Super Mario Odyssey is dense with collectibles, capture targets, and often obscure controls.
Use this spoiler-free Tips and Tricks guide to get the edge on your game.
Collecting Power Moons and Purple Coins
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You'll need a certain number of Power Moons to get from one Kingdom to another. Most main objectives in a Kingdom won't give you enough, so keep an eye out for extra Power Moons hidden along the way to main objectives.
Power Moons shine and make a noise. The closer you are to a moon, the louder the noise. Purple coins also make a noise.
Mario can collect things like coins, hearts, and Power Moon pieces (but not actual Power Moons) with projectiles and Cappy.
Don't fret if you can't find every Power Moon the first time you enter a kingdom; some are only available after you beat the campaign. Here's a list of the total Power Moon tallies.
All kingdom Purple Coins are available before you beat the campaign and you don't need to buy anything in order to access them.
Collect Power Moon ghosts for easy coins. The purple coin ghosts are each worth two gold coins, so be sure to collect those too!
Power Moons can be hidden in out of the ordinary places. If walls, floors or objects look out of the ordinary compared to the rest of the area, there's a good chance it's hiding a secret.
A rabbit exists in every kingdom that you can take down with Cappy hits (or by stomping on him) for Power Moons.
You can purchase Power Moons with standard gold coins in shops in any kingdom in order to move on faster.
You can often play mini games twice to get more Power Moons.
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Planting seeds in a pot causes a plant to grow very, very slowly -- after about 20 minutes of real time, a bulb grows with a Power Moon in it. It sparkles when it's done. Throw Cappy at it to get the moon.
If the ground rumbles, there's a prize, sometimes a Power Moon beneath it. Expose it by ground pounding.
There's no fall damage in Super Mario Odyssey, so if there's ground below you, go for it!
Use Snapshot mode to scout things out in the distance.
Keep trying the Cappy door challenges! You'll most likely get more coins than you lose any time you fall out of a challenge or fail, so you may be gaining more than you actually lose.
Expect the challenge/extra rooms to have two Power Moons. One is usually hidden in a creative way.
If you see two or three lone blocks in a weird spot, it's likely that there are invisible blocks above them.
Read the region information on the map! Each has helpful hints about the local wildlife, areas, and more. You can also read all their contents on the individual kingdom pages in this wiki.
You can shimmy along ice platforms instead of slipping while trying to run across.
Throw Cappy at everything. There's a good chance you'll at least get a coin or two!
Hearts are often found near intense platforming sections or bosses, inspect the environment with Cappy or ground pound suspicious mounds to find them
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Many Kingdoms undergo changes after main objectives in that area have been completed. Be sure to check back on earlier Kingdoms to find new characters, Power Moons, and challenges.
As soon as you land in a level, turn around and explore behind the ship. There's always stuff there.
You can hang off of the ledge of a level and see all the hidden goodies on hidden ledges.
Paintings can be secret back doors into other kingdoms to help collect unattainable items.
Almost every 2D area has a secret. It's usually a broken piece of wall at the edge of the area or an area above the exit like World 1-2 in Super Mario Bros.
Special Cappy Moves
The moment Cappy returns to your head after throwing him, you can press the jump button to do a very small spin jump -- even if you're in the middle of a jump. This can span large gaps while you fall or extend your jumps just enough to reach tough areas.
The Spin Throw is a great defensive move to send Cappy all around you to potentially block incoming attacks or capture a hard to pin enemy.
You can perform a Spin Throw without using the motion controls by running in quick circles (to trigger a spin jump) and throwing Cappy.
Enemies sometimes have better traction than Mario -- consider capturing them to see how they perform in hazardous environments.
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As a rule of thumb, most enemies without hats -- and even some characters -- can be Captured. Friendly characters with hats cannot be Captured, but you can sometimes knock off an enemies hat to try capturing them on the second throw.
Less Obvious Moves (Returning and Otherwise)
If you crouch, then jump, you can perform a standing high jump to reach higher places in a tight area.
Crouch + Jump while running to perform a long jump.
Press Crouch + Jump in the water to do a dash
Amiibo
You can scan amiibo to give you invincibility or extra hearts. See the Amiibo Uses and Bonuses section for the use of every amiibo.
Combat
To capture a T-Rex that's wearing a hat, lead it around objects like trees until it runs into one and loses its hat, passing out.
You can buy a 6 Heart upgrade in any shop that you can take into a fight with a tough boss or a difficult area to make things easier.
Cool Stuff
Many of your costumes translate into 2D in the 8-bit sections.
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Mario will turn his head to look at items of interest when standing or walking by.
The Game rooms in Sand Kingdom play the minigame music from Super Mario Bros 3.
Standing near plumes of smoke, fire, or getting hit by explosions will cover Mario in soot.
Rolling around in dirt or stand will stain his clothes for a short period.
Some animals run away as Mario approaches. When they disappear they'll sometimes leave a gold coin.
Tiny birds are found in every region and are differently colored -- they will perch on Mario's nose if he falls asleep
Mario will fall asleep after a short period of not moving, changing positions several times He'll talk in his sleep, too!
Destroying cactuses in the Sand Kingdom with a chain reaction usually means you'll get more coins.
Goombas have better traction and don't slip on ice
You can jump on the Odyssey's Globe and it will start playing part of the Cascade Kingdom theme (after Metro Kingdom and onwards it will play Jump Up Super Star).
When throwing Cappy with a Joy-con controller, Mario angles it depending on which hand was used.
There are catsuit Mario and catsuit Peach graffiti in each Kingdom. Find them and toss Cappy at them to get a heart.
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Mario Odyssey's HD Rumble detects moving objects on each side of the screen causing rumble to intensify when passing by boulders for example in the hand closest to the passing object.
When travelling to different Kingdoms, the sky will change as the Odyssey flies off depending on the sky of the kingdom you are going to (sunset/night/day/etc).
The Odyssey will sport battle scars from damage taken over the course of the game.
You can enter the Odyssey through the main door, rooftop hatch, or even through the tailpipe.
There's a boombox in the Metro Kingdom that plays the Japanese version of Jump Up Super Star, the jazzy theme song from the commercials.
When you ground-pound a pipe just right, Mario goes through it quicker and the sound is higher-pitched and sped-up.
One very cold area features penguins that resemble those in Mario 64, but they fly away when you approach, very much unlike real penguins.
Mario shivers when cold and sweats when hot. To cancel out these animations you can wear warm or cold-weather clothes. For instance in a cold kingdom, just wear the clothes you buy in the native shop -- the natives know what's up!