Nintendo Shows Off Super Mario Odyssey's Food World

Nintendo showcased more footage of Super Mario Odyssey today at Gamescom. In a special livestream demonstration, director Yoshiaki Koizumi gave fans their first substantial look at another one of the game's many levels, the Luncheon Kingdom.

As its name implies, the theme of the Luncheon Kingdom is food. Unlike some of the game's other levels, such as New Donk City, the Luncheon Kingdom boasts a more stylized art style, with colorful, polygonal environments littered with overgrown vegetables, prawns, and other food items. Koizumi says the world was inspired in part by Italy and other European countries that have a rich variety of food cultures.

Fittingly, Mario can purchase a chef's hat and outfit from this kingdom's Crazy Cap store, and many of the challenges he'll encounter revolve around food. Early on in the stream, Mario plucks a vegetable like in Super Mario Bros. 2 and throws it into a pot of stew, netting him coins.

Nintendo also showed off more of the game's capture mechanic. At one point in the demonstration, Mario uses his hat to inhabit a Lava Bubble, allowing him to swim freely through lava. Later, the plumber encounters Hammer Bros., though in keeping with the level's theme, the enemies throw frying pans in the Luncheon Kingdom instead of hammers. Mario must capture one of the Hammer Bros. and use its frying pans to destroy cheese rocks around the environment. You can watch the full gameplay demonstration at the top of this story.

Nintendo showcased a few more details about the Luncheon Kingdom in a second livestream, including the level's regional coins. In addition to the standard gold coins that Mario has collected throughout the series, each world in Super Mario Odyssey boasts its own unique currency, which takes the form of purple tomatoes in the Luncheon Kingdom. In another challenge, Mario is tasked with heating up pots of stew; in order to do so, he must possess a Lava Bubble and navigate the environment in order to jump into the pots.

Super Mario Odyssey releases for Switch on October 27. The game features a co-op mode that allows another player to control Mario's cap. Unlike other games in the series, however, it does not feature a central hub world, 1-Ups, or a Game Over screen.