WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the ending and endgame of Super Mario Odyssey. Read at your own risk! Or check out our spoiler-free review of the game.
If you’re curious about what you get for beating the main game in Super Mario Odyssey — that is, finally confronting Bowser and crashing his forced wedding to Princess Peach — here is your answer: more work.
Super Mario Odyssey ends on a completely cuckoo bananas note, with Mario utilizing his newfound Cappy powers in perhaps the most uncomfortable way. He becomes Bowser. And yes, you read that right. He possesses — sorry Nintendo, captures — his longtime enemy, literally getting into his head and using his massive bulk to smash his way through the final level — the interior of the moon.
Yes, that moon.
Once safely on the other side of danger, Mario returns Bowser to his body, the longtime savior of the Mushroom Kingdom approaches Peach in her wedding gown, and…
Peach Don’t Need No Man
With both Bowser and Mario suddenly pushing flowers (okay, Bowser had baby Piranha Plants) into her face, begging for her attention, Peach takes a line of out of Kesha’s latest hit: “I don’t need a man to be holdin’ me too tight.” (And she’s literally been in Bowser’s vice grip for, like, all of the game.) Peach pushes past both Mario and Bowser, boards the Odyssey, and takes off with Tiara by her side.
Later, when you find yourself in — the greatest endgame surprise — the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad tells you that Peach is missing. She’s gone, nobody knows where she went or when/if she’s coming back, and all the Toads are in a tither about it. Naturally you’ll assume Bowser kidnapped her again.
But that’s not the case. Peach, with Tiara in tow, has packed her bags and set off on her own globe-trotting adventure. Upon revisiting each Kingdom, Mario can find her and Tiara hanging out with their luggage. She will give you a Power Star for the trouble of finding her — but definitely won’t let you tag along with her. You go, girl.
Bowser is Left on the Moon
In the final moments of Super Mario Odyssey’s final cutscene, Peach takes off in the Odyssey, leaving both Mario and Bowser stranded on the moon. Both of them jump up to reach the Odyssey and in the process, Mario jumps on Bowser’s head, using his enemy’s body to propel him up to Peach and forcing him back down to the ground. Mario Yoshis him, and Yoshis him hard.
Bowser is left on the moon. We never see him again. How or if he returns to the world below, we never find out in Super Mario Odyssey.
Mushroom Kingdom Throwback
If you were a fan of Super Mario 64, then you’ll love the Mushroom Kingdom. Hidden around the environment are paintings that let you enter them and warp to previous boss battles. Although, these battles are significantly harder than their original versions. This kind of painting-teleportation is taken directly from Super Mario 64.
And that’s not all. There’s a whole room dedicated to Super Mario 64 — if you can find it. We’ll let you figure that one out.
Get Your Pink Floyd Records Ready
Once you’ve collected 250 precious Power Moons, you can access a new, secret kingdom: the Dark Side of the Moon. To get that Moon count up, make sure to revisit all previous kingdoms and smash the large silvery square Moon Rocks. These will show you the location of every Power Moon in that kingdom.
Another way to get more Power Moons quickly is to talk to Toadette in the Mushroom Kingdom’s Castle. She’ll add new challenges or objectives to your to-do list. These objectives will be completed across all kingdoms, such as completing a certain task a certain number of times, etc. You get your first Power Moon (which is actually a Star, but we’re not here to talk semantics) for having defeated Bowser. Toadette has 60 extra moons for you to earn, so check back with her frequently.
Once on the Dark Side of the Moon, you’ll face a boss right featuring the Broodals, those weird sadistic rabbits you’ve been fighting throughout the game.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE
Collect 500 Power Moons and you can access the appropriately named Darker Side of the Moon. This area features the most demanding challenge Mario will face in Super Mario Odyssey: a lengthy, crazy platforming sequence with no checkpoints.
Additionally, there are more than 999 Power Moon in Super Mario Odyssey. So if you don’t care about anything else, you can at least go for those. Good luck!
