerk to thank for it--he
decided to park his taxi right in the middle of the road! Yep, he doesnt move at all, as its always
in the exact same spot in every scene, such as here, here, and here. And since it doesnt move, theres no
way for cars to get past it--and no cars attempt to do so either--effectively making it a dead
road.

But hold-up what about the Taxi right here--its
clearly heading up Cranky St toward the tower--that is, until it turns onto Squawks Park--which
is a 1-way road. So our guess it that this one Taxi simply
circles the park...Endlessly. We can even see it turning onto that same
street in a few other clips again and again. Yeah that's a little weird--in a nice touch,
the cab driver does actually use his turn signal.

Huh, I guess this isnt really like New
York at all! Okay, so if Cranky Street isnt a proper
2-Way Road--is there one that is? As it turns out: Yes! Expresso St--which is the only true 2-Way
Road here. We can see Taxis from Rambi Street turning
almost directly onto it, as other Cabs turn off of it to head down Cranky--and this is
the only time where 2 moving cars will pass each other. Those northbound cars then all presumably
turn onto Dixie St, both because we can see one doing that in this scene...But also because
theres nowhere else for them to go, because of that Taxi right there, which is also parked
and going nowhere, as confirmed in this scene. And since that Taxis right behind where
Mario pops out of the manhole--could it possibly be the same Taxi that made the getaway at
the start? At any rate, the cars that turn onto Dixie
then almost certainly turn down whichever Street this is--which unfortunately, is one
of the few that we dont get a close-up look at.

And that mystery Street leads to Expresso
street, where the cars will turn right, passing those who turned from Rambi, before returning
to Crank St in a presumably endless circle. And speaking of circles, we expect the same
of the Cars turning from Rambi onto Espresso, before turning onto KROOL, which we can see
here, which connects back to RAMBI. Okay, so that covers most of the streets...Except
for this one left of the tower, which we werent able to see a name for. And as it turns out, this one also has a Parked
taxi blocking the way--which we verified doesnt move in this scene, making this street another
dead one--which makes sense since theres no way for cars to reach it from Cranky St
because of that other parked cab--plus theres nowhere for them to go, except off the cliff
there.

Oh, and in case youre wondering--yes the
taxi on the opposite side here is also parked too, confirming no cars will be going that
way either. So as you can see, the Taxis seem to all
have a set path that--as far as we can tell--they dont stray from. Which raises the question of why anyone take
one of these Taxis anyway if theyll only get you a quarter-block away...Whatever,
theyre more for Marios benefit than anyone elses since they serve as roaming
trampolines for him to reach other areas. Like those green firescapes that we can see
scattered all over the city.

Now fire escapes arent normally that brightly
colored--so were pretty sure thats by design to draw your attention, and that theyre
essential in Mario getting around and climbing these buildings. In addition, we can see theyll sometimes
have collectible Purple Coins themselves--as well as wooden crates that might be able to
be broken into? But even though the Taxis have predictable
patterns, they do react to whats going on around them, in that theyll stop if
anyones in their path--including Mario. Another key difference from New York! And you can even see how the Taxis weight
shifts realistically during a sudden stop--neat! Okay, before we move on, lets talk about
the people real quick--and theyre everywhere! Roaming around, crossing streets, using a
laptop, or playing jump rope in the park. Now we dont see Mario interact with them
too much directly--but Nintendo has confirmed in a Japanese stream that hell be able
to bounce off them, similar to the Taxis.

Ouch! Beyond that, we can see a Woman raise her
arm as Mario runs past--were just not sure if its an idle animation or in reaction
to Mario---but it either case, it at least shows that the citizens will have animations
beyond just walking around. And with that were finally done covering
the city...During the day time. Because as it turns out, Mario will be exploring
that same city at night too--and it looks dramatically different. Its dark, its storming, and there are
now enemies! Yep, its quite the tonal shift! And it raises the question of what exactly
is going on here--is there a true day/night cycle here? Or is it based on which mission youve selected,
kind of like Pianta Village in Mario Sunshine? Were pretty sure its the latter option,
because the changes seem to be too significant to be gradual.

Plus we only ever see the City at two times
of day with nothing in between, suggesting its binary And one of those changes is the fact that
signs have been posted everywhere advertising the wedding of Bowser & Peach, which might
suggest Peach was kidnapped after or during Marios initial foray into the city--since
things seem pretty relaxed during the day.. And where did all the citizens go? Did Bowser kidnap them too? Or are they just hiding indoors? Regardless of what exactly is happening, weve
never seen a world in Mario change this dramatically before, which could also hint at a radically
different structure than before--like what if events in one world affect the progression
of another? Again, were just spitballing. At any rate, the end of the trailer reveals
that a giant mechanical centipede boss awaits Mario at the top of the tower at night--and
it instantly knocks Mario off of it. Now does that always happen in this case,
or can Mario actually fight back? I mean, were pretty sure Mario will at
some point since those 10 bulbs look awfully vulnerable--were just now sure if nows
the time, especially since there doesnt seem to be much room up here for a proper
battle! So with Mario being knocked off, Is it possible
the Airship comes to Marios rescue here? Well, probably not since we can see it right
down there below--parked exactly where its supposed to be--so Mario better brace for
impact.

Also, the Airship is no longer glowing, which
seems to confirm that Mario has already encountered it. But heres a question: how did Mario get
to the top of the Tower anyway? The easy answer is that he went in through
the front door--after all, we can see it is open during the daytime scene. And in this scene, we can see a couple of
additional doors at each main of the main levels. Which might be how he was able to jump from
the top for that awesome view Except were pretty sure it wont work
the same way at night--because we can actually see the base of the Tower at night and the
doors slammed shut.

Huh. And yes, this is in fact the base of the tower,
with Mario battling the enemies in the plaza--looks quite a bit different at night, doesnt
it? Especially since it's now bordered by a giant
crate on one side bearing a Bowser wedding poster. And then theres the fact the tower is now
guarded by these tank-enemies that shoot bullets--and it seems those bullets will explode into confetti
whenever they land a hit. Wow, thats quite a juxtaposition isnt
it! Celebratory bullet--who would have thought.

So based on the confetti, the party hats the
tanks are wearing, and the general somber tone--does that mean the weddings imminent? I mean, the posters do seem to be plastered
everywhere, as we can see Mario looking up at a different one in another scene. Unfortunately, these are the only 3 scenes
of the city at night which raises more questions than answers... However, Nintendo also released a screenshot
on the same storm night that offers a few more details. First up--goombas are back baby, including
a pair of stacked ones in the back.

And look, the ones closer to the camera are
even wearing Bowser construction hats--as if there were any doubt of who theyre working
for. And I love how shocked the one here looks,
as compared to his chill coworker. Now are those hats just for looks--or do they
serve an actual purpose, like protecting the Goombas from being stomped. And speaking of hats,, hats sure does seem
to be a pretty heavy theme doesnt it? We have 1950s hats, party hats, and now
construction hats in this level alone.

Is it possible any of those hats might be
available at the Crazy Cap store? Like what if the construction what allowed
Mario to move the girders around--that would explain how he could reach the airship. But heres something interesting--this scene
is taking place on a series of girders. The same girders, as it turns out, that we
pointed out earlier on the right side of the map--which are also the same ones from this
wall-jumping scene--look you can even see the same coins inside the girder we mentioned
earlier. So if the girders were already here during
the day, what the heck are the construction Goombas doing? Do they work during the night to build even
more or something? Now this picture also shows that the girder
here is being suspended from something above--perhaps a crane? So is it possible there might be other platforms
suspended by a crane that Mario can use to reach the Tower? We think its possible, especially because
we might even see a hint of it in the trailer.

Check this out. If we go back to this scene and slow it down,
we can just barely see a couple of suspended girders appear around the tower for just a
few frames as Mario gets close. Look--you can even see the wires holding them
up--and they appear to be moving. In addition, theres a platform just below
spanning the tower and a nearby building, which might come in useful if Mario falls.

And then we can see a staircase on the right
side of the Tower that Mario Might be able to use to begin his ascent. So taken altogether, could be just how Mario
will climb the tower at night too? But whats interesting that that cant
actually see whats supporting the girders themselves. In fact, if we go back to our map, we can
see a similarly suspended girder on the right, except that--once again--theres no sign
of anything supporting it. Weird! Do they just float out there, or are we not
close enough to see whats holding them up? Now theres just one more scene from the
trailer that we havent placed yet--this one.

But as it turns out, this poster might be
the same one we can see in the background of this screenshot--it appears to span the
width of the building in both after all. And with that, weve finally mapped out
where every scene in the trailer takes place--but there are a few final details I want to point
out before we move on. So first up: have you noticed just how prominent
the moon is. Not only can we see it at various points in
the city, both during the day and night--but its even in New Donk Citys logo.

Does it have any special significance? Or does it just play into the night theme
the level has? Well, well have a lot more thoughts on
that toward the end of the analysis Then there are a few small details I noticed
that I had nowhere else to put. Such as the fact that we can actually see
INSIDE the taxis...Well sort of. If you look close, you can see the Rearview
Mirror through the front windshield. Neat.

Now this next one isnt quite as impressive--because
I noticed that if you watch some of the citizens in the background, you can see they run at
a much choppier frame rate. ITs one of those necessary sacrifices to
keep the game running at what appears to be a smooth 60fps. And as part of that, we also noticed the citizen
here pops out of existence as another objects fades in. Finally, we have something a little more important--because
as you might recall, we pointed out two separate checkpoint flags in this stage--which is a
little weird considering most Mario levels only contain one.

And theres a third checkpoint if you count
the one that can always be found on Marios airship too! And there could possibly be even more that
we simply cant see. Now typically, checkpoints are linear--you
activate one, and then continue onto the next one. But how does that work in a Sandbox game where
you can seemingly activate them in any order? Well, for that, I think Super Mario Maker
offers a clue--as it allows you to setup 2 checkpoints per level. And once you activate one, it deactivates
the other if youve already triggered it.

And I have a feeling thats going to be
the exact case in Super Mario Odyssey too. And were guessing thats why the airship
has one--its probably automatically triggered at the start of the level so that you start
there if you die. But hold-up--you always start at the beginning
of the level in Mario if you die--so why the need for a checkpoint flag? Well in this case, with the levels being non-linear,
there may be times that the start points where the starting point is actually closer to your
objective than where the other checkpoints are located. Meaning you can trigger it to start there
instead of another one you may have already activated Now theres one more mystery involving the
checkpoints, but for that, we have to go to an entirely different level.

So lets Switch it up and take the GameXplain
airship over to the desert level--which by the way, we can see an ad for in New Donk
City right here. And this desert level also happens to be the
same level Nintendo had briefly shown off in the initial Switch reveal trailer. Okay, so a quick overview: the desert level
consists of 3 main sections: the small Mexican-like town, the ruins beyond, and that giant upside
down pyramid behind and to the right of the ruins. And theres arguably a couple more points
of interest that arent quite as obvious.

So for now, lets start with the town area,
especially since that also seems to be where Mario starts, as his airship lands just outside
of town. Plus I really want to talk about that that
checkpoint issue. ...Okay, so when the level begins, we can
see theres still a checkpoint on the airship--as expected. BUT heres the weird thing: theres another
checkpoint right by the town entrance--its super close! Doesnt that seem a bit redundant? I mean, it would save Mario like 10 seconds
tops if he spawned there after dying instead of at the ship? It doesnt make any sense...Unless, the
Airship doesnt always start here, which would make that checkpoint a lot more meaningful.

In other words,this may be evidence that the
Airship wont always land at the same location, and may have multiple landing spots in some
levels. So maybe it changes depending on which mission
you select, or maybe you unlock different landing points as you explore? It would make a lot of sense to be able to
choose where to start in worlds as big as this desert seems to be! But theres one more thing about the checkpoint
here--and perhaps the checkpoints in this level in general, that I want to point out. The pole is green, instead of being gold like
all the others in new Donk City, and even the one on the airship here. Does this mean the checkpoint flags are colored
to match the level? Unfortunately, we dont see checkpoints
in any other levels to verify, but if that is the case, that makes the connection between
the Airship and New Donk City even stronger since theyre the only places confirmed
with the Gold checkpoint poles.

Okay thatd enough about checkpoints! So Mario rolls into a small town which appears
to be themed to the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, with festive floral decorations
all over the place and the citizens appear to be dressed for the occasion as skeletons...Or
perhaps rather: they are skeletons! In either case, their skulls are decorated
colorfully and even the eyes on some of them appear to be shaped like flowers. And several of them are dancing around shaking
maracas too--so festive! But theres something else odd about the
citizens--they appear to be dressed like Mario, with the same white gloves and identical brown
shoes. Thats a little weird! And they also seem to be wearing sombreros--could
the fact that theyre dressed as Mario be a hint that Mario might be able to wear a
sombrero himself? And on that topic--that citizen here just
so happens to be standing right in front of this levels Crazy Cap shop. Which like in New Donk City, is located near
the Airship at the start of the level.

Theres even a scene of Mario entering it
confirming it as a legitimate business, though it unfortunately cuts away before we can see
whats inside. But we cant help but wonder if the stand
outside might offer a clue--as we can several different headpieces on display. From top to bottom, they are a Baseball cap,
like in the shops logo, a top hat, an explorers hat, a football helmet, and a sombrero, like
the ones the citizens are wearing--except these ones are all purple. Oh and by the way, did you notice there seems
to be a little hat on the lamp right outside too Now even though we dont get a view inside
the shop, we do see one on top of it, with Mario bouncing off an umbrella to reach the
rooftop.

And right away, we get a close-up look at
the purple collectibles coins...Wait a second, I mean Triangles. And not even that, upside down triangles,
which matches the upside down Pyramid. So as it turns out, the Purple collectibles
are unique in each level: Theyre upside pyramids here, coins in New Donk City, cogs
in the forest, and something roundish in the volcano level--unfortunately we dont get
a close-up look at them to be able to say for sure. Maybe grapes? Anyways, the key takeaway here is that the
purple collectibles are unique to each level--which is something weve never seen before in
a 3D Mario game.

What this means is that the purple collectibles
in every level serves a similar purpose, BUT. That they likely arent cross-compatible
with each other.Meaning the Upside Down Triangles wont work in the city, and vice-versa. Come on Nintendo, I thought the Switch was
region free! So what are these for anyway? Are they perhaps currency for each levels
Crazy Cap? They do match the shops purple color scheme
after all. Heck, there are even purple triangles on the
sombrero right outside.

But then again, maybe they tie into a greater
objective--specifically the pyramid in this case, since they are shaped like it after
all. We should mention too that we can see other
upside down triangles too, including on the cart right outside the ship, or as part of
a buildings paint job. Yeah, it seems to be a common theme. So maybe that upside down pyramid isnt
really upside down after all...From a certain point of view.

From the rooftop, we also get a view of the
left side of the Crazy Cap building--and if you look close, you can see posters for Bowsers
& Peachs wedding too! Man, word travels pretty quick! The roof also gives us a better view of the
town center, including what seems to be another building Mario can enter based on the door. And check this out, if we zoom in, we can
see a sign that has the 3-Up Moon on it--3 of them in fact! This item was first seen in Super Mario World
and awards 3 1-Ups for finding it--so could that be a confirmation that Lives return here
as well? But what does it mean in this specific case--could
this be a minigame, where you cash in coins for a chance to win Lives? Then there are the powerlines here, which
we have a sneaking suspicion Mario will be able to bounce on like the cables like in
Mario Sunshine. Which could come in useful for reaching the
other rooftops, as more townsfolk and collectibles can be found on them, as weve pointed out
before. And speaking of power lines, we can see in
this shot that they have the same electric symbol as in New Donk City--which might mean
that Mario may not want to bounce off of them while theyre flowing with electricity! Okay, now theres also the matter of the
fountain in the center...Which is completely frozen over.

And its not alone--as ice can be found
everywhere, including on the powerlines, the corner of the roof here, the entire building
left of Crazy Cap and all over the ruins behind the town too. Now none of this is new if you watched our
our previous analysis, but we do get a better idea of how much ice there is given that theres
more behind the right side of town, and even more by the airship, including some ice that
somehow has sand on top of it--perhaps suggesting that the ice has been here for quite some
time. Now the obvious question is--where did all
this ice come from? Deserts are deserts because theyre rather
dry...And why isnt that ice melting in the heat? Well, it might be because the ice seems to
be cooling the area, as we can see Mario shivering in this scene, which were guessing is his
idle animation when in cool areas like in Mario 64. Okay, granted, this scene is taking place
at night and are well-known for being rather cold then.

However, Nintendo released a screenshot showing
Mario doing the same shiver animation--but during the day! Yep, it really is cold here! So if we had to guess, were pretty sure
Mario will be able to melt that ice in some way in order to restore the town to its former
glory. Especially because the ice does appear to
be blocking access to quite a few things--such as the purple collectibles literally frozen
inside the fountain, basically confirming itll be melt at some point. And by the way, did you notice the townsfolk
jumping around for attention here? It seems he has something really important
to say--could it be related to all the ice? Or maybe its some kind of side-mission? Alright, there isnt too much more to say
about the town that we havent covered before--so lets move on to the Ruins located just
beyond the town. And the first scene that takes place their
shows Mario throwing his hat and bouncing off of it to reach the ledge above.

Now at first, it looks like the exact same
maneuver that we saw in the city, with Mario using it to cross a gap. But in that case, he actively jumped on it,
whereas this time, it looks like he just runs into it, before being thrown into a forward
flip. But we think he may still have had to jump
instead of it being automatic, because in another city scene, we see Mario throw the
cap, then simply pick it back up without being launched off of it And while were here, if we look to the
background, we can see a Face is carved into the wall--which is something thats repeated
throughout the ruins. He must be pretty important...

Now I have a question for you: does this area
look familiar at all? As it turns out, its the exact same area
shown off in the initial reveal. There are the same gold rings hovering over
a gap next to a bullet bill launcher--were just on the opposite side of the gap this
time! So as a quick reminder, Mario will have to
run along this walkway, past the bullet bill, and cross the gap via the moving platform. But hold up--do you remember that rumbling
sand we noted before? At the time, we didnt know what it was--but
I figured it out soon after and never followed-up. Because if we zoom in on the Gamepad from
the reveal trailer, we can see its actually a sand geiser--so were guessing that might
be how you grab those golden rings in the gap.

Before we move on, this older scene provides
a good reminder of how much ice can be found on the ruins itself. And then theres the Heart Piece over here
that we we pointed out in our past analysis. Now back then we theorized it restored Marios
health meter, like in Mario 64, and that seems to be even more the case now that we know
this games a successor of sorts. But heres something odd--there are no similar
hearts to be found anywhere in the new trailer.

Perhaps theyre simply not that common! Also, do you remember that red bump over here--well,
based on the new scene, we can now confirm its just a pile of sand. But wait a second...Theres something missing
here...Actually, two things! Yep, the cactuses that were here before are
gone now--huh, so apparently they can be destroyed! Anyways, after Mario bounces off his hat to
the ledge above, we can just barely see some pillars with a checkpoint flag right out in
front. So for those keeping track at home, thats
the levels 2nd checkpoint flag so far, not counting the one on the airship. We also get a glimpse of the pyramid in the
distance, as well as a good look at the tower here--the same tower that you can easily see
from town, including the glowing spot on top.

But how do you get up there? Well, if we go to this scene, we can see that
same area from a distance--theres the checkpoint flag right and the 4 columns behind it. And if we look behind them, we can see a green
pipe, that presumably will take Mario to the other one up here--so hes closer, theres
still a ways to go. Is he just cable to climb up the side of the
tower or something? Could there be more on the backside? Or maybe those floating platforms have something
to do with it? And we actually get a better look at those
platforms if we freeze the previous scene right here--because we can now see theyre
all connected via some kind of wire, with additional wires extending below too, possibly
to the ground. What are those about? Well, another next scene might reveal their
purpose, as we can see Mario riding a platform thats moving along a similar wire.

And in the background? Yep, thats the top of the tower--and we
can see the glowing column of light is in fact marking a checkpoint. Making this the levels 3rd checkpoint--or
4th if you count the airship. But heres a question. Are these the same platforms we were just
talking about or different ones.

Because the ones before were laid out in a
diagonal fashion--where the ones here are in a straight line. So at first, we thought they were two entirely
different sets. But heres the thing: theres no evidence
of their being two different sets--we only ever see a single set of platforms at a time. So instead, based on the order of the platforms,
being two flat ones followed by a triangular one--they seem to be the same.

Especially given the fact their general location
seems to be identical. Because just as we could see them and the
Pyramid in this scene--we can see the opposite from up here, with the pyramid to the left
and the checkpoint flag far below, next to the same 4 columns. So maybe whatevers holding up the wire
rises at some point to change the angle of the blocks from being diagonal into a straight
line? But where is that platform going anyway? We can see its moving away from the tower--we
just cant see whats on the other side, except for the 3 purple collectibles just
past the triangular platform. Anyways, while were up here, we get a glimpse
of a couple of new enemies--or at least ones definitely an enemy, being thiese hovering
metallic things that launch shockwaves that can destroy the blocks on top of the platforms,
revealing coins.

And we can see another in the back gearing
up to do the same thing. What were not sure about are these drone-like
things nearby Were not sure, but they dont seem to do much of anything right now. Could they be responsible for the wire changing
height? Now before the blocks are destroyed, we can
see a couple of different designs on them. One depicts a jewel or emerald, similar to
ones seen on the walls in town.

Could that be another type of collectible
here? The other design is a bit harder to read--it
almost looks like a face maybe, with 3 diamond or square-shaped objects below it... Finally, lets take a look at the platform
itself that Maris riding on, because it actually depicts the upside down Pyramid--or
is it right side up? Its actually entirely a matter of perspective--but
at the least its a pyramid. But perhaps more interestingly are the column
of arrows pointing toward the base--or is it top? Whatevers the case, its making us wonder
if the Collectible Purple Arrows have something to do with that pyramid--like turning it rightside
up for instance? Especially because, if we take a close look
at those collectible purple arrows--we can see they share the exact same diagram as on
that platform. Huh.

In either case, well have more on the pyramid
very soon. For now, lets go back to this scene, which
takes place to the right of the ruins just in front of the Pyramid. And theres a couple of big things to note. For one, theres a couple of treasure chests
here--which are the only two in the trailer.

Now at first, you might think this suggests
that theres some hidden keys to find. And that could very well be the case! But we should mention that chests have appeared
in the 3D games before--in Mario 64 they would open automatically if done in the right order,
and in Super Mario Galaxy, you could use a shell to pop them open. So its entirely possible something similar
is the case this time too Okay, now lets finally talk about the elephant--or
should we say lion in the room. Because we can see Mario catch a ride on one
for a quick trip across the desert.

Except its not just a lion--but what appears
to be a living statue, since it has no eyes. It obviously evokes the idea of a Sphinx. Or perhaps more specifically, the Gao enemies
from Super Mario Land way back when. Now it doesnt seem like these guys will
appear just anywhere--but instead perhaps only at the labeled Taxi stands which even
have their face on them.

And its even wearing a sombrero--is it
possible that plays some role here? And theres actually a 2nd taxi stand just
outside of Town, which we actually spotted back in our first analysis--although it looked
a bit different then, lacing a face. But interestingly, the one in town doesnt
seem to have a Lion just waiting around, so maybe you need to summon it first, perhaps
by interacting with the sign or sitting on the nearby bench? Although, in the night clip of the town, we
can actually see a Lion already waiting by the taxi stand, which Mario is nowhere close
to. So maybe you have to unlock them first? Or maybe Mario summoned him and then just
decided to bail on the ride. In either case, the Taxi stand seems to be
lit at night, which is nice! But lets go back to this scene--because
where the heck is Mario going? The next clip makes it look like the pyramid--but
thats in the opposite direction, behind him! Now for reference, theres the town and
Marios airship--but we can see theres something else out.

And the opening scene of the trailer reveals
a little more--that there are palm trees nearby! And look, we can even see the platform with
the Taxi stand way out there in the distance, including the two treasure chests. Now we also get a better look at that mysterious
area back in this platform scene, with it visible way down there, with several palm
trees and what might be a building or wall of some kind in a dug out portion of the desert
that appears to extend to the left too. Is it an oasis maybe? We cant wait to find out whats there! And while were on this scene, we can see
what appears to be a ravine separating the land from the rest of the desert beyond, perhaps
showing the limits of where youll be able to go in this area--at least on one side. And then theres the purple lake down there? Is that poisonous? And it appears to surround the island that
has the taxi on it stand.

So Is the Lion the only way to get through
it? And while were here, we noticed a ramp
leading to the ruins from what seems to be the town--is that where Mario first enters
the ruins? At any rate, the scene cuts away before the
Lion gets any closer to that distant mysterious area--but the next scene does reveal a bit
more about the lion itself. For one, based on its erratic movements, it
seems like Mario will have full control over him. And it seems like he has some kind of claw
attack too--except were not sure what purpose it serves seeing as he destroys the enemy
here just by running into him. So it might not be an attack--because it instead
seems to give the lion speed-boost, as the lion launches into a sprint.

And lets take a closer look at those enemies
here, which appear to be the undead--weve certainly never them before! Except wait a second...Their skulls looks
awfully similar to the townsfolk, right down to the 3 teeth. And the Stars in their eyes, even matches
some of villagers too. So could the townsfolk and the enemies be
one and the same? We have only seen those enemies at night after
all. But if we go back to this scene of the town
at night, we can see the Townsfolk still appear to be normal there--so maybe the enemies are
just their undead ancestors or something? Which would make sense with the apparent Day
of the Dead theme...

Anyways, theres one big thing we havent
touched on yet--the fact that theres also a day and night cycle here too, like in New
Donk City. And just like before, we only ever see it
as either Day or Night and nothing in between, again suggesting its a binary state instead
of a gradual one. So did something trigger the change? We have no idea--except for this potentially
interesting tidbit. When Mario first hops on the Lion, its
day time--and hes dashing toward that distant mysterious palm tree place.

But in the next scene, its night--and hes
heading in the opposite direction away from the mystery spot. For reference, theres the Taxi stop that
Mario got the lion at, and theres the Checkpoint with the 4 Pillars in the ruins. Does that mean whatever happened in the mysterious
palm tree area triggered the night scene? But its also possible the scenes have no
connection at all But theres something else different about
the night version: The pyramids levitated into the air! And it appears this way in every single night
scene as opposed to the day clips where its always resting at ground level. Theres even a scene showing it happen,
which means this be the chronologically of the night scenes--although again, were
not sure what caused it to happen--could it possibly be tied to that mysterious palm tree
area too? And while were here, we can see a face
on it just like the pillar--and its right side up--again suggesting that perhaps the
Pyramid isnt actually upside down Now after it levitates, we can see theres
a glowing beacon of light appears just beneath it--possibly pointing to a checkpoint like
almost all of the other beacons.

And by the way, theres something a little
different about this pyramid--I mean, besides it being upside down and floating in the sky. Because real-life Egyptian pyramids have 4
sides, not counting the base--which means you can only ever see two sides of at a time
from ground level. And yet, we can see 3 here--meaning this Pyramid
one has have at least 5 sides. So thats a bit unusual.

And on top of that--literally--there are Lion
statues resting on some of the corners of the Pyramids--but not every corner. There are the two here, with a gap between
them, but in another scene, we can see two lions in neighboring corners--suggesting there
may be at least 3 of them up there in total. Or maybe it suggests something else...Such
as the lions perhaps not being a permanent fixture So are these Lions just for decoration, or
are they alive like the ones at the Taxi stands? Or could they even be one and the same, perhaps
explaining why ones missing from the corner here, as its now a Taxi instead. Whatevers the case, their presence up there
makes us wonder if Mario might be able to get up there at some point too.

Okay, but lets get back to the matter of
it levitating--whats up with that? Well, we may have some idea. Because as it levitates, sand pours off the
sides--but only up from up to this point, indicating this whole section was buried underground. And check this out, what appears to be an
entranceway is now exposed. Now granted, we have no idea how youll
get up to it--but its a sign that you can go inside, whereas that entrance would have
been buried before.

And we know you can go inside the pyramid
as Nintendo even said as such--and they also revealed that the Upside Down pyramid is based
on the Tokyo Big Site exhibition center in Japan--yeah, you can probably see the slight
resemblance. Alright, were finally almost done covering
the desert--but theres one more BIG mystery here-- What the hecks going on in this
scene? Were confident its connected to the
desert based on the ruins here, including the same face we pointed out before, as well
as the emerald design, and even that upside down pyramid decoration we noted before. So yeah, this has to be the desert--except
that background doesnt look like any area weve seen before--even though we can make
out giant ice crystals among vague pyramid-like shapes. But it doesnt look like the outside--I
mean, we cant even see the sky--plus there are ice crystals coming from what might be
the ceiling.

So what is this place? Well, one wild idea is that this might be
whats inside the pyramid and the background is a backdrop or illusion or something? Although this area really does look like its
underground--so maybe after you enter the pyramid, it returns to the ground, allowing
you to exit via the same hole you entered and explore whats under the surface? Kind of like how we can see what might be
the tips of other pyramids peeking in through the ceiling. Hey, were just spitballing Now unfortunately, we really dont see too
much of this area beyond a single walkway and a few torches. But there is a mysterious structure in the
middle here with a slit in it. Could that maybe be where Mario entered from,
with it being capped after? Either way, the cameras movement here,
combined with Mario running directly down the center of the path suggests this is a
cutscene, and that theres a big reveal waiting for Mario at the end of the path--the
boss maybe? Perhaps the dude weve been seeing on the
Ruins walls? The area certainly looks pretty dramatic with
all those torches.

Plus, if we freeze it at the very start, we
can see a blue circular arena awaits after dropping off the end of the path--so yeah,
wed say a boss fights pretty darn certain. And whats that thing right there? Is it a Bullet Bill launcher? Alright, were finally done covering the
desert, which means were halfway done with the levels! And thankfully, the next two are a bit briefer. So lets go ahead and move on to mechanical
forest. And as it turns out, we may actually know
a name of it.

Because if we go back to New Donk City, one
of the billboards shows the same iconic tower from this level, complete with a little robot
in the corner, just above the word: KOGWALD--could that be the name of the level? We think Kog may be a hint as to the mechanical
aspect of this level, and WALD is actually German for Forest--ergo, Cog Forest. Now unfortunately, this levels a bit harder
to piece together compared to the other two so far, but come on, you know we wont let
a little thing like that get in the way! So right off the bat, we get a look at the
starting point, with the Airship in a dense forest with light shining in through the trees--but
its not all forest here, as the ship is parked near a Red structure here--and well
be seeing a lot more like that soon. Now for whatever reason, the white birds here
seem to have taken quite a liking to the Airship, showing that theres some wildlife to be
found here. Those birds do seem to look pretty similar
to the ones from 3D Land.

Now if we look close, we can see 3 gold coins
on top of a tree ahead, with a dirt path just barely visible leading to them from the Airship. Which we get a closer look at in this scene
that takes place just a short ways up the path, based on the fact that the same 3 gold
coins are right there. Which were pretty sure means Mario will
be able to climb the trees here. But more importantly, we also meet some some
inhabitants of this area being these Robots--but why are they just spinning around helplessly? Are they dysfunctional? We think they might be, because the screen
on their faces is completely red--like an error message.

Whereas in another scene, we can see a robot
seemingly working as intended, watering the plants--and its screen appears to be working
properly, suggesting Mario fixed it in some way. Could the Boombox that Marios rocking out
to have something to do with? Thats just the power of music baby...But
we have another idea well get to in a second. And by the way, were pretty sure the robot
in this clip, is the 2nd one down the path from the Airship. And we base that on two things--one, in this
picture Nintendo released of the same robot, we can see what appears to be the path here
right in front of it.

And secondly, do you see that steep hill with
the two trees behind it--yep, looks like the same hill and trees right here. Except this time, theres no Boom Box, so
is that an item Mario can carry around, fixing the robots one at a time? Furthermore, the lighting looks a lot brighter
in the Boom Box scene--did something cause the fog to lift? Well whatevers going on, the Robot's design
appears to be based on the Piantas from Mario Sunshine, even including the palm trees on
their noggin. Which is a little weird...Were they built
by the Piantas? Theres really nothing tropical about this
area, so it doesnt seem like their typical type of climate. Although maybe thats why robots were built
in their stead? Anyways, lets go back to this scene real
quick, because we can see another Crazy Cap store just ahead, seemingly built into the
tree itself.

Unfortunately, we cant make out too many
details, but it does seem like theres a door leading into the tree, with what might
be another robot nearby. And the stores placement, of course, continues
the trend weve already pointed out of the Crazy Cap stores being found near the start
of each level. Anyways, the path continues to wind down past
the store and continues off-screen--but before the scene ends, we can just barely see some
of this levels purple collectibles on top of a tree. And those collectibles come in the shape of
cogs this time, as we can clearly see in this scene, which fits the mechanical theme of
the level, including its potential name of KOGWALD.

So could the cogs have something to do with
the robots? Maybe thats how you fix them? Now unfortunately, we werent able to directly
connect any other scenes to this starting area for sure--but there are a few others
that appear to take place in a similarly forested portion of this level, such as this one with
Mario running away from a waterfall along a creek. Now there really isnt too much to say here
that isnt self-evident--I mean, theres something glowing at the base of the waterfall--but
we have no idea what it is. Then there seems to be another Robot just
right of the waterfall--though he doesnt seem to be doing anything at all. Is he powered off? Beyond that, theres not much else besides
all the trees--except there is one potentially odd thing here--whats in the background
behind the trees? The obvious answer is: a dark forest with
more trees...But is it really? Lets take a look at another scene to better
show what I mean.

Because here we can see a very similar background...Except
it looks as if it may be a lot closer...And has almost no depth. Almost as if it were a wall with a painted
on backdrop. You can even see where the ground and the
wall might meet. But we cant say for sure of course--especially
since we can see what might be a dirt trail there leading into the background.

But theres something else weird here too--did
you see that green thing poking out from behind the tree, before disappearing behind it? What the heck is that? Is it a plant? Or the wing or tail of some kind of creature--like
a dinosaur? Who knows. But it does seem to be awfully close to the
tree, perhaps lending credence to the idea that theres not much room between the tree
and the supposed wall. Anyways, theres nothing that concretely
ties this creek scene to any other...Except for perhaps one major thing. Because the width of the creek here seems
to match-up with the width of the waterfall in this clip.

So were thinking that the creek flows downhill,
before terminating at the pond here. We then see Mario swim through the pond revealing
that its filled with fish, as well as a single green pipe. And interestingly, the pipe appears to run
up the wall to who knows where. And speaking of pipes--you might have noticed
that the levels started to get a lot more industrial looking, with red steel being found
all over the place--and well see a lot more of it in the upcoming scenes.

In this case, it forms a large platform over
the creek. Unfortunately, we cant see too much of
whats going on up there, except for the 4 ? Blocks--but keep an eye on them, because
theyre the exact same ? Blocks as in this scene, including the same steel platform right
behind them, which actually moves up and down based on the previous scene. In fact, there are a bunch of moving platforms
up here--the one here, and 4 more behind it. There also appears to be a path around the
backside of them on the left.

In addition, Piranha Plants can also be found
here--except these ones are a bit different than usual, spitting Purple gunk that splatters
on the ground...Is that pollution maybe? It reminded us of the Polluted Piranha in
Mario Sunshine that spat out goop--which ties in with the Pianta robots. So is that goop poisonous or something, or
maybe it slows Mario down if he tried to run through? At any rate, we see that Mario can defeat
the Piranha Plant with a simple jump, which also instantly removes the goop surrounding
them BUT, it doesnt seem to remove the goop theyve already spat out, as the puddle
it just made here seems to stick around. Moving on, theres this clip of Mario long-jumping
off a steel structure, just in front of the same red tower from the New Donk City sign. But Marios not long-jumping just for the
heck of it--but because the platform hes on is collapsing underneath his weight.

In fact, the girders leading up to the one
he lept from all look pretty shoddily built--are the Uncharted developers making this game
or something? At any rate, we can also see a P-Switch here,
followed by 2 more after Mario jumps. One on the platform hes jumping to, and
a 3rd on another platform back here, next to a glowing spot here that might mark a checkpoint--although
we cant see it in enough detail to say for sure. So what do those P-Switches do? Its impossible to say for sure--but we
think we have an idea based on this scene that shows Mario running along a path that
literally grows in front of him, circling the steel tower in the middle--yep, the same
steel tower from the previous clip. How do we know? Because we can see the same glowing spot in
the background right next to the P-Switch .

And based on the paths gentle downward
curve, out guess is that it may have originated at the P-Switch near the glowing spot--or
if not that one, perhaps one of the others nearby. Which makes sense, since P-Switchs are
known for activating things of a temporary nature, which this growing path very much
seems to be. So could all the P-Switches here spawn paths
that temporarily connect the various structures? And speaking of structures, we can see a bunch
more in the background...But check this out. Do you see that Yellow Block down there, in
front of a pillar? Yep, thats actually the 4 Question blocks
from the previous scene with the Piranha plants.

And we can also see what appears to be a glistening
pond right in front of it--the same one that Mario was swimming in! But we can now see theres a grass covered
area to the ponds right that leads to more steel structures that Mario will seemingly
be able to climb up to more trees. And taking a look at the other direction,
it seems like Mario might be able to use the rising and lowering platforms near the ? Blocks
in order to climb up the very path hes on now, via the P-Switch. But wheres this path go anyway? Well, it seems to be winding its way toward
a hole in the middle of the Tower. Is that how Mario reaches the top of the tower--or
closer to it? And speaking of the top of the tower, we can
see thats exactly where Mario will battle this rabbit boss.

We can even see the same outer panels as in
this scene. Oh, and the platform Marios on here is
the same one we can just barely see from up here--and theres that beacon of light we
mentioned earlier too. Now this does appears to be a major boss battle
based on the fact the entire perimeter is coursing with electricity, trapping Mario
inside. But we can at least see part of the path he
took to get here--and it seems he may have to cross the thin support beams below as part
of it, based on the collectible purple cogs here.

Anyways, the rabbit attacks by spinning in
a circle and spewing the same purple goo as the Piranha Plants earlier--so yeah, it
seems to be a common theme of this level. And were guessing that goos going to
make it pretty tricky for Mario to reach the him--its a rather, hairy situation. Unfortunately, the clip cuts away before we
can see too much of the battle. However, another scene reveals that that rabbits
not working alone--as hes part of a squad of 4 that even have their own airship too,
which comes complete with its own face.

It all seems a little similar to Bowsers
airship doesnt it--heck, the rabbits are even dressed similar to Bowser. So are they his minions? Or are they working alone? In either case, we have little doubt youll
be battling all 4 of them. But the question is, do you battle them across
all the different levels, or all in the same level, being this forest since thats the
only place we see them. Now hold up--you might be thinking But
this scene looks nothing like the forest clips--and youre right.

I mean, instead of trees, there are snowy
mountain peaks in the background. Except for the fact, we can actually see that
exact mountainous background in the scene with the tower--and visible through the treeline
in a few others. So thats a bit of an odd contrast--but
thats not all--because the entire level appears to be encased inside some kind of
dome, as we can see the supporting structure in the background of a few difference scores,
such as in the tower one and the rabbits ship clip. So yeah, this is getting weird.

So is this some kind of biodome, created so
a forest can exist in an otherwise cold and harsh environment? And are those mountains the rabbits native
habitat? Their white fur & ship sure do match those
mountains. Now we did entertained the possibility that
the mountains could be a projection on the domes interior, but we can clearly see
them move independently of the structure of this scene, confirming that theyre real
and outside the dome. So were just about done covering the forest,
except there are two more scene we havent talked much about yet. First up is this one, where Mario catches
a ride on a growing beanstalk--unfortunately, that is literally all that we have to go off
of.

We dont know what caused it to grow--or
where its even going. All we know is that it seems to take place
somewhere deep in the forest. And then we have this scene, where two plant-based
enemies go through a sudden growth spurt and extend upward significantly. But did you notice their headgear appears
to be an upside down flower pot? Is it possible Mario might be able to catch
a ride on their noggins? Beyond that, we can see it takes place near
some red structures--we just havent been able to connect it to any other scenes in
the trailer.

Alright were finally done covering the
forest, so lets move on to the final level! Dont worry, I promise this one will be
a hair quicker than the others. Because as it turns out, its actually the
one we see the least of...Even though it might not quite seem like it at first. Okay, so theres two things that really
stand out about this level--its filled with a ton weird looking food, including all
kinds of vegetables, as well as shrimp and clams--and its found at the base of a volcano,
which we see erupt in this scene. Note its distinctive blue color, as parts
of it can be seen in the background of most of the scenes--including the very first scene
with Mario running toward it.

And speaking of that volcano--we may just
know what it--and maybe this entire level is called. Because if we go back to New Donk City again
as shown in this quick demonstration by Nintendo, we can see a billboard with the same sky from
this level and the words Mt. Volbono--which of course, sounds like Volcano. As for what exactly it means--well, were
not entirely sure.

Of course, Mt is short for Mountain, and we
think Volbono could possibly be a portmanteau of Volcano and Bono, which is italian for
good--possibly in reference to the food on display here. And speaking of food, this level is inhabited
by anthropomorphic silverware--or more specifically, forks. We can see 4 in this scene alone, here, here,
here, and here. The handle is their face, the inner-tines
their legs, and the other tines are they arms.

And theyre all wearing chef hats--so it
seems the forks have cut out the middleman and are the culinary experts themselves--and
theyre in the right place as theres food everywhere. Except that food isnt very appetizing looking
is it? Its all blocky, or polygonal--like something
from an early 3D game. Is it just an art style choice, or does it
have a deeper meaning? Like is the food possibly virtual? And its not just the food--but the environment
too. The volcano in the background is just as blocky.

But in contrast, all of the NPCs like the
forks and the enemies all appear to be normal. So we have no idea whats going on. Anyways, besides the forks, we can see robot
as well, which we get a better look at in this scene where Mario turns the corner. It looks a little like ROB the Robot doesnt
it? C Moving on, Mario passes more forks--but theyre
huddled in a group and appear to be looking down--as if theyre sad or depressed--especially
this poor guy.

Aww, now its making me sad! Were not sure what theyre upset about...Maybe
the food situation? And are they just huddled together for comfort,
or are they looking at something in the ground? There doesnt appear to be anything there,
but maybe there used to be? Could that rabbit up there have something
to do with it? We get a close-up look at him in that same
location in this scene--but he runs away as Mario gets close. Does Mario need to chase him down, or is he
leading him somewhere? Now chasing rabbits is nothing new for the
3D Mario games--so we cant help but wonder if his placement here, in a world full of
low-polygon objects, isnt an intentional callback to the Rabbits first appearance
in Super Mario 64. At any rate, Marios also carrying a turnip,
something that he could do back in Super Mario Bros. 2--Hes even carrying it in the exact
same way, above his head.

So we wouldnt be surprised if he can throw
it too, like in the original game--maybe thats how he can stop that rabbit! But hold up--that turnup looks...Normal! Its perfectly round unlike all the other
food in the level, including more turnips we can see in the background right there. So whys this one normal while the others
arent! Did Mario just find it this way? Or is there some way to convert the food from
polygonal form to normal form--maybe via the robot? Hey, were just speculating. Now although we see Mario jumping along the
food itself, we can see a staircase built into the volcano-side here. And check this out--we get our first real
glimpse at this levels version of the purple collectible.

But unfortunately, this is the best look we
get at it. Which means its impossible to say for sure
what it is, but it looks like its a round--but in a polygonal way. Could it be a grape, or some other kind of
round fruit-shaped collectible? Now theres something else worth pointing
out here--the structure right here, which appears to have a door leading into it. But its otherwise pretty well obscured--I
mean, if we go back to the first scene--can you find it? Theres the rabbit for reference.

Still cant see it? Well we can just barely see it right there. And can see a similar structure over here
to the right, which we get a better look at in this scene, which also has a door. But what are those buildings anyway? Those columns do look a bit greekish--like
the columns in Aladdin that held up food. And what could be inside these buildings? Could one of them maybe be the Crazy Cap store? Although there dont seem to be any signs
for it in either case, so maybe not.

Also, we can also just barely see another
purple collectible spinning right here. Alright, now lets go ahead and move on
to another scene that appears to show a different part of the level. This one features the return of two more classic
Mario enemies, being a pair of spineys as well as a Hammer Bro...Or should we say Skillet
Brother, since hes throwing frying pans, which shatter upon impact. Also, hes wearing a chef hat continuing
the cooking theme.

And between him and the forks, we cant
help but wonder if a Chef Hat might be a hat that Mario can wear for himself here. Theres also a trio of ? Blocks here--as
well as two giant blocks of cheese that look as if theyll form platforms for Mario to
climb. Now in the background, we can see a blue cauldron--which
is the exact same one we see in this next scene where Mario gets burned by the soup
inside--silly Mario. Now we can clearly see chunks of food within
the soup--so maybe Mario will have to add his own ingredients to it, which might be
why he was carrying that turnip earlier.

But well have more on the cauldron in a
bit. For now, lets look toward the background,
because we can just barely see the tip of Marios Airship, making that the start of
the level. And it looks like hell have to cross over
the salt covered platforms in order to reach the mainland, meaning this cauldron is likely
one of the first things Mario will come across. And by the way, do you see the pillars behind
the cauldron there? Well, if we go back to this scene with the
robot, we can see what might be a couple of those same pillars right there, potentially
making the two locations rather close.

But of course, we cant be certain theyre
the exact same pillars and they could be two different areas entirely. Alright, we only have a couple of scenes left
to get through! So lets go ahead and talk about this scene
of the erupting volcano, which sends a cauldron flying into the air, as well as what might
be some of those purple collectible. So is that the same cauldron as the one we
just saw? Were guessing not, because based on this
picture, it seems to be much, much larger. But that doesnt mean the two arent related--like
what if you have to transfer the contents from the smaller one to the bigger one? But why would you want to do that?Well, we
have one idea--because the first smaller cauldron is blue, indicating it might be cooler, whereas
the second one is red, indicating its much hotter--which makes sense since its on
a freaking volcano.

So maybe in order to finish the soup, youll
need the help of the volcano to crank up the temperature. But how do you get the soup up there? Well, we think it may possibly be related
to this giant bird, which we know exists in this same level based on the identical sky
background. And it's carrying a giant loaf of bread--for
what purpose we have no clue. But based on the fact it can carry things,
maybe Mario can use it to carry ingredients or the contents of smaller cauldron to the
bigger one? Now even though thats the only scene where
we see the bird, it may not be the only one involving it--as were pretty sure its giant
wingspan is whats causing the wind storm here, requiring Mario to hold onto his cap--which
again, we can tell is in this same level by the identical sky background.

So could this possibly be the opening of a
boss fight with it? Or maybe the birds just coming in for a
landing--or taking off? Although there is one final detail with it--as
its flying away here, we can see its eyes are spinning around, as if its in a daze
from being attacked--so is this part of the boss battle? Phew, were finally freaking done covering
all the levels in depth! But were not quite done yet with the analysis
yet, because there are a few final things to cover. Such as the Bowser encounter! And my, isnt Bowser looking rather dapper. And based on the unique sky, this scene doesnt
appear to be a part of any of the existing levels. Anyways, the entire crews here.

With Mario, Bowser, and Peach, checking in
from atop what has to be Bowsers airship--complete with cannons on the side. And while it looks nice overall, we can see
some rust here, which is an oddly realistic detail. Now as weve come to expect by now, Bowser
is of course wearing a hat--but this ones lined with spikes--and thats apparently
for good reason, as he can seemingly throw his hat like a weapon, Oddjob-style--which
were guessing Mario evades since we can see Marios just fine in this next scene,
whereas Bowsers hat is still missing. Except, the camera angle appears to be from
the hats perspective, as it flies into Mario, seemingly knocking him off the Air
Ship--which might explain why Peach yells out toward him.

But theres another Bowser scene which might
be part of this same sequence, where he stomps Marios hat. So did Marios hat fly off after being hit
by Bowsers Oddjob attack? And could that explain why Marios mysteriously
missing his hat in this screenshot, before he lands in the desert? Who knows! Alright, moving on, there are some peculiar
connections on a more macro level that might reveal a bit more about the game..Such as
how many levels are there in total. Because we only see 4 in the trailer...Not
counting the Bowser scene. But there has to be more, right?! Our gut reaction is yes...But were not
so sure the evidence--or lack thereof--backs it up.

Consider this: New Donk City has ads for all
3 of the other levels that we see. And thats it--there are no ads that tease
any other levels at all. Of course, its possible they were intentionally
hidden from the trailer--or that Nintendo intentionally chose to only show the levels
that New Donk City teased...But we cant help but wonder if that might be it. These levels do appear to be pretty big after
all--maybe Nintendo's taking a quality over quantity approach.

And on top of it all, if you do fight one
of those Rabbits in each world--well, there are four of them. But having only 4 Worlds in a Mario game is
unheard of right?! Except...Its not, as Super Mario Land for
the Game Boy only had 4 Worlds too...And what do you know, that was also a game that was
loosely based on real world locations, including Egypt. Hmmm. Now its entirely possible this is all coincidental,
but we cant help but wonder if there might be more to the Mario Land connection--like
could the alien invader Tatanga be involved somehow? Maybe hes responsible for the upside down
pyramid! Okay that ones probably a huge stretch--but
in a game as wild looking as this, you never know.

Beyond that, theres another interesting
connection between some of the levels--and thats how darn prominent the moon is. We can see it in the backgrounds of both New
Donk City and the desert--both during the day and at night--as well as during this transitional
scene. Heck, its even in New Donk Citys logo. But heres where it gets weird, because
the moon is portrayed differently depending on the level AND time of day.

In New Donk City, its a Waxing Crescent
moon by day, and a Full Moon by night. And in the desert, it seems to be a Waxing
Gibbous by day, and a Waxing Crescent again by night. And this transitional scene shows yet another
portion of the cycle, being the First Quarter. But, in real-life, the lunar phase doesnt
change that dramatically overnight--in fact, Waxing Crescent is nearly on the opposite
side of the spectrum from a Full Moon.

So is this just a stylistic choice--or could
it maybe suggest some kind of time-based element is in the game. Its cool either way--but we wonder if it
hints at something deeper, such as indicating that a significant chunk of time has passed
between the day and night scenes in each level? And beyond that, what if the Lunar Phase changes
dynamically throughout the game--as in, it gradually over time, regardless of which level
youre in? If thats the case, we might be able to
use the Lunar Phase to figure out a rough chronological order of events. So since were pretty sure the game begins
in New Donk City during the day, that would make the Waxing Crescent the starting point
of the Lunar Cycle for our purposes. Which would be followed by the Waxing Gibbous
in the desert during the day, then the Full Moon of New Donk City at night, followed by
the Full Quarter moon of the transition scene, before ending back up at the Waxing Crescent,
but this time in the desert at night.

But again, we have no idea if the game actually
will go that in-depth. So lets assume there isnt a true time-system
in the game--in that case, would that Quarter Moon in the transition scene possibly be hinting
at a 5th level, since we dont see that phase in any of the other levels? Although it should be noted that it could
also be a part of the forest or volcano levels since we dont actually see the Moon there
at all. And finally, we have to ask...With all the
attention the moons been given, what if Mario can actually visit the moon? That would be pretty wild right? Hey, he did it back in Super Mario Land 2--so
why not now? And to build onto that theory--could those
rabbits have anything to do with it? After all, Asian folklore does have something
known as Moon Rabbits--as in, rabbits that live on the moon. Could that be where these guys are from? And to get even crazier--what if we were wrong
earlier about the mountains actually existing, and the reason this levels in a dome is
because this actually is the moon! Alright, we might be getting a bit carried
away--but Im certain theres more to that moon than it seems.

Finally, while were on the topic of rabbits,
I feel like were obligated to mention the recent Reddit theory from user lucamegh that
a magic Rabbit might be whats living in Marios hat. The evidence he puts forth is that the red
eyes on the hat match the red eyes of the rabbit enemies here--making the rabbit the
source of Marios new hat abilities. And of course, magic tricks have had long
had a history of rabbits appearing from out of hats--specifically, top hats--much like
Marios ship. And that ship does appear to run on magic
as we mentioned earlier.

Huh. Something to think about! And with that, were finally done covering
everything we could dig up on Super Mario Odyssey. But as always, let us know if we missed anything
by posting in the comments below. Thanks for watching and make sure to hit that
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