Super Mario Galaxy - 9/10

The surprisingly athletic, plump plumber, Mario, is arguably THE face of Nintendo. Mario has returned to his platform/ adventurous state, has the wait and hype been worth his galactic arrival? Super Mario Galaxy offers players, experienced and with no experience at all, an escape from the real world to consume you in nothing but gravitational fun with that very familiar Mario touch that has been placed within every Mario adventure to date.

Let's get the bad out of the way first. Storyline. Please, PLEASE remember, no matter how epic this game my seem, the storyline is anything but. One thing I was grateful for was that it was straight into the action from the get-go. However, the get-go felt rushed. The supreme action scene hits and we all expect a climax...sadly the climax of the entire introduction was missing and the storyline vanishes somewhere in between all those 40-something galaxies we visit.

The graphics are indeed the most beautiful I have seen on the wii. Having said that, the wii was never designed for its graphical capabilities but rather its innovation. I find that the small things placed in this game is what makes it great. Small dust particles and bits of meteors, the nice glow and shine of the stars really polish off the overall representation of the game.

The winning aspect of this game is definitely the game play and less we forget, that is all that matters in a platform/ adventure. The game handles itself well and for games such as these the camera is critical. There are only very small and brief instances where you would find yourself telling the camera to "MOVE!" but this is rare and the camera work is very well done for the most part. The tweaks of the laws of gravity is enough to make me tell you to buy this game. The controls run smooth, there is a very slim learning curve and for this effective feature the replay value shoots through the roof! It's just plain fun to jump and see where you end up and it's also amusing to watch Mario flip around all over the screen.

It's sounds as if Mario Galaxy can be summed up as a guy running around little planets, hopping around collecting stars. Wrong. There are witty and unique levels to break this routine, an example is very early on in the game we can ride a manta ray (which is so unbelievably fun!!!), another is rolling on top of a ball to reach the star at the end. The game also introduces certain 'suits' that Mario can wear to help you progress through the level such as the 'bee' suit. It's certainly the small things that make this game a pleasure and treat to play from five minutes to five hours.

I've only used the second player feature once and it won't be missed. It's much too pointless although it can be fun for a mere ten minutes...maybe less. The second player may stun enemies and collect star bits that the main player has missed. The only effectiveness I can pull out of this feature are the people are REALLY tired of looking at the game, and younger brothers and sisters who are aching for their turn.

THANK GOODNESS we have an orchestrated soundtrack! I cannot recollect any feeling of tedium towards the music. There are a very wide variety of old tunes, new tunes and they are all very appropriately assigned to each galaxy/ scene/ level. The soundtrack is beautiful and only makes me enjoy the game more so.

Should this game be a reason to buy a wii? I hear this a lot. I cannot think of anybody who will find this game tedious or boring or too hard. It has appeal to all. I recommend this game absolutely everyone! It is a joy, it's fun and it's Mario-- we all love that guy!

Submitted by mereshell 29/11/2007 4

Join MyWii to vote for your favourite story!

More Info:

Super Mario Galaxy

Other Reviews:

• heller Review 9/10 by heller
• jackoltene Review 9/10 by jackoltene
• brawlking Review 10/10 by brawlking
• mereshell Review 9/10 by mereshell
• Robtot Review 9.6/10 by Robtot

Related News:

• New Mario & Sonic At The Olympics Screens! 31 Oct 2007 13
• Mii and Dream Events Announced for Mario and Sonic At The Olympic Games 11 Oct 2007 6

Related Videos:

Related Guides:

• Preview: Super Mario Galaxy 19 Nov 2007 4

• 
  The Godfather: Blackhand Edition
• 
  De Blob
• 
  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• 
  Transformers: The Game