Mario Galaxy - 7/10
This is not a typical review. We've all heard about the graphics, the story and generally how good this game is. I'd like to focus on some issues that, in my mind, should have been addressed but weren't.
1. The Overworld.
I don't like the Observatory. It's a horridly small place with very little to do in it. Remember Mario 64? The castle hosted the other worlds, but the castle itself had secret stars, platforming elements and you always felt such a sense of reward when draining the moat’s water. The same can be said for Mario Sunshine. The hub there was stunning. Secret tunnels, shines and new areas were just begging to be found.
So what happened with Mario Galaxy? Why are we treated with only a handful of round, ‘this is my house’-decorated rooms, all of which serve only as gateways to other areas? The first time in the Garden I was ecstatic – finally an area that could be hiding something that wasn’t clearly a Galaxy! But no – it was background. Another circular room.
Did anyone else also expect to find a hidden star or two upon using the Red Star or was that just me? I could potentially rephrase this point as…
2. It was unashamedly linear for a Mario game.
This ties in nicely with the above. With new areas simply being ‘discovered’ and promptly accessed with pads, where was the sense that you actually deserved to progress? I’m thinking ‘shifting sand lands’ from 64 and the general “whoa, a new area opened up, I’d better explore everything in it” feeling that didn’t spoon feed you the location of the worlds. But it wasn’t just limited to the overworld.
Remember each time you went into a 'Galaxy' and it would show you pretty much exactly what you had to do to get the star in question? Fine, give us a hint. Some people aren't used to 3D and would prefer a nudge in the right direction. But why are some parts of level either cut-off or heavily modified to make it impossible to access other stars? Why, for example, in the honey hive galaxy, did the waterfall have a grating up behind it during certain stars? Where did that launch star from last time go? It seemed to me the emphasis was firmly on “collect these stars” rather than “go and explore”.
I’m not talking about people you need to race not being present (though it wouldn’t have hurt if they were somehow incorporated) but why are only very few (one or two) stars available for collection at any one point? Ahhh, tick-tock-clock, that water level with the level of water that rose and fell, that underground level with the REALLY hidden star, how I miss you all!
I guess my main problem is: Lots of small worlds linked together do not a large world make*.
Which brings me nicely to…
3. It's too darn easy.
I had the sense throughout playing that 120 stars was as many as Nintendo were willing to put in to only just satisfy people. Go on, think about that – you can name places where another comet or hidden star could have been. (Or some red coins before facing Bowser…)
Again, thinking back to Mario 64. Bowser’s levels, remember? Getting progressively longer and HARDER? You know, like “Man this is hard, but also very entertaining” hard?
I can think of two points in the game where I died more than twice trying to get stars. Namely the Daredevil comet with the rock-hand-boss-thing and the purple coins on the luigi-shaped platforms. But even then, the second was a matter of “oh, I didn’t realise I didn’t have to get ALL of them” which, after said aloud, allowed me to get the star immediately. (Oh, and those challenge levels. Yeah okay, they bordered on difficult.)
Similarly, there sure weren’t any 100 coins stars. I really missed this. Coins are about more than health and high scores, dammit!
Lastly, some people might argue that if the worlds were larger, the gravity effect would not have been used/noticeable. I disagree. I don’t mean ‘larger’ to mean ‘bigger’, but ‘grander’. There were groups of spheres, but travelling between them was about progressing, rather than exploring. Where was the galaxy with 10 spheres, all within sling-star or gravity-changing distance that allowed free movement between them all? Or even 3 large spheres that perhaps required some sort of trading or re-alignment of puzzle pieces amongst other stars that were all potentially accessible from the get-go?
Instead, Mario shot from one sphere or plane to the next, skipping those coins and discouraging thorough examination because you knew the game wouldn’t lead you astray.
And so, for being a tad easy, a tad linear and a tad boring, Mario Galaxy loses 3 points.
Congratulations! You got a Grand Total! 7/10
Submitted by Anony
12/05/2008
158
5
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