The Most Ridiculous Moons in Super Mario Odyssey – Part 1

After beating Super Mario Odyssey and discovering the amount of post-game content that still awaited me, I decided to retrace my steps and 100% the game. This meant collecting all the purple coins and, of course, the Power Moons. I realized very quickly that this was easier said than done, as Nintendo got pretty creative when it came to hiding these Moons. 

What better way to document my progress than with a silly internet listicle? As I go through the game, I'll be choosing one Moon per Kingdom, with every five Moons being a new article!

So, what exactly lands a Moon on this list? Well, what I'm calling Ridiculous Moons fall into any of these three categories, which are not mutually exclusive:

1. A moon so hard to get I had to stop trying out of frustration.
2. A moon that's extremely easy to miss.
3. A moon that's so conceptually hard to find that I needed the Internet's help.

And as an obligatory warning, I'd recommend not reading this article until after you beat the game, because as you may expect, SPOILERS ABOUND!

Let's get started!

Mushroom Kingdom - No. 31 Secret 2D Treasure

You can find the entrance to this stage slightly west of Peach's Castle, in the form of a well. This 2D platforming exercise felt more like a mean Mario Maker creation than an actual in-game stage!

To get the Moon, you must traverse a 2D world that'll pop you back into 3D if you ever "fall" out of it, making those spinning 2D backgrounds with shifting gravity pretty tough to navigate. What's more, they're orbited by Fuzzies, and you'll have to dodge barrages of Bullet Bills!

This stage left me exasperated the first few times I attempted it, and bewildered when it seemingly never ended. Perseverance is the key to reaching the Moon in this stage, just keep trying and you'll get farther and farther the more you do.

Cap Kingdom - No. 07 Slipping Through the Poison Tide

I scoured what I thought was every corner of Bonneton before I gave up and consulted a guide to find this Moon. It's not difficult to get, but it is one that requires a good eye.

In a stage on the back of Top Hat Tower, you must capture a ParaGoomba and fly across waves of poison, grabbing Moon pieces on the way, to reach the exit. However, flying under the farthest platform and through the broken fence will lead you to a second Moon, hidden behind a high wall!

When I played this stage the first time I didn't even think to look beneath the platform at the fence, and probably wouldn't have spotted it if it weren't for the Internet. 

Cascade Kingdom - No. 25 Sphynx Traveling to the Waterfall

Here's another very easy Moon, but one that's so out of the way you might've missed it. 

In Cascade Kingdom, there's a pair of Binoculars right next to the Odyssey's landing point. Looking through it, you'll be able to see two HatShips flying in the sky -- but you may notice one looks a little off. Zooming into the second HatShip reveals that it's just a Sphynx with a sail, and you'll receive a Moon as a reward.

Finding this Moon required another Google search from me, and I couldn't believe it when it worked. Another excellent example of just how much thought Nintendo put into hiding these Moons!

Sand Kingdom - No. 55 Skull Sign in the Transparent Maze

This is another very simple Moon that eluded me until I happened to throw Cappie at the skull sign. 

Just as you may expect, you can get this Moon by having your hat swing on the top of the skull sign in the invisible maze stage.

While the Sand Kingdom didn't have any extremely challenging Moons, this one for some reason threw me for a loop. It's a good thing Cappie comments on whether or not a stage is complete when you enter it, because otherwise I would've missed it!

Wooded Kingdom - No. 33 A Treasure Made from Coins

This Moon assumes a lot from the player, and requires you to go a bit out of your comfort zone when it comes to exploring.

The Deep Woods is a section of the Wooded Kingdom not found on its map, and must be entered by actually falling off the world at specific locations. Once there, you have to find a Coin Coffer -- which are invisible until approached -- that spawns near one of the seed-dispensing robots. Then it's just a matter of locating the little creek that runs through the area, and coughing up anywhere from 300-500 coins on the small plant growing between some fallen coins, until it gives you a Moon.

While I was able to find the Deeper Woods by myself the first time I visited the Wooded Kingdom, I was at a loss when it came to interacting with the sprout I saw growing in the creek. 

That's it for the first five Kingdoms, now on to the next!

Did you have trouble with these Moons, too? Were there other Moons in these Kingdoms that gave you a similar run around? Let me know in the comments below!

---

If you're interested in other guides for other Super Mario Odyssey content, you can find them here!