Super Mario Odyssey is finally here and - yes - it’s one of the best platformers ever made, and one of the greatest games of all time if you believe review aggregators. For our money, Super Mario Odyssey is an essential Switch game that all owners of the console should take a good look at.

　　But finding the hundreds of moons in the game can start to wear on you, especially if you’ve only got a small handful left in each stage. Well, not to worry, we’ve got some professional Super Mario Odyssey tips and trick to read below.

　　Take a read through our advice, follow it to a T, and we’re sure you’ll be nearing 100% completion in no time.

　　Feel them out, hear them out

　　When wandering about the worlds of Super Mario Odyssey, make sure to keep your hands on the controller, because there’s could be a moon nearby. You might be running over it without even noticing.

　　You’ll see Moons and coins hidden under the ground which are obviously because of the shining light emanating from the floor, and of course you will probably already know the ground pound these to pull the rewards out, but sometimes, that shining light indicator won’t be there at all.

　　Instead, you’ll want to feel out the moons with the controller - HD Rumble is an incredible thing, and you’ll feel it slowly ramp up as you move closer to the moon location. On top of that, to help you navigate to the precise spot, the left and right sides of the pad will vibrate accordingly.

　　But if you can’t feel them out, then use your ears instead; Moons will make an obvious “glowing” or “shining” sound. You’ll know if once you’ve found a moon in the game for the first time, and if you can ever hear it, then you’ll know to start cranking the camera around and investigating.

　　A spin of the hat

　　Cappy is useful for so many things in Super Mario Odyssey, especially Capturing enemies in the environments so you can use their powers as your own. Of course, many, many moons are found this way, whether it’s because you need to use the particular powers of that enemy, or an NPC would like to see them up close - one NPC in the Lake Kingdom really wants to see a Cheep Cheep up close, for example.

　　But on top of that, Cappy can also unlock moons in unusual places. You’ve probably noticed Cappy can latch on to any knob-shaped object, like lampposts, lightbulbs, or the literal Question Mark knobs placed on top of special objects and items you can control - but even better are the ones you’ll see light emanating from.

　　If you see a glowy know-shaped object that looks like it’s hiding something, throw Cappy on it and hold the Y button to keep him spinning there - spin for long enough, and a Moon will come out. An early example of this is the central fountain in the Sand Kingdom after you’ve defrosted the place.

　　Look for a second

　　Many challenge chambers in Super Mario Odyssey, whether that’s the doors with hats on you can enter, 2D sections or warp pipes you can enter, actually hide a second moon, and sometimes even Purple Coins.

　　When in 2D sections, look for areas that it looks like Mario can slip out of the frame - a missing rock on a wall, an oddly shady spot, etc. Just try slipping right into it, and you’ll be surprised what you can find. There’s almost always a subtle visual clue, so look carefully.

　　In the 3D sections, moons will be hidden in plain sight, more often than not. Just crank your camera into unusual angles; look down the sides of the stage off the edge to see if anything’s hovering against the wall, look up to the ceiling to see if there’s a secret path, etc.

　　Cappy knows

　　Don’t waste all of your time going back to older stages looking for moons you’ve missed though. Sure, you probably have missed a whole bunch of moons that seem obvious already, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend ages in each extra stage searching high and low for the last moon or purple coins.

　　When you enter a warp pipe or door and enter a challenge area you’ve visited before, Cappy will actually remark that he recognizes the place, and then will let you know if you’ve missed a moon, two, or even some Purple Coins. If he says you’ve missed nothing, just walk straight back out of there.

　　For those last few Moons…

　　The last few moons in each stage can be awkward to find, but luckily the game gives you a couple of hints to help you along the way, in the form of Talkatoo and the Hint Toad.

　　Talkatoo the Parrot is lurking in every stage, laughing away at your search for moons, but luckily he’s a pretty generous type. Keep talking to him, and he’ll tell you the names of moons left in the stage, with each name giving a small hint as to where you might find it, or how you can uncover.

　　Couple that with advice from the Hint Toad, and you’re set. The Hint Toad will charge 50 coins to place a marker on your map, pointing to where you can find a power moon hiding. Combine that tip with Talkatoo’s naming of the moon, and you should be able to find it pretty easily.