Super Mario Galaxy released in 2007, marking Mario's next 3D Adventure in the series. This saw a lot of critical acclaim by reviewers and fans alike. I got this as a birthday present in 2009 and 100%ed it as Mario recently, so let's see how this game holds up.
Super Mario Galaxy starts with a tale of a star festival that is held every 100 years and Mario is getting invited by Peach to the festival. Mario makes his way to the castle but upon arrival, Bowser is attacking the castle. Mario tries to stop this, but Kamek sends him flying which leaves Peach helpless as Bowser takes the castle and heads off to his lair along with Bowser Jr in tow. Mario then wakes up on a planet, where he is greeted by the Star Bunnies who challenges him to find all of them. After he wins that challenge, he meets the best female character in the series IMO, Rosalina. She gives Mario the power to perform the spin attack via a White Luma. From there, Mario's journey to stop Bowser and save Peach.
Mario retains the moves that he had from his prior 3D adventures. With the new spin attack, Mario can smack the enemy with a powerful spin. He can also use it to get a little boost in the air or to improve underwater travel. Mario's life bar is lesser than the ones he had in previous games. Take three hits and you're done. Coins and Life Shrooms can refill health, with the latter giving him 3 extra hit points that last until he beats the level, dies via other circumstances or takes 3 hits.
Power-ups like the Fire Flower and Star returned along with new power-ups like the Ice Flower and Spring Shroom enter the fray. Ice Flower allows Mario to walk on icy water and lava, while Spring Shroom is that one dumbass item that lets Mario sping around like a bunny. I really don't like the spring shroom, as the way it controls can cause cheap deaths at times. Also, the items are more situational this time, only being required for certain parts of a stage.
There are 120 stars (not counting the hidden final star) to collect. Only 60 are needed to access the final level, and you need to beat the final level to access the Purple Comet stars. This is a bit backwards compared to how SM64 handled it but I can deal with it. Like Sunshine, once you pick a Star to go after, you are locked to that star and cannot deviate from that path. This is mostly due to the fact that the level design changes to cater to the situation. Some of the levels can be really annoying though ie the Ball Rolling and some of the comet stars, but nothing too bad.
You can also play as Luigi when you get all 120 stars, and he plays like he did in games like Lost Levels and 2; higher jump, lower traction and all. You can also use an SMG save file to unlock Rosalina in Mario Kart Wii if you have both games, which is neat.
Super Mario Galaxy has an amazing soundtrack. From Good Egg Galaxy to Bowser's Theme, the composers really knew how to create an amazing soundtrack fitting for this adventure.
Super Mario Galaxy will remain one of the best Wii games on the system. It takes Mario and friends on a grand space adventure complete with an amazing soundtrack, fun gameplay with challenges and more.