Super Mario Galaxy Review
by David Mume
The third part in the 3-D Super Mario series. This game reminds many classic gamers of Super Mario 64; maybe even more than Super Mario Sunshine did. Relying on Mario's jumps and various moves applied to 64 a small amount more than Sunshine: in Sunshine, you had your trusty water shooting machine, FLUDD. Though having many of the elements of both previous titles (like star intros, destroying-enemy tactics, hidden extras), Super Mario Galaxy has an air of it's own. It's galactic theme will have you soaring from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, complete with separate gravities per planet, and breath-taking views of the distant stars. Nintendo also took up some liberties when giving Mario only 3 health (with a rare upgrade of 6 health), which made even just a Goomba enemy that much more life-threatening.
If you are used to the previous titles, you should have not much of a problem with the controls of Super Mario Galaxy. For Super Mario 64 players, you will be some what familiar with the A button to jump and the Z button to crouch. The multiple jumps include: the regular jump, the backflip, the double and triple jump and the wall jump. And also for 64 players, they have brought back the long jump. For Super Mario Sunshine players, you will be treating the Wii remote shaking motion in replacement of what used to be the B button, with the exception of the A button for talking with people. Shaking the Wii remote will have you use a classic attack from Super Mario World (a game made for the Super Nintendo): the Spin Attack. Spinning has additional effects than just destroying obstacles; you will use it to stun enemies, interact with warps and other devices, and loosen screws. Your Wii remote pointer/cursor will have some significance, too. You can collect and shoot projectiles called "Star bits". You can use your pointer to grab onto blue stars to proceed through a planet. Nintendo has also subtly improved each of Mario's abilities, like making it easier to link them together (prior difficulties included meaning to use the long jump but using the backflip by accident). They have also polished Mario's swimming, making the Z button a straight down dive, easily differentiating the difference between swimming fast, slowly, above and below water. For example, let's say there is a needed coin or other important item directly UNDER you. Instead of frustratingly swimming away and turning around, all you need is a simple Z dive...and you have it! Swimming straight down was a big improvement in my opinion.
It is about time for a Co-op mode! Finally, Super Mario Galaxy is the first game in the 3-D Super Mario series to have a cooperative 2-player. This means that an additional Wii remote can play as an additional cursor/pointer to help Mario collect star bits, stun enemies, and freeze some platforms. It is the next-best thing to having a two-player Mario game with two characters at once: one player for each character.
The games difficulty is surprisingly small. Considering the wide landscapes, tough enemies, and mind-boggling puzzles. The bosses were also relatively easy...especially concerning the Super Mario 64Super Mario Sunshine bosses, which were a bit more of a toughie. Like 64, the constant battles you engage in with Bowser all require the same tactics in order to defeat him. This gives you easy recognition of obvious vulnerable points on Bowser in order to defeat him each time you battle. I won't give anything away, but the last boss battle didn't fill me with the exuberant satisfaction I felt when defeating the last boss in 64. Being a slightly too easy game was a bit of a disappointment; especially compared to the prior titles and other great games like the Metroid Prime series. This is something to chew on: if you are looking for an extremely fun game that you will play over and over again, this is a good choice. But if you are looking for an extremely fun game that would be extremely difficult and test you to the max, this is NOT it. Don't get me wrong, this game does have it's tough areas. Several stars were obtained with some toil...but just a few.
As far as the landscape goes...or "universe". It is quite large, complete with unique shapes and sizes, gravities, and creatures. There is lots of variety, and there are many different types of land. Sometimes there are small planets that you can walk under over and around based on it's central gravity. Don't be intimidated...in time, you will be used to controlling upside-down and sideways. Once you get used to it, it is incredible fun and you will want to jump around and explore the planets from ALL perspectives. There is also traditional landscape (with cliffs and flat ground) as well. One wrong step on many of the planets, and you fall down and get sucked up by the black hole. That causes you to lose a life; just like falling off a cliff into La-La land in the first two games. I think many people are intimidated about this games landscape, because it's new and hasn't been seem before. Don't worry, there are still occasional rolling grassy fields, complete with the all-classic invisible walls that prevent you from entering particular areas.
The graphics are only slightly better than those of Super Mario Sunshine, yet they have improved very well. Mario never looked better, the water looks great, there are seldom any gritty areas concerning landscape or enemies, and the background is spectacular! As Mario travels from planet to planet (using star warps), there is usually a shimmering background; filled with stars, distant galaxies, and also a glinting sun shinning over a nearby planet. The background really captures your imagination, and at least once in the game you may say to yourself "...woah." aloud in awe. I also think that, some credit needs to go to the graphics of this game; however, graphics does not determine a great game, therefore I want to point out the important parts, mainly.
Mario can power-up in this game as well as Super Mario 64. Instead of hats, Nintendo has chosen to use Mushrooms to power yourself up. Mushrooms are VERY commonly used: Green for a 1up, red with stars for a 6 health power-up, twirly mushroom to turn into Spring Mario, white mushroom for Boo Mario and a yellow 'shroom with black dots to turn into Bee Mario. The twirly mushroom makes Mario very springy and gives him the ability to jump tremdously high when jumping at the appropriate time. Boo Mario lets you fly and turn invisible in order to go through walls; but watch out, because if you touch light, you will return to regular Mario. Bee Mario gives Mario the ability to fly for a limited time and to stick himself to honey in order to proceed through certain areas of a planet and/or galaxy. There are two more power-ups Mario can use that are in the form of flowers. They have finally brought back the Fire Flower for Mario's fireball attacks! You can use these to attack enemies or light special objects. They also have an Ice Flower that lets Mario run on water, and create ice paths. Another power-up is a rainbow colored star that makes Mario invisible and makes him slightly faster for a limited time. The last power-up I won't give away...
Good game...overal, I would rate it an honest 8.8/10. There is a lot of great variety in this game...in everything. Enemies, worlds, hidden things to find, and special moves Mario can learn. But the big disappointment is how easy this game is...if they only made the last parts a little harder...then this game would be virtually perfect. This is a GREAT addition to Super Mario 64 and Sunshine (if you haven't learned that by now) so I recommend completing the trilogy if you happen to won one or more of these games. First levels...then worlds...then planets...now Galaxies...what next?
by David Mume
The third part in the 3-D Super Mario series. This game reminds many classic gamers of Super Mario 64; maybe even more than Super Mario Sunshine did. Relying on Mario's jumps and various moves applied to 64 a small amount more than Sunshine: in Sunshine, you had your trusty water shooting machine, FLUDD. Though having many of the elements of both previous titles (like star intros, destroying-enemy tactics, hidden extras), Super Mario Galaxy has an air of it's own. It's galactic theme will have you soaring from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, complete with separate gravities per planet, and breath-taking views of the distant stars. Nintendo also took up some liberties when giving Mario only 3 health (with a rare upgrade of 6 health), which made even just a Goomba enemy that much more life-threatening.
If you are used to the previous titles, you should have not much of a problem with the controls of Super Mario Galaxy. For Super Mario 64 players, you will be some what familiar with the A button to jump and the Z button to crouch. The multiple jumps include: the regular jump, the backflip, the double and triple jump and the wall jump. And also for 64 players, they have brought back the long jump. For Super Mario Sunshine players, you will be treating the Wii remote shaking motion in replacement of what used to be the B button, with the exception of the A button for talking with people. Shaking the Wii remote will have you use a classic attack from Super Mario World (a game made for the Super Nintendo): the Spin Attack. Spinning has additional effects than just destroying obstacles; you will use it to stun enemies, interact with warps and other devices, and loosen screws. Your Wii remote pointer/cursor will have some significance, too. You can collect and shoot projectiles called "Star bits". You can use your pointer to grab onto blue stars to proceed through a planet. Nintendo has also subtly improved each of Mario's abilities, like making it easier to link them together (prior difficulties included meaning to use the long jump but using the backflip by accident). They have also polished Mario's swimming, making the Z button a straight down dive, easily differentiating the difference between swimming fast, slowly, above and below water. For example, let's say there is a needed coin or other important item directly UNDER you. Instead of frustratingly swimming away and turning around, all you need is a simple Z dive...and you have it! Swimming straight down was a big improvement in my opinion.
It is about time for a Co-op mode! Finally, Super Mario Galaxy is the first game in the 3-D Super Mario series to have a cooperative 2-player. This means that an additional Wii remote can play as an additional cursor/pointer to help Mario collect star bits, stun enemies, and freeze some platforms. It is the next-best thing to having a two-player Mario game with two characters at once: one player for each character.
The games difficulty is surprisingly small. Considering the wide landscapes, tough enemies, and mind-boggling puzzles. The bosses were also relatively easy...especially concerning the Super Mario 64Super Mario Sunshine bosses, which were a bit more of a toughie. Like 64, the constant battles you engage in with Bowser all require the same tactics in order to defeat him. This gives you easy recognition of obvious vulnerable points on Bowser in order to defeat him each time you battle. I won't give anything away, but the last boss battle didn't fill me with the exuberant satisfaction I felt when defeating the last boss in 64. Being a slightly too easy game was a bit of a disappointment; especially compared to the prior titles and other great games like the Metroid Prime series. This is something to chew on: if you are looking for an extremely fun game that you will play over and over again, this is a good choice. But if you are looking for an extremely fun game that would be extremely difficult and test you to the max, this is NOT it. Don't get me wrong, this game does have it's tough areas. Several stars were obtained with some toil...but just a few.
As far as the landscape goes...or "universe". It is quite large, complete with unique shapes and sizes, gravities, and creatures. There is lots of variety, and there are many different types of land. Sometimes there are small planets that you can walk under over and around based on it's central gravity. Don't be intimidated...in time, you will be used to controlling upside-down and sideways. Once you get used to it, it is incredible fun and you will want to jump around and explore the planets from ALL perspectives. There is also traditional landscape (with cliffs and flat ground) as well. One wrong step on many of the planets, and you fall down and get sucked up by the black hole. That causes you to lose a life; just like falling off a cliff into La-La land in the first two games. I think many people are intimidated about this games landscape, because it's new and hasn't been seem before. Don't worry, there are still occasional rolling grassy fields, complete with the all-classic invisible walls that prevent you from entering particular areas.
The graphics are only slightly better than those of Super Mario Sunshine, yet they have improved very well. Mario never looked better, the water looks great, there are seldom any gritty areas concerning landscape or enemies, and the background is spectacular! As Mario travels from planet to planet (using star warps), there is usually a shimmering background; filled with stars, distant galaxies, and also a glinting sun shinning over a nearby planet. The background really captures your imagination, and at least once in the game you may say to yourself "...woah." aloud in awe. I also think that, some credit needs to go to the graphics of this game; however, graphics does not determine a great game, therefore I want to point out the important parts, mainly.
Mario can power-up in this game as well as Super Mario 64. Instead of hats, Nintendo has chosen to use Mushrooms to power yourself up. Mushrooms are VERY commonly used: Green for a 1up, red with stars for a 6 health power-up, twirly mushroom to turn into Spring Mario, white mushroom for Boo Mario and a yellow 'shroom with black dots to turn into Bee Mario. The twirly mushroom makes Mario very springy and gives him the ability to jump tremdously high when jumping at the appropriate time. Boo Mario lets you fly and turn invisible in order to go through walls; but watch out, because if you touch light, you will return to regular Mario. Bee Mario gives Mario the ability to fly for a limited time and to stick himself to honey in order to proceed through certain areas of a planet and/or galaxy. There are two more power-ups Mario can use that are in the form of flowers. They have finally brought back the Fire Flower for Mario's fireball attacks! You can use these to attack enemies or light special objects. They also have an Ice Flower that lets Mario run on water, and create ice paths. Another power-up is a rainbow colored star that makes Mario invisible and makes him slightly faster for a limited time. The last power-up I won't give away...
Good game...overal, I would rate it an honest 8.8/10. There is a lot of great variety in this game...in everything. Enemies, worlds, hidden things to find, and special moves Mario can learn. But the big disappointment is how easy this game is...if they only made the last parts a little harder...then this game would be virtually perfect. This is a GREAT addition to Super Mario 64 and Sunshine (if you haven't learned that by now) so I recommend completing the trilogy if you happen to won one or more of these games. First levels...then worlds...then planets...now Galaxies...what next?
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