GoNintendo "End of day" thoughts - Super Mario Galaxy review

I don’t know what the hell is up with Japan and Galaxy. I understand that motion sickness may be an issue, but is it really the reason for such low sales? Japan continually disappoints me with their console sales. They are quickly turning into a portable-driven country. To see Mario embraced so well on the DS while being shunned on the Wii is ridiculous. I really hope that Europe and North America don’t follow the same trend. I’ll catch you guys in a few hours, have a great morning!

I am going to be perfectly honest with you guys. I haven’t beaten Super Mario Galaxy yet. I actually could go and beat the game this very minute, considering I have more than enough stars to go for the final confrontation. I have chosen not to though. I am making it a point to go through and collect every single star possible before I head for the end of the game. That said, I can no doubt review the game through my current amount of play. The way I’ve been playing actually speaks volumes about the game. When it came to Super Mario 64 as well as Sunshine, I got the minimum amount of stars/shines needed to finish the game. As soon as I hit that limit, I went after Bowser and took him out. When it comes to Galaxy, I want to do everything I can before I approach the final showdown. To put it simply, I never want this game to end. I know it is going to have to at some point, but I will delay that inevitability for as long as possible. Super Mario Galaxy is a universe that I really don’t want to leave. The entire Mario series has been one of my favorite parts of gaming as a whole. Galaxy adds to that fine tradition, but it also shows just how much more can be done with the series. I never felt that Mario was becoming “old hat”, but now the bar has been risen to astronomical levels. The chubby little plumber has truly outdone himself this time.

Poor Mario, he never really gets a break. In his last adventure (Sunshine), he was on his way to a vacation hotspot only to be arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. From there on out he had to find the true culprit of these heinous acts, and save Peach at the same time. When it comes to Galaxy, Mario is just trying to enjoy an annual festival in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the beginning of the game, Mario is running around, arms wide-spread, and bursting with joy. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen the guy this happy. Too bad that only lasts for a few minutes though. Someone had to rain on this parade, and who better than Bowser? The king of the koopas shows up with an airship armada, ready to crash a party and leave with a parting gift. Not satisfied with just kidnapping the princess, Bowser decides to go after the entire castle. Luckily Mario hears the cries of Peach. He manages to make it onto the front steps of the castle just as it is lifted into space. The only problem is, the equally evil Kamek was ready and waiting for the plumber’s approach. With the wave of his wand, Kamek knocks Mario unconscious and blasts him into space. After awhile, Mario awakens on a strange planet to find a bunny staring him down. If he thought things were strange now, just wait until he truly starts his adventure.

I don’t know that there are really any other series of games that offer a pure “fun” element. We get a lot of enjoyment out of various games, but Mario titles seem to have that special something. They represent video games at their most basic level. The goal Mario games set out to accomplish is to put the biggest smile possible on a gamer’s face. You aren’t going to find Zelda-sized stories, or Metroid-style battles, but you will get pure, unadulterated enjoyment. Too many games today focus on tons of elements, and they usually miss the point with most of them. Mario games bring us back to the days when games were simpler, but equally, if not more engaging. There are tons of platformer homages and imitators out there, but none of them provide an experience like Mario does. Super Mario Galaxy goes a very long way to show you that games today have lost that element of whimsy…that feeling of fun. Not only that, but it accomplishes this better than any Mario game released since the NES days.

Super Mario Galaxy’s theme allows for the developers to simply run wild with their ideas. It’s almost as if the creative team was allowed a blank sheet of paper, and they could fill it with any ideas they had. Really, anything goes in Super Mario Galaxy. There really isn’t anything that ties the gameplay to a specific theme or location. Galaxies range from your typical 3d Mario level to a tube of twisting, turning water that freely hangs in the air. Previous Mario games would stick you in a specific location, and goals would have to relate to the area you were in. With Galaxy, each location isn’t flooded with objectives to accomplish. The developers created a world, added in objects that they felt fit, and then moved on to a new idea. This design choice has really opened up the floodgates when it comes to ideas. We know that the teams put together to work on Mario games are already brilliant, but when you give them free reign of level designs and ideas, the sky isn’t even the limit.

This wide variety of levels could have been the major selling point of the game alone. Just giving the player so much to do in so many locations is not something we often see. In all honesty, we really didn’t even see this in previous Mario titles either. All Mario games would put you in themed locations, such as grassy hills, caves, castles, and more. While Galaxy features locations like this, you won’t become uninterested while playing through them. That’s because they are only a small part of the big picture. The Galaxy theme opens up the world to all sorts of level construction ideas that we haven’t seen. Take for example the Sweet Sweet Galaxy. This is one area in the game that was shown to the public fairly early on. The level somewhat resembles the land of chocolate from The Simpsons. This confectionery dreamland offers some hardcore platforming action. There are no design rules that have to be adhered to. You can see that the dev team realizes that the best part of Sunshine were the challenge levels. It was these “stray from the norm” activities that really inspired Galaxy. The final result is nothing short of stunning.

That right there could have been enough to warrant Galaxy some great scores. The game doesn’t stop there though. While the level design choice is pretty revolutionary for both the series and platformers in general, there’s a bigger part of the gameplay that blows it away. The notion of gravity isn’t really one that we often see in platforming titles. There have been a couple games over the years that have toyed with the idea, but it is usually nothing more than a simply switch of the north and south polarities. Super Mario Galaxy truly takes advantage of the space setting, and it may have been the single jump point for the entire idea of the game. We know that Miyamoto has wanted to try the idea of spherical worlds for a long time now. This space setting allows him the freedom to play with that idea, all while explaining it to the player. Without the knowledge of gravity and push/pull, the gameplay in Galaxy could have very well been confusing. Instead, by tying it to a real world situation, Galaxy drives home it’s major gameplay element with ease. Through this one element, Super Mario Galaxy has truly revolutionized the entire idea of the 3d platformer.

Opening up the idea of gravity in a 3d platformer has to be a truly daunting task. I can only imagine how difficult it was to create this game. This is an idea that was pretty much uncharted territory when it comes to platformers. Hell, it’s even extremely new to gaming in general. If there is one bit of knowledge that any gamer has, it comes from a platformer. 99.9% of the time, if you jump off a platform with nothing below you, you will die. Super Mario Galaxy takes that idea and throws it out the window. To challenge something like that…to dare change gaming rules for not one level, but an entire game…that is pretty brazen. By doing this, the fundamentals of gaming are changed. This one change opens an entirely new world of gameplay to the player. We are met with something truly unique…something brand new. It gives us that feeling that we haven’t had in years. Most of us know how games work by now. We play new titles, but they mash mechanics from various genres. You can pick up a game and pretty much know what to expect from it. Galaxy forces us to learn something new, and not for one portion of the game. This newly learned skill will effect absolutely everything you do in the game.

I cannot tell you the pure amount of joy I experienced the very first time I got to mess around with the gravity in Galaxy. The idea is so fresh; it really is something that hasn’t been explored to this extent before. The intro planet became more than a training facility, it became my playground. I ran all across the first world, jumping over chasms and houses. Jumps don’t give you the simple up and down that you expect, you really float along with them. The gravity gives you a true sense of weight and momentum. To see Mario glide through the air is a fantastic thing. To run to the “end of a world” and jump around to the other side still blows my mind. I’ve been spending hours just jumping from platform to platform, seeing how I can manipulate the pull of gravity. These are things that haven’t been accomplished in previous Mario games, or in much of gaming prior. Platforming has been around for a long time (at least in gaming years). To reinvent the way we think and play a platformer is a staggering feat.

When you take the design choices of galaxies and gravity and combine them, you’re met with something truly amazing. Every level becomes a playground in multiple ways. Exploration opens up more than ever before due to the pull of gravity. The locations you visit offer new types of platforming challenges, as well as themes that we haven’t seen yet. The combination of both offers up experiences that I haven’t even gotten from any other game. We know that Nintendo truly tries to innovate with each entry in their popular franchises. Sometimes the public doesn’t take to these changes so well (Sunshine). Then there are times where Nintendo absolutely blows your mind with how much innovation they can squeeze into one of their classic franchises. Mario always gave me a platforming fix that no other game could match. Now Galaxy has given me a level of gameplay that no other Mario title can match.

There is even a return to more classic elements from the series. This Mario title is filled with more fan service than any other. You see enemies that you haven’t seen in years, nods to classic entries in the long-running franchise, and a return to more varied power-ups. New Super Mario Bros. definitely disappointed when it came to power-ups. Super Mario Galaxy makes you feel like you are playing with a power-up the entire way through…and that’s just due to gravity. On top of that, you get to experience new mushrooms such as the Boo mushroom, Bee mushroom, and others that I won’t ruin for you. The abilities that these items give you are just as fresh as the rest of the game. We have had numerous ways to fly in Mario games of the past, but Bee Mario gives us a new way of looking at things. Boo Mario may match the flying patters of previous games, but his ability to go invisible opens up some ideas as well. The only problem is that you’ll wish you had access to these poewr-ups more often. That’s really not a complaint though, considering you’ll want more of the entire game in general.

Galaxy even features unique Wiimote controls that don’t feel shoehorned in. Mario has the new ability to do a spin attack, much like Crash Bandicoot. This spin doesn’t just kill enemies, it actually gives you different results than other attacks. While you can jump on some enemies, a spin move will take them out. On the other hand, if you spin into a Goomba, the little guy will get knocked on his head. The spin move opens up new ways to approach enemies, and all will produce interesting results. Pulling off the spin move couldn’t be simpler. All it takes is a quick wiggle of the Wiimote. While Wiimote wiggling isn’t new, it’s not often that you feel that it truly adds to the game. This little wiggle feels right for the move Mario is doing, and helps to add into the engaging gameplay.

While the spin will be used often and is always fun, it’s the pointer functionality that truly stands out. You’ll be using the Wiimote to point at your screen while you play. Your cursor is represented by a small star. You’ll be using this star to collect star bits, something that is actually pretty integral to the game. Star bits are scattered throughout every single level in the game. These are needed in order to open up new challenges along the way. All you have to do is point at the star bits and your pointer will collect them for you. It doesn’t matter how far you are from these star bits, the pointer will grab them for you and steer them in your direction. While you’ll need these bits as a form of currency, you can also use them to attack your enemies. By pulling the B trigger you can fire off a star bit in the direction of your pointer. This can be used to stun enemies in order to take them out a bit easier. The combination of running and jumping while shooting at enemies feels extremely intuitive. You can always use this ability to help you out when you are in a crunch. There is such a rhythmic element to shooting and jumping, it will make you feel very accomplished while you’re pulling it off. Wiimote controls that add to a game and enhance your experience…more developers should take note of that.

I haven’t even scratched the surface of what you can do in Galaxy. There is a two player mode that includes another Wiimote. There are challenges in the game that have you revisiting galaxies to replay a level, but with a new twist. There is another side-story that helps to explain just what is going on in the game. There are boss battles that will blow you away. There is picture hunting that will have you looking for specific locations in galaxies. There is so much more to the game that I really cannot get into. You need to experience these things for yourself. I hate having to do reviews for games like this. There is so much to talk about, but I don’t want to ruin the experience. Trust me, the stuff I’ve mentioned above is just as good if not better than I made it out to be. I don’t want to take anything away from that smile you’ll have plastered across your face from start to finish.

Super Mario Galaxy manages to push the Wii hardware to new levels as well. This is without a doubt the best looking game on the Wii. The game has an extremely smooth look to it. There is an almost Pixar quality to the entire game. While the detail isn’t nearly as high as a Pixar title, the various screenshots should give you a good idea of what I mean. There is no getting around it, this game would not have been possible on the GameCube. There are so many graphical elements pulled off that you’ll be surprised at what the Wii can do. Mario has never looked better. This is the benchmark for the Wii. We need third parties to study Super Mario Galaxy and learn how these visuals were accomplished. If every game on the Wii matched the visual clarity of Galaxy, I don’t think you would hear anyone complaining about graphics. We have heard over and over that the Wii is a pretty powerful system for its size. Galaxy makes you realize this statement. If this is what a GameCube 1.5 can do, count me in.

While the graphics of SMG blow away the competition, the soundtrack outdoes any other project Nintendo has done. That’s right, I am saying that SMG has the best soundtrack of any Nintendo game every produced. This is what we need from Nintendo titles. We know that Nintendo absolutely loves to stick with their midi soundtracks. I don’t have anything agaisnt them, but I always yearned for more in the way of fully orchestrated pieces. While orchestrated music was promised for Twilight Princess, that never happened. Nintendo made good on that promise for Super Mario Galaxy. You’ll have a mix of midi tunes and orchestral pieces. The results is something that brought me to tears within the first 15 minutes of the game. Playing a Mario game with such an epic soundtrack is not something I could have ever imagined. I truly expected my only experience with orchestral Mario music would come from Video Games Live. Koji Kondo and his team have taken full advantage of the situation. Galaxy contains some of the best music the series has had in years. There are a ton of new tracks, as well as a collection of updated classics. This game absolutely deserves to win for soundtrack of the year. If a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack doesn’t get released, it will be a full-on tragedy. Nintendo has never produced finer audio work.

Super Mario Galaxy is what you should be doing right now. Any moment of free time you have should be spent playing Galaxy. You need to experience this game, there’s no two ways about it. This is a humongous step for Mario titles, and an equally important step for gaming in general. This game deserves every moment of your time, and is the number one reason to own a Wii. A classic character has received an amazing makeover…and that’s saying a lot for a character that has a fantastic catalog of previous games. Galaxy is the perfect marriage of graphics, gameplay, music, and fun factor. You will not have as much fun with any other game that comes out this year, or for years to come most likely. If you don’t have this game, go out and get it. If you don’t have a Wii, here is your reason. Mario is a name that has commanded respect from the gaming industry for years. With his first Wii outing, Mario has shown why he deserves to be so close to our gaming hearts and memories. A truly outstanding example of what the game industry is capable of pulling off.