When Oddmar hit iOS and Android in 2018, it prompted many to proclaim its beautiful cartoon graphics and tight 2D platformer gameplay worthy of the Nintendo Switch itself. Now that Oddmar has hit the Nintendo eShop, we have a chance to put those lofty claims to the test.
Do you know what? Those people were right, at least for the most part. Oddmar's bright family-friendly style feels perfectly at home in its new surroundings. Indeed, with a solid set of physical controls behind it, this is arguably the best the game has ever been.
Oddmar takes its name from the young, lazy Viking warrior that falls under your control at the outset. With your tribe snatched away by the nefarious Norse god of chaos, Loki, it's on you to win back their freedom. There are no real surprises in how this is achieved. Virtually all levels will see you running from left to right, jumping on enemy heads or slashing them with your bladed weapons. There's a currency to be collected, which can be spent on new weapons and shields at the merchant that crops up periodically. New weapons grant new bonus attacks, which is one of the ways the game keeps things interesting.
Otherwise, most of the variation here comes from the level layouts, which contain some delightful touches. One particular standout is a series of balloon rides through spike-filled airspace, requiring you to chop away ballast to adjust your altitude. Another level contains snaking vines that simultaneously provide a threat and a means of escape. You'll also get to ride fantastical creatures now and then, and there are several delightful variations on the classic moving/temporary platform theme. Occasionally, you'll encounter optional bonus levels, accessed through a deep whiff of a suspiciously potent purple gas. These palate cleansers cast you as a plaything for the Norse Gods, who chase and prod you through otherworldly obstacle courses.
Our main qualm in all this is that the Switch isn't exactly short of bright, characterful 2D platformers. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition, and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze spring to mind off the top of our heads. All of these are flat-out better games than Oddmar, and we'd hazard a guess that at least a couple of them directly influenced its development. Still, there's no denying that Oddmar is an awful lot of fun, and at a far more accessible sub-£10/$10 price point (albeit for a mere 24 levels) than the aforementioned trio.
Aside from its compact size and some overwritten (but nonetheless beautifully-rendered) story scenes, there really isn't much to fault with Oddmar. Its cartoon-Norse universe is richly drawn and beautifully animated, while its classic 2D platforming is sharply executed. Of course, the game finds itself in a significantly more competitive field now that it's on the eShop, which lays bare the lack of anything genuinely new or exciting about it. But the simple fact that it provides such a pristine bite-sized example of the format is impressive enough.
Comments 26
Thanks, downloading it now on my phone to demo it for free.
Edit: Played it on my 10" Amazon Fire tablet fora bit. Couldn't get past the first boats by the big "press button to spin" b/c touchscreen controls are horrible and I kept falling in the water.
But it's beautiful and I like the voice acting. Thinking about buying it but everybody keeps saying it's short.
So, how short is it and how much does it cost?
Picked it up on the eshop a few days ago, It's a good game, reminds me a bit of Rayman.
I loved it on my iPhone but hated the touch screen controls and couldn't wait to have it on my Switch. Downloaded it yesterday and I must say its worth every penny because it's just so much fun. Tight controls with beautiful animation and great level design.
The review mentions these other games which I love dearly but forgets that they are all over 3 years old.
If anybody loves 2D platformers this is a must-own.
I registered just to comment my opinion on this game.
I loved it on my phone and it made me excited to play Rayman Legends on Switch as it seemed to be a huge source of inspiration, especially in the animations.
I've also played the game on Switch now. Gotta say, i like Oddmar a little more. It is easier than Rayman but it hits that perfect balance of between challenge and flow where you never feel like you're just breezing through it. Also while Rayman looks beautiful, Oddmar looks a little better to me. The levels are more dense and incredibly detailed.
I'm sure a huge part of the appeal, besides the visuals and overall great gameplay for me is Oddmar's level of difficulty. It's a fun feel-good experience that doesn't interfere with my daily routine. Rayman is a game you really dig in more i feel. Oddmar is more like "hey wanna play for a bit?" and i'm like "sure man, let's go!", like a super fun buddy that doesn't mind when you suddenly have to leave.
So yeah i recommend this game, a lot.
Got it when it went on sale on the AppStore for 1.99 last November.
Nice game, but It is Short.
@Bmartin001 if you love Rayman on Switch, check out 'Unruly Heroes', it's spiritual successor. A lot of the same staff worked on both.
This is a nice mobile platforming action game, at first I was afraid it would end up being another auto running platformer but good thing it isn't. May get it once it goes for sale at the eShop.
@nmanifold I love Rayman period. Gonna look that up. I know that wasnt directed at me, but thanks.
This game looks gorgeous, and I need some new blood on my switch. Definitely will get to it.
Well, at least porting a mobile game to Switch will only improve the mobile game.
But it's still just a mobile title. PASS.
@Heavyarms55
This mentality comes across a lot like video game racism.
@nmanifold
I was eying that game, but for some reason I thought it was a side scrolling beat’m up. (Hmm, never typed that word before, but it looks wrong. ha)
I do like how it uses the UbiArt engine. I wish Ubisoft would use it for more games because it’s absolutely stunning.
@Coach_A @Heavyarms55 ...or just pure stupidity...
@Coach_A Nonsense! Equating my dislike of a video game to the very real and very serious issue of racism would be laughable if it weren't actually so harmful. Racial issues ruin peoples lives on a daily basis. Disliking a video game or type of video game hurts no one. By calling this racism you diminish the term and make it harder to fight against. Which only makes things worse for the countless of victims of racism around the world.
@Spideron Wow, I have an opinion you don't agree with so that makes me stupid? Maybe instead of wasting both our times with a nonsense insult like that, you might make a reasonable argument in favor of your position? Naw, that would require some actual effort.
To both of you: I don't like mobile gaming. The style of mobile games, meant for phones and tablets is warping the industry in a direction I don't like. The F2P style of game design, overly simplified controls to be viable on touch screen only devices, level and game design geared toward extremely small play sessions, microtransactions, gatcha mechanics - all of these things can be traced toward the mobile gaming market. I don't like these things and I have every right to not want to support them.
While it's true that those things are not present in every, single, mobile game, supporting them supports that segment of the industry and I'm not a fan of that. They'll make plenty of money from other people and that's inevitable, but I'll save my money for real games on dedicated gaming devices or PC.
For me to even consider a mobile game, it has to be outstanding or connected in some way to a real series that I actually care about.
@Heavyarms55 despite your needless elevation of the issue, grouping ALL mobile games into the same category of dislike is prejudice not dissimilar to that of more serious issues.
Your dislike financially hurts developers if you refuse to support the games simply because of its platform of origin.
@Coach_A That's cute, saying I'm the one who elevated it, while still continuing to argue that my dislike of mobile games is the same as racism.
The burden of selling a product is on the people who develop the product - they chose to release a mobile game instead of developing for a console or PC. The results of that choice is on them. They aren't entitled to my money.
I can and will group all mobile games together that way. There is nothing wrong with doing so. I dislike that part of the industry and the way it is influencing the wider games industry. That is not like racism. Video games are things, not people. What next, are you gonna argue that anyone who doesn't like fast food is being racist because they correctly argue that fast food is generally unhealthy for people? Or perhaps people who don't like American Football are racist because they're lumping all football teams together in their dislike? Oh I've got it! You'll suggest that anyone who likes Marvel but not DC is racist against DC superheroes! lol
@Heavyarms55 it's a lot easier to develop a game for a phone that you already have access to than to buy a Switch/PlayStation/Xbox development kit.
Again, you're grouping the whole category together then nitpicking. Your comparison to fast food/sport/Comics is a blatant straw man fallacy as well.
Be against predatory capitalistic practices. Not against the games and passionate developers who are trying to make a living through their passion. Games such as the one featured in the review and Monument Valley (as an example) don't deserve to be lumped into the same category as things like Clash of Clans or Raid Shadow Legends which are produced to strategically take advantage of users and extract their money.
@Coach_A Yeah, nope. But I can see you're dead set on this nonsense. So you have a nice day.
@Heavyarms55 out of logical fallacies to use, so you publically announce you're taking the high road in an issue that you perpetuated by spouting a false dichotomy regarding an entire branch of the industry that you refuse to take criticism on?
@Heavyarms55 Generalization is never a good thing. Not liking a game only because it started its life on mobile phones is wrong. I am happy that so many people here are telling you that this is not a correct way of judging video games.
@Cosats You guys are so brave, telling me how I should judge video games. Good for you! I'm just so awful! I dare to have a negative opinion on mobile games! I shall go down in history among the worst of the worst!
Please, I will never yield to your complaints, save yourselves, save the world, and kill me! Rid the world of my horrible opinions before I corrupt the minds of innocent bystanders by talking about all the aspects of the mobile games industry that I dislike! Do it now, while I have enough restraint - before I cast my evil black magic and warp people's minds around the world!
Or, if you disagree, you can click that little ignore button under any of my comments and never be bothered by me again. Either or.
@Heavyarms55
Or you could stop playing the victim and take the criticism on board. It's never good to hold overly strong opinions, especially when they're negative towards something as fickle as video games.
According to howlongtobeat.com Oddamar is about five hours long.
Shantae is a few hours longer and Rayman & DKC is more than twice as long.
Oddamar on mobile was "FreeToStart" with the first few stages free. After that it had the same payment modell as Mario Run.
The developer, Mobge, is a five people from Turkey that probably went mobile to reduce cost.
As we know from the high profile game Mario Run (a fraction of the people who downloaded it continued forward after the "FreeToStart" part ended) this payment model is not well recieved on mobile.
$10 for 5 hours play it seems Oddamar is a good proposition for Switch gamers (if you buy a Switch you probably know you have to pay upfront for every game and selldom get stuff for free).
Downloaded and played a bit last night. While it’s true that the Switch Eshop is drenched in platformers, I don’t think there’s nearly enough traditional/linear experiences. Sure, it’s not nearly as beefy as Rayman/Shantae/DKC TF but Oddmar is still a lot of fun as someone who’s sick of metroidvanias and just wants more of the classic A to B experience. In truth, I probably wouldn’t have known this was originally a mobile game if I didn’t read the reviews first. Just goes to show that they’re not all as bad as “gamers” want to think. (IIRC PolyRoll also started on mobile and that’s also a great game on Switch)
@Heavyarms55 I mean, it’s definitely your right to decide what you play/spend money on but not all mobile games are terrible F2P junk. I used to think like you and I missed out on some good games over it. Frankly, I’d have had no idea this started as a mobile game if I hadn’t read this review and from what I’ve played the production value is definitely there. Heck, Oddmar looks and plays a lot better than some other indies that were developed specifically for Switch in my opinion.
@Heavyarms55 His comparison to racism may have been extreme, but his overall point is still accurate. Sounds like you're moreso trying to pull attention away from that point being correct more than anything. Even saying you're not against all mobile games but they have to prove themselves to you...I remember my dad basically saying in regards to employing people that he's not racist but a black man would have to prove he's extra trustworthy if he wanted a job. I imagine nobody really cares whether you're biased against games or not, they're not a group of people, but it shows the same negative attributes such as bias, ignorance and a closed mind when you just dismiss something based on what it is at a surface level rather than how you actually experienced it. Portray yourself however you want though, its not my life.
"the burden of selling". Yea, I think that only really applies to actual potential customers. If I have to sell something, I don't bother with the uphill battle of selling to somebody who doesn't want or need it, especially if it's somebody who has clearly already made a biased decision against the product, I just move on to those who are actual potential customers...Or my actual target demographic, if you will.
You don't get specialist building tool suppliers putting extra effort into advertising at the retirement home.
"The F2P style of game design, overly simplified controls to be viable on touch screen only devices, level and game design geared toward extremely small play sessions, microtransactions, gatcha mechanics - all of these things can be traced toward the mobile gaming market."
Oh boy...Nope.
Microtransactions actually originate with PC, a platform that's been doing additional downloadable content as long as some of us can remember. Microtransactions, DLC, Expansions, mods, these were all done on PC long before mobile phones were even in colour. Its modern form is actually closer to what came about with the Xbox 360 generation (though it definitely predates that), Elder Scrolls: Oblivion's horse armour being the first big well known case of stupid microtransactions in their current form. In terms of buying in game currency for real currency, that has been a thing in F2P PC MMO's for as long as I can remember, back when mobiles could barely send a text.
Ultimately, do what you want, nobody really cares whether you buy the game or not. I probably won't either, I've already forgotten what it's called. Maybe try to come across as a bit less of a, well, 'you' though, and spread a little less misinformation if you could.
Looks fun, reminds of Rayman. Might download someday, when it gets discounted.
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