When people think of the best games for the Nintendo Switch, the one that almost always comes to mind first is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, 2017's Super Mario Odyssey deserves plenty of accolades all its own.

Seriously, look how fun and inventive this game is:

Odyssey is an obvious love letter to critically acclaimed predecessors like Super Mario 64 (1996) and Super Mario Sunshine (2002). But more than that, it's one of those joyful games that will truly bring a smile to your face and keep doing so over the course of hours upon hours of play. Every minute of it is genuine, relaxing fun.

Here's the official description:

Set off on an adventure so big, no one kingdom can hold it.

Join Mario on a massive, globe-trotting 3D adventure and use his incredible new abilities to collect Moons so you can power up your airship, the Odyssey, and rescue Princess Peach from Bowser's wedding plans! This sandbox-style 3D Mario adventure is packed with secrets and surprises, and with Mario's new moves like cap throw, cap jump, and capture, you'll have fun and exciting gameplay experiences unlike anything you've enjoyed in a Mario game before. Get ready to be whisked away to strange and amazing places far from the Mushroom Kingdom!

It could be argued that Mario is merely a vehicle for the game's true hero, Cappy — a sentient, symbiotic hat that powers most of Marios combat and exploration abilities.

In addition to offering Mario an always-accessible platform for bouncing off of to reach high places, Cappy can also be thrown at enemies and inanimate objects invarious ways to either knock them down or actually take control of them and use their unique abilities to traverse levels, remove obstacles, or solve puzzles.

You can possess a T-rex, giant boulders, frogs, Bullet Bills, stretchy caterpillars, tanks, and many other creatures/enemies/etc. You can even become the electricity within city power lines as a mode of transportation!

The story takes maybe 15 hours to get through, but there are plenty enough secrets and discover, items to collect, outfits to try on, and jaw-droppingly beautiful environments to explore every nook and cranny of that you will want to dive back in for endless more hours of entertainment. Ryan McCaffrey of IGN says it best (bold emphasis mine):

I expected to be able to continue playing even after the plot had been resolved, given Odyssey’s 3D sandbox structure, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much there is to do after it’s “over.” In fact, some of its finest moments follow the credits, from new unlockables that nod lovingly toward the past, to a clever new implementation of an old friend, to entire new worlds. I’m still not ready to put Odyssey down, nor do I expect to be for quite some time.

Super Mario Odyssey is everything a platformer game should be: charming, delightful, and pure, nonstop fun.

You can pick up the digital copy for $60 (5.2 GB download) or a physical copy for $56.