It actually happens in a different game. One thing that is under-appreciated about the transformation mechanic in Super Mario Odyssey is how walking a mile in the enemies’ shoes recontextualizes how we see them in other games. For example, I now know why Bullet Bills have a hard time turning around to give chase in Super Mario 64.
I now know why Hammer Bros. like to hopstep and occasionally fall down pits on their own in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3.
It was when I was trying to bomb jump, which requires allowing vertically placed bombs to launch you in the air successively while in morph-ball form. An item was located in the wall, and it was clear I had to bomb jump because the hole in the wall was only one block high, too small to enter without being a ball.
It was rough. I tried forever, thinking logically that I should place each bomb at the height of each jump. For the experts, I was attempting the 2BJ without knowing that the IBJ, 3BJ, and HBJ even existed.
Then I thought, "This game is thematically all about clues. There is a clue for everything. So the clue for where to place each bomb must be on the wall I'm trying to scale." I knew I had it then, so I smiled to myself.
I placed bombs along each tile of the wall. No dice. Undeterred, I placed bombs along the lines between the tiles of the wall, thinking that was the clue to the spacing of the bombs. Nothing doing. I tried a spacing of every other tile, I tried every other line, I tried everything until I was sick of trying.
Then I thought, "What if the clue actually wasn't shown?"
As soon as I thought that, I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't tell you why, and I still can't account for it. Rationally, I should have smiled to myself again, but wider, for figuring out the true answer. But I didn't. All I could think was that this would be legendary if it worked.
I tapped the bomb button to the beat of the music, and I was soaring.
