In the skies above Peach’s castle, Mario and a rather dapper looking Bowser are going toe-to-toe in their neverending struggle on board the King Koopa’s airship. After an intense bout, they lock eyes and Bowser tosses his hat at Mario. He avoids it, although his own hat is knocked into the air, but unbeknowst to him, Bowser’s hat returns like a boomerang and launches him off of the ship. The impeccably dressed Bowser, holding onto Peach, sets off to prepare for his wedding with the Princess, while Mario’s hat floats off of the ship and gets shredded by one of the propellers. However, some strange creature appears and snatches one of the pieces, while looking onward at the flying ship disappearing in the distance.

Mario has been knocked down to a mysterious new land, with the Boo-like creature hovering around him while he lays on the ground. When prompted, move the right stick around to get a bead on your surroundings, then press the B button to jump, which will spook the ghostly creature and make him run off into the distance. You will need to follow him and this is a great opportunity to get a fresh take on the controls for the game. The left stick is used to run around, while the right stick controls the camera and the B button is for jumping, Mario’s trademark maneuver. You can take a look at the Mastering Mario’s Moves section to see some of the more advanced options in the game.

Follow the seemingly friendly apparition as it goes across a bridge, where a scene will occur. It appears you are in the Cap Kingdom and this place has also been under attack from Bowser, with him kidnapping the ghost’s little sister. The town has been devastated and all of the airships grounded, but your newly acquired friend says the kingdom next over should have one, so he proposes you two work together. Mario is missing his hat and your friend substitutes for it, turning into the iconic Mario cap.

Tip My Hat to You¶

Your new friend’s name is Cappy and he is more than just for show, as he has a lot of practical uses. In fact, he is the main gimmick in Mario Odyssey and is used for attacking, interacting with objects and even more stuff, which is be revealed shortly. You can press either the X or Y buttons to toss Cappy, while holding the button will make Cappy spin in place a few seconds. If you approach Cappy while he is spinning in place, Mario will perform a normal than higher jump off of him.

There is one special combination of tricks you can do to extend the reach of your jump, which involves a few of Mario’s moves and the previously mentioned hat jump. Press the + button and go to your Action Guide, then choose Basic Actions to see a list of moves, including a short clip and the buttons you need to press. Look for the Dive maneuver, which is achievable by pressing ZL/ZR and Y while Mario is falling in the air. However, if you jump up, toss your hat in the air, do this Dive and hold Y right after, you should be able to jump off your hat while mid-air.

It might be a little difficult to pull off at first, but it will be helpful in the long run if you try to learn it now. It can even be used after a long jump or after jumping off of a wall. Note that after jumping off of Cappy once, you won’t be able to do it again until you land on solid ground, but you still can perform another dive if you want, making it one of the more optimal ways to get distance in the game.

Before moving on to the main objective, you can grab a few coins that are a little hidden. In the center portion of town is a post that’s stuck in the ground. Throw Cappy at it to uproot it and some coins will pop out. Northwest of there are some boxes stacked inside of a wall, kind of. Use Cappy to break them to reveal stacks of coins, which add up to a decent number. There are also more stacks hidden behind some wedding posters in a slightly hidden area off the western edge of the main area (look for the boxes).

To the Top of Top-Hat Tower¶

There isn’t much else you can do for now, so head to the northeast corner of this area to find a lever. Toss Cappy at it to make a bridge appear, which will lead to the main tower you need for the main objective. There will be a few Micro Goombas on the other side, so either stomp on them or have them meet your new friend. See the door nearby? Strike it with your hat to open it, but before doing that, notice the flower buds on the ground. If you throw your hat at the buds on both sides so that all of the flowers appear at once, then a heart will appear in the middle, which can restore some lost life. If you have full health, then the heart will give you some yellow coins.

Alright, with that out of the way, bust open the door and head inside the tower. The first things you will see are some ? blocks ahead of you, as well as some water. There’s nothing but more coins in the blocks, which require you to either throw your hat at them (hold your hat there for maximum coins) or ground pound them. The platforms in the water will sink as you stand on them, so just get to the other side and Cappy will chime in, asking you to throw him at one of the frogs.

Well, that is a neat trick, as Mario possesses the frog, essentially functioning as a new power-up for him. The frog has some “unique” controls to it, as shown on the bottom of your screen. The B button jumps, with the harder you press it, the higher the frog jumps. While moving with the left stick, hold down Y to move faster. Not shown on the bottom of the screen is one more action, which is to shake the controller to perform a higher jump. You can always review the actions for a Capture by going to the Action Guide and then Capture Actions after pressing the + button.

As the frog, use your super jumping abilities to climb the tower of ledges, until you reach one with some Micro Goomba and more water. The golden rings will just give you some coins when you pass through them. Continue climbing to the top, ignoring the Goombas if you want, then press either ZL or ZR to undo your possession of the frog. There’s nothing in the crates, but the chest does have a nice little goodie. Open it up to reveal a different kind of heart. Not only does it heal you, but you gain an extra three units of health, so it’s a good opportunity to grab one whenever one presents itself.

Grab the heart, open the door and go through it to arrive at the top of the hat. As soon as you emerge from the door, you’ll see a flag nearby, which acts as a checkpoint. The flags also have another use, which will be explained later on in the guide, as there is no use for it right now. Follow the path counterclockwise and you’ll find a hill going up, so ascend it to the top to come to your first boss fight.

BOSS - Topper Broodal¶

As a first boss, Topper is rather simple in what you need to do. He is wearing three hats on top of his head and you need to toss your hat at him to knock each hat off, one by one. Once knocked off, the hats will move about the arena, but you can hit them again if you like to remove them from play. Upon the final hat being removed from Topper, you can jump on his head to deal damage. After dealing damage, he will hide under a hat, shuffle them a bit and all three hats will move about the arena. Hit the right one twice (or once enough time passes) and Topper will revert back to normal. Repeat the same thing as before and you will finish off Topper.

With Topper finished, an electric pole will appear and Cappy will pester you to throw him at it. Stop his nagging and do it, turning Mario into a ball of electricity. Move with the left stick and it’s time to finally be off to a new kingdom, Cascade Kingdom!