There is a lesson that this brand new installement of the Mario series teaches us. Its a lesson that most developers seem to have forgetton, as they try to tackle on projects that demonstrate the power and strength of its graphical capabilities. Its a lesson that allowed gamers to understand and realize why videogames were created in the first place. Its a lesson that Nintendo has been remembering, time and again, with each and every project they invest their time and it has been used since their inception.

Fun.

Vibrant, exciting, and yet insane, Super Mario Galaxy is everything you ever wanted it to be. Its beautiful and groundbreaking. Its a Mario game that captures the best of its past and yet breathes new life that thrusts the series into an exciting direction than ever before. Its a game that will challenge the platforming fanatic and becomes an adventure that's free to roam around in. It is the best thing to ever happen on the Nintendo Wii, thus far, and it is also the best Nintendo game that has been created in a decade. Yet it brings us memories of those dull, mediocre games that we had to sit through for the past ten years or more before we became a kid again that got the best present he or she ever got on Christmas.

As development progressed, we would hear about this amazing creature through reports from journalists, who forced us to drool with captivating previews and dazzling screenshots. But even when we do see the game in action, some may be confused or even puzzled on what to expect from this new installment. Its very simple - its Super Mario 64 once again. Yet if you tear away the basics, you merely discover is that a few essentials, such as its unique control scheme and that creative level design, has returned. Start forgetting the fact that the castle is now a spaceship that's flying somewhere around the universe. Start forgetting the fact that Mario can execute a three-hit punch combo. Start forgetting the fact that Mario doesn't even daydream of italian food and toilets to fix. This is is a straightforward, spiritual successor to the N64 classic, Super Mario 64. The controls are as tight and responsive as you recall, even if its played differently through usage of the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The wondrous sense of exploration is as mindblowing as you remember it and you may be dropping your jaws more times than you can remember, even if the worlds and its creatures you unearth, both old and new, are in a new place. Your basic quest, as you also remember - you will travel upon different landscapes as the stars become your prey and you must thwart Bowser, rescue the princess, squash on Goombas, and even ice skate your way to victory.

Now you're probably thinking this - you have done this many times and so has Mario. So why in the world should anyone care if the adventure has been done so many times before? Princess Peach, in her newfound glory, has perhaps decided to give Mario what he has been waiting for nearly twenty-six years. You see, Mario receives a small note from the princess. "Come to the castle," she says. "There's something I want to give you." There is no beating around the bush this time, just a simple reference that just about everybody can figure out. But if Peach knew, all this time, what Mario want, then Super Mario Galaxy knows what you've been waiting for since Super Mario 64 came out nearly ten-eleven years ago. As you arrive at the Mushroom Kingdom, you are greeted by a major population of Toads that are gathering star bits, which are pieces that fall out of the sky. Its for a festival that happens every thousand years that pass by. And just when you're about to meet the Princess and find out what she wanted to give you, that's when the trouble starts. The princess, as you obviously know from the beginning, ends up getting kidnapped by Bowser and his croons and its up to you to find her.

That's where the incredible adventure in itself begins and this time, the rules have changed, if not for the better. The universe is now at your command. There is no room for theories, for space, or even color. You're off exploring planets that will simply shock and, as stated, force you to drop your jaw more times than you could count. To describe you, in every single detail, of all these planets would be a crime to steal away all the joy and surprise that awaits you in this game, yet the names of these levels reveal the story in part. You'll be ray skiing on water, battling out a giant mole in order to save a small creature, or to even fly high in the skies in search of new lands. You'll jump, slide, and butt-stomp your way to victory. You'll be skating like like a figure skater, fly like a bee, and throw fireballs at your enemies that cannot stand your wrath. All of this comes with a sense of awe awe and amazement, thus becoming a language of its own, one that speaks in major volumes and is filled with positive vibes.

You'll begin to question yourself with the following. Why cannot we walk on the ground on a constant basis? Where is the sky that's always above us? The landscapes come and go like the wind, the game quietly slipping into 2D and 3D with little warning and no reservations. Gravity is no longer an issue, as it flips and switches beneath your feet, yet Mario somehow doesn't care and is brave enough to go with the flow of things, always expecting the unexpected. Some may argue that would guarantee to give you a sense of dizziness and fatigue, if at any point gamers would have any clear idea on which way up or down was. Instead, the word "fun" hits you in the head as you as chase down the trail that leads to those precious stars through oceans of empty sky. The levels form and dissolve under your feet, rotating and revolving, yet through it all, the camera never seems to break a sweat, clearly showing that it can keep up with our fast plumber. Somehow, through the twisting and turning, you are never left confused and lost in your direction. You'll be forced to battle out a giant mole, twist and turn your way through dangerous platforms and bad guys, and even sink a ship or two, all without giving it a second thought.

Its an explosion that will guarantee to rattle the sense of those who love a good challenge and those who love to explore every nook and cranny. In fact, there is almost no way of knowing what you are putting yourself through before hand. One star may be just a simple task to complete in a straightforward fashion, while other stars will force you to stop and smell the roses, taking the beautiful scenery in and loving every second of it. On top of that, every single task, even with the repetitive, yet fun task of collecting coins in its many guises all match in its ingenuity in the level design. In fact, its not clustered or confusing - it all makes sense, as a good platformer should be doing. Of course, you are going to have to tackle on bosses, collect items, castles to roam around in and wrecks to dive, but the 120-star collecting adventure feels like tiny labour of love that's filled with delight and full of wonder and amazement. Even the boss battles are a delight to participate in, as they are fun, creative, and a pleasure to be involved with. Fun, joyful, spectacular, fair, and even hysterical, the boss battles will warm the hearts of both old and new Mario fans. Even Bowser, Mario's eternal rival, also manages to stand on his own in his glorious remake in Super Mario Galaxy.

No longer confined into worlds that you'll explore freely. Instead, it is done through domes. Each of these domes contain small planets for you to check out. Some of these levels will make you chase down three main stars, a hidden star and a "comet" star. Some will be levels that allow you one shot at the golden prize via a race or through a complex puzzle. Finally, to finish the package and make it complete, you will then deal with a Bowser level, which may give gamers fond memories of having to trek through Bowser's worlds as you glide, leap, and edge your way past baddies and obstacles and facing Bowser or his son, along with their minions, in a showdow for the star they are holding in their possession. Comet stars is Nintendo's answer for not going out the easy way in all the time spent creating those beautiful worlds. Your goal, with these stars, is to complete difficult tasks that may look frustraing, but at the same time quite satisfactory. You'll be racing an evil shadow of your self or even taking on bosses with only one hit point left. You may also have to finish a certain task under a time limit or even have to deal with faster bad guys and speeider platforms that will vanish quickly before you even know it. The great news is that these are tasks that clearly point out the strengths and power of several levels created specfically for Super Mario Galaxy.

No matter how you slice it, whether it be getting the itch out of a bee queen or destroying a ship in its entirety, there are a load of stars that need to be collected in order to make everything right again for the entire world. You can meet yourself at the halfway point by collecting only sixty stars, but, as in every videogame created today, there are secrets to unlock, so you would need to earn a grand total of 120 stars in order to completely beat the game. Yet that task alone is easier said than done. Even if you manage to finish each level and collect its star, there are secret stars that are scattered around the univese. Therefore, its task of enticing gamers to soldier on and not give in is accomplished and new ways of winning is explored even further, whether it is how many star bits you can collect on your own or how far the pipe can go. Perhaps the best thing to ever happen out of Super Mario Galaxy or its predessecor is that it is a non-lineear game, which means you aren't forced to stay on a straight path. You are given all the freedom in the world to explore to your hearts content. In laymen's terms, there are plenty of new galaxies to open up at anytime and you are given helpful information from Luigi, your older brother who merely encourages you to keep going and seek out stars that you thought weren't possible to find in the beginning. On top of that, along with Trial Galaxies (galaxies that challenge your speed and time) and accomplishments that you can acheive and brag to your friends offline and on the Wii board, then you'll immediately embrace the fact that this is a game of immense replay value.

Everything sounds perfect, like a perfect dream that grants your wishes at a whim and you never want to let go of it. But how does it play? The Wii has a new way of allowing gamers to interact and participate in a physical sense and Mario Galaxy also does the trick. While the nunchuk's analog stick allows you to move Mario into any direction that you desire to tread on, a quick, sharp shake on the Wiimote enables you to spin in place, a quick reminder of Michael Jackson spinning on the stage floor in his glory days. However, you may need to wait a second or two before you are given the go-ahead to reactivate the spinning attack. With the jump button, you will witness Mario jumping in his classic jumping stance, but if you find yourself curious to press the jump button two mroe times, he shows off a few new jumps that allow you to go higher than before. You can also perform long jumps, backward flips, or even slde flips, all coming straight out of the Super Mario 64 playbook. With the Wiimote, however, its a whole new ballgame, as you able to collect star bits at a distance through a pointer. This enables the chore of earning star bits to be less tedious and easier to accomplish. Star bits play an important role in Super Mario Galaxies, as they act as your currency. Gold coins, which are scattered in the game, merely act as your highest score, but star bits help immensly in revealing hidden galaxies and granting the player an extra life every time they earn fifty star bits. The Wiimote is also used cleverly in unique situations, such as ray-skating by teetering the Wiimote left and right or spinning in stars that fire Mario into a new part of the planet, like a cannon firing off a human being into the skies and flying for many miles until landing safely on the ground. The controls for Super Mario Galaxy are just as tight and resposnive, so controlling Mario is a breeze and if you happen to fall down into a poisonous swamp or get yourself stomped on by a Thomp, it ain't the game's fault, that would be yours, so there is no excuse on the control design's part to make you fail, as it gives you the right tools and balance to succeed.

Visually, Super Mario Galaxy is the best-looking game on the Wii. Nintendo has clearly taken the time to create a game that is a joy to look at. This is the one game that pushes the Wii to the fullest. It is a birght and beautiful world to explore it and every detail, both small and large, are a sight to behold. The animation, which runs in a slik, crispy 60 fps, never dulls the eye of the gamer, as there is so much going on. You'll be visiting a beach with penguins that dive and swim in the water as the bubbles rise and pop. You'll walk through an obstacle with bad guys roaming around as platforms move beneath your feet and around you. No matter where you go, its all about stopping yourself, even for a small while, to gaze at the skies and its stars and admire its majesty as time passes by fast. This is one of those games were gamers will learn to appreciate the time and passion that Nintendo invested in its graphics. After all, the motto "quality over quantity" is a motto that Nintendo never forgetton since the 80s and it shows here. Mario runs, jumps, and spins around flulidly and controls like the car of your dreams - fast, aggressive, yet balanced and neat to your liking. The artwork is also believeable, placing you in worlds that were beyond your imagination, its level designs both clever and inventive, always challenging you and keeping you on your toes as you continue on your quest to save the world. Needless to say, it is the most gorgeous that's been created on the Wii so far and although games like Zelda: Twlight Princess and Metroid Prime Corruption showcases its power in its own way, it fails short, due to Super Mario Galaxy's visual magnifience.

The sound is one of the best things going for the series and those who are quiaking in their boots and fearing for the worst should have their doubts put to rest. This is one of the best soundtracks that Nintendo has crafted in their career as a top videogame developer. Its a collection of the best Mario tunes to be heard in its predecessors and redone from the ground-up through an orchestra. The result is simply astonishing. These are the kind of tunes that will stick to your head for days, filled with catchy beats and haunting melodies that you think wouldn't be good, yet would prove you wrong in the end. Of course, all the bells and whistles that you heard in the past have returned and its not much of a significant impact as far as sound effects go, but the music makes up for everything. Its where your head will be entranced by its mesmerizing piano melodies or its simple, yet effective guitar notes. The team over at Nintendo have conjured up a soundtrack that will satisfy everyone and there's a certain song or two that will appeal to just about everybody and would even make you go so far in recalling a game or movie that you'd think it would perfectly fit in. For example, the first track that involves strictly piano would have been perfect for an RPG such as Chrono Trigger or its bouncy melody over at Beach Bowl Galaxy would feel just right for a game like Donkey Kong Country. All in all, this is a soundtrack that many would hope to see be released in the form of a compact disc, because it is one soundtrack that is worth owning.

Super Mario Galaxy is the one game that everyone has been waiting for. All the planets and stars have been aligned and Nintendo have taken the lessons they have learned nearly ten years ago with Super Mario 64 and used them here on Super Mario Galaxy. You can always count on Nintendo to deliver not just the jaw-dropping visuals or the unforgettable soundtrack, but the addictive, yet fun gameplay as well. The Mario series has always been about treking through various lands and escaping danger through jumping or special abilities, all the while exploring what it has to offer and allowing gamers to let it all in and enjoy it. For a decade, while other developers have gone on to push both past, present, and future systems to the limit in other ways, Nintendo never strayed off the beaten path and continued to deliver one success after another, knowing that they are a company that anyone can count on. Super Mario Galaxy is everything you wanted out of a Mario game and everything you ever wanted out of a platformer. This game doesn't just re-create the sensational experience that was first discovered in Super Mario 64, it recreates the way of thinking on how platformers should be done. Therefore, there is no reason not to miss out on this game at all this year, for it is not only one of the best Mario games to come out in a long time, but it is also 2007's Wii game of the year.