Motion controls in Super Mario Odyssey have proved to be a controversial topic. If you check out the Super Jump review of the game, you’ll note that Mitchell raised similar concerns to the ones you’ve mentioned here.

I’m a little bit mixed on the issue, personally. When playing with detatched Joy-Cons, I quite like the use of motion; it’s not entirely dissimilar from what Super Mario Galaxy did by combining traditional sticks and buttons with waggle-and-point. For the most part, I think it feels good and works well; there’s no particular reason why Nintendo shouldn’t implement that kind of design.

The problem arises, I think, because Super Mario Odyssey is playable in TV, handheld, and tabletop modes. And so, the decisions around certain motion controls run into conflict when in handheld mode (as opposed to something like 1–2 Switch, where each mini-game must be played in a specific mode).

I’ve played the game in handheld mode quite a bit now, and I still have mixed feelings. Yes, certain moons aren’t going to be accessible without some specific movements (like the ultra-high jump when capturing the frog), but I don’t feel that the game design is fundamentally compromised or frustrating to play without some of those movements, none of which feel particularly fundamental (except maybe the homing-cap, although that’s debatable).

So the question is: would I have preferred Super Mario Odyssey without any motion controls at all?

Honestly, when I first played the game at E3, I would have said yes. The idea of using motion (and with detatched Joy-Cons to boot) felt initially awkward. But now that I’ve spent more time with the game in the real world, I’m not so convinced that I’d prefer playing it without any motion controls — especially because the detatched Joy-Cons actually work, and the way motion and HD rumble are used feels great.

It’s a conundrum, indeed.