One of the best platformers ever made
User Rating: 9.5 | Super Mario Galaxy WII
Wow. Just wow. Nintendo know how to make a good mario game, that much is for certain. Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D platformer with a unique difference. Hence the name, Mario's in space. While you could easily dismiss this as a gimmick, that is exactly what it is not. First off, it means that everything looks gorgeous. The Wii isn't HD, so it's amazing Nintendo managed to pull this off (but it would be even better in HD, and that's why I'd like a remake for Wii U). Everywhere, it's cosmos, but that doesn't mean Nintendo have gone for one background and reused it- every galaxy is unique in everything, including looks. Next is music. It's amazing. Recorded by an orchestra, every piece conveys the atmosphere of the galaxy (and, oh, those atmospheres are things to treasure). So that's excellent presentation. Beautiful and always, always unique. But the most important thing that Galaxy introduces is planet-hopping. You can run right round a planet and come back to where you were before. While this seems pointless, in reality it brings a whole new dimension to the platforming, and is used in a variety of clever, different ways. Here's the clever thing: you always use a launch star, which is like a cannon except it's a star(don't ask) to get to another planet. And most levels consist of a few conxecutive planets.The set out of the game is essentially about forty galaxies, each holding a one to six levels, or 'scenarios'. The goal of each is to collect the star at the end. The way to actually reach each galaxy is a bit like Super Mario 64- levels are in different places in your hub, the observatory. Getting to them is annoying. It's not like you get lost- it's just boring getting to them. The good-for-nothing map of the observatory doesn't help either. So each galaxy has a particular theme, and it is always very imaginative. Even the routine desert galaxy is filled with surprises. A lot of the gakaxies have levels with boss fights, and a lot of the themes of the galaxies could be turned into entirely new games themselves. There are loads of new powerups, and they are always required to progress when they appear. So they're not so much power-ups as they are like items in zelda. There's the bee suit, to name just one. Each power gives you unique abilities which are always very cleverly and creatively implemented. Each galaxy usually has one or three normal levels, then maybe a hidden star in one of the levels, and one or two comet levels. Comet levels are special stars that come into galaxies you've cleared as you progress through the game. They give you a particular aim and are always very hard. The downside is when they arrive, they replace all the other levels in that galaxy until you've completed that comet level. There's a spin jump to assist you in Super Mario Galaxy, like a double jump. The camera is perfect, never wondering. My biggest problem is that although there are checkpoints, they're not marked, so you've no idea where you'll respawn if you die. There's also a mode where a second player can assist Mario by collecting star bits(in game currency) for them among other things, but this mode is too limited. Overall, Galaxy is a fantastic game and one of the best if not the best, refreshing platforners around.
