Mario is back, and it was worth the wait!
SMG is one of those games that you just can't put down. Every time I finish a level I say to myself, "ok, I'll go back and save, and then turn it off", but then it opens up a new galaxy and my curiosity gets the better of me... Before I know it, it's an hour later and I'm holding that level's star in my hands.
While on the subject, this series is still at its roots largely a big fetch quest. Squish this, pick up the coin it drops; figure out how to get on this platform to get the coin it holds, etc... In the first few minutes of playing, this was readily apparent to me, and I got a little disappointed. I wondered for a few moments if I hadn't finally outgrown the whole concept and needed something more from my games now. The thing is, after playing for a few more minutes, I completely forgot all about it. Once again the big N has managed to camouflage coin collecting with excellent level design and outstanding game play that makes you forget that you're basically playing the same Mario game all over again with better graphics.
Speaking of, this game looks simply beautiful. Graphics are obviously not the Wii's strong suit, but you wouldn't know it playing SMG. I'm usually pretty hung-up about graphics, and typically I would rather play a lower quality title in HD on my 360 then a last-gen looking game on my Wii just for tighter game play. The only thing disappointing about the visuals here is that I pretty much think this is the best I'll ever see on this system. Nowhere to go but down... It's not that this game pushes the hardware in any magical way; it is just that it has outstanding design and production qualities that transfer well to this system's capabilities. Call of Duty 4 it is not, but it doesn't have to be; it looks better then I expected and I couldn't be happier about its visuals.
The game play in most Mario games is typically fantastic, and this installment is right on track there too. Most levels have a very intuitive flow to them, and only once in multiple hours of play did I not know exactly where I had to go and what I had to do. Most levels present a decent challenge without getting at all frustrating, and beyond that, they are just fun to play. Every moment of the game is a treat to experience and you'll constantly want to run around the next bend just to see what lies ahead. The new game play mechanics such as running around the outside of the circular worlds work very well and while taking a little time to get accustomed to, they eventually feel just right. It makes brilliant use of the Wii motion sensing controls without forcing you to abandon the tried and true control scheme of M titles. Put simply, this game would be just as good without the motion sensing, but what use it does make of them are enjoyable and well implemented.
Now, the game isn't absolutely perfect on all levels mind you... For one thing, it is still the same game as always, and while they do a lot of stuff to invigorate the experience, there was a time here and there where the game felt a little too familiar. I don't necessarily consider this a bad thing though, because what I'm remembering while playing it are other outstanding Mario games. I liken the experience to Halo 3 a bit... Yeah, it was largely a rehash of old ideas, but the ideas it was based on were so fantastic that they could stand a rehash. SMG feels like SM3 in Mario 64's universe, and that's ok. It's not doing a whole lot of new stuff, but it doesn't have to. You'll still want to find every star, you'll still want to see every inch of each world, and you'll still pine for those elusive suits just as much as you did in SMB3. I knew the suit system was a winner when I fell in some water, lost my Bee suit, and got ticked off. Point being, I was having so much fun being "the bee" that I didn't want it to end and immediate set off in search of another bee mushroom. That to me says mission accomplished by the developers.
The only major complaint I have about SMG is the difficulty level. I know this game has to have a wide appeal and be accessible to young players, but after my first hour of play I had amassed like 28 extra lives, and I wasn't even collecting as many "star-bits" as I could have. On a few levels you can just stand in one area and continue to collect endless amounts of stars as they just keep falling from the sky. The game still has its challenging moments, but they are mostly constrained to reaching extra coins and such, beating each level in itself is fairly simple. Again, I realize Mario games have a wide appeal, but I don't ever recall any of them being quite as easy as this one is. The most difficult bit about this game is wrapping your head around the game play/control concepts that have you orbiting planets and running towards the screen.
Apart from that, the only other issue that comes to mind is the glaring lack of a two player game here. I know this series has moved away from that in the past, but I was hoping it would come back on a bigger level then it has. The co-op mode is interesting, but more of an annoyance to me then I expected in practice. Yeah, it's kind of fun on some levels, but I was constantly annoyed at the notion that player 2 had the ability to shoot my precious star-bits as they saw fit. Dang it! Stop wasting my star-bits!
Again, the very fact that it annoyed me is just a testament to how great the game itself is, I don't want to collect the stars, but I just can't seem to stop...
The long and short of it is, this is a must buy, and a definite contender for GOTY, which is saying a lot when it's up against this years titles. Welcome back Mario!