Wii Review: Super Mario Galaxy

Review by: wiifan001

A decade ago, the ever popular Super Mario 64 brought amazement to all and defined how 3d games should be. A decade later, many Mario games have been released since then. Now we have Super Mario Galaxy available for the Wii. I can safely say that this is the best Mario game we've had since.

The game begins with Mario heading up to Princess Peach's castle. Just before Mario makes it, Bowser seizes the castle brings to space, the center of the universe to be exact. Mario is struck by a Kamek and sent to down to a planet. This may very familiar to Paper Mario fans. The story line is the same on that note. There are even 7 Grand Stars to collect. Mario must collect 120 stars and save the princess. I know, it's a combination of Paper Mario and Super Mario 64. This time the Grand Stars will be used to open more galaxies rather than help fighting off baddies.

There is a different story in contrast to this. This one involves a new character named Princess Rosalina. As you go on you'll hear about her story and how she's connected to the hundred year comet that passes by every hundred years and these little Star creatures called Lumas.

The first level starts out looking for 3 bunnies on this planet which will lead you to the First Grand Star. Then you'll unlock an observatory which will lead to these galaxies. Mario Galaxy provides some of the craziest level designs that video games have ever offered. It's all mind blowing and an crazier thing of these "planets" is that they have their own gravity. This is revolutionary because this is the first platformer game to have ever used gravity effects. With gravity you'll be walking upside down, backwards, and sometimes even both.

To go from planet to planet, these stars (not power or grand stars) will launch you to the other planets. This is done by shaking the Wiimote on the star. Mario will literally fly through space to the other planets Superman style. His arms wave out and the way the camera moves while he's flying is just jaw dropping. There are a few dozens galaxies in the game. Each are incredibly unique and on galaxies where there is more than one star will often times lead you to a completely different part of that galaxy leading to new exploration. Often times you'll have to find 5 parts to the star which will create it.

Mario gets a lot of old techniques as well as some new ones. The backflip, triple jump, and crouching are all back in the game. Wall jumping has been made so much easier. You simply jump against the wall and pressing back and forth without having to use the analog stick. A new move of Mario that really helps out and used effectively throughout is the Spin Attack which is done by shaking the Wiimote. It's used to attack enemies, break through shards of crystal, and sometimes even raise jumping. It can also deflect enemy projectile attacks right back at foes.

The controls are very precise. The Wii Remote is used for a several pointing functions. Shaking the Wiimote not only does the spin attack. It can be used to collect Star Bits. Star Bits are found everywhere. You just simply point at the bits you see and you'll collect it. It's really nice because you know you don't have to walk all the way over to reach it. Just simply point. It becomes so natural in only a few minutes time or less. Star Bits will help unlock galaxies and stunning enemies by pointing at them and pressing B. Another reason for pointing is grabbing blue stars. Blue stars will bring Mario up to it and will keep him there until grabbing another blue star and moving across or until crossing a star or planet. Blue stars are never alone and will always come in clusters.

Motion sensing with the Wiimote has done more than pointing and grabbing. Its motion sensing technology is used for the activities found in some levels. Manta ray surfing is riding on top of a manta ray and steering it with the Wiimote. Some levels you'll be on a ball and rolling it to its destination also by using it with the Wiimote. Finally, you can push Mario around in a bubble and blowing it through the planet with it. Each of these is so fun and intense you won't care if you die or not. Even better, the controls continue to be responsive and don't play a problem.

The boss battles in the game are fun but not really rememberable. Naturally you'll fight Bowser a couple times. You fight Bowser Jr, a couple Kameks and other bosses which I won't spoil for you. They're not too terribly challenging except in under specific conditions for a couple that I speak about.

The quest for searching for stars will require transforming into different types of Mario's. Seriously, a couple kinds include the Bee Mario, which transforms you into a bee and you briefly fly around. Of course Fire Mario is implemented. For the first time ever, Fire Mario is 3d. Some people have been waiting for that moment for over 20 years. It's finally here. There are a few other Mario suits, each having their own unique effect and be used a few times over, but I won't spoil them for you.

Comets. Several kinds of comets will be in the game. Comet levels are levels that have been completed already but must be beaten again under specific conditions. An example is the Daredevil Comet. This comet requires you to beat the level with only 1 health point. Purple Coin comets require to search the galaxy and collect 100 purple coins. Note that this is taking place of the 100 coin challenge back in the days of Super Mario 64. Except this time 100 purple coins will be laid out and must collect all of them to get the star. These are only 2 of the many comet types to see in Mario Galaxy.

Though you can defeat Bowser the 3rd time with only 60 stars, something amazing will happen collecting all 120 stars and will likely want you to play the game all over again with this "new feature." As a matter of fact, you really don't beat the game with only 60 stars because you haven't been to all the galaxies.

Two player co-op is available. While one player controls the character, the other can use the Wiimote to collect Star Bits, help them jump really high, and freeze enemies when holding on them pressing the A button. It's not exciting but it is a nice idea and doesn't really get in the way.

There are a couple issues that could've been worked on just a little bit. Sometimes the analog stick can be a little confusing. I've gotten mildly nautious from it, but only playing it for an extended period of time. This may or may not happen to you. Furthermore, occasionally you'll spot a camera problem. Most of the time, pressing the D-pad can help you get out of these situations. But there are still a few cases where the camera didn't go right, but it is rare.

The graphics are the flat out no question about it BEST graphics so far shown on the Wii. No Wii game competes with its artistic design. . It's possible to beat the game and not notice frame rate problems. But no Wii game compares to this one in graphics. [Do not compare Wii graphics to XBOX 360 and PS3. Wii focuses on revolutionary techology while the other 2 stick to their old roots.

The sound tracks on the game are ochestrated beautifully. There are remakes of songs back from Super Mario Bros 1 and 3, and lots of new sound tracks are heard and sound right to the atmosphere. Mario, Peach, and Rosalina all have very short, voice acting phrases heard every once in a while. Nintendo continues to keep it minimal for the Mario series, which is actually a good thing.

Collecting 120 stars will take about 15 hours or so. Doing it over again under the "new feature" which I mentioned earlier and you're looking at about 25-30 hours of the game. You can always go back and play and a level that you want to do again.

So having a game with responsive controls, smart uses of the Wiimote, the best graphics the Wii has yet, an amazing original sound track, multiple types of Mario's, flying through planets and space, co-op mode, being a Mario game, there is no excuse of not owning this game. Even if you're not a fan of Mario series, I"d recommend this to anyone, whether 6 year old or adult and everyone in between. This will be looked back years from now and Super Mario Galaxy will be argued as the greatest Wii game ever made.