Super Mario Galaxy
Story:
Mario is invited to the Star Festival by Princess Peach. As soon as he arrives, Bowser’s airships launch an attack on the Mushroom Kingdom and pull Peach’s castle right out of the ground. Mario hitches a ride as the castle is blasting off into the atmosphere, but is soon knocked into space by a Magikoopa. Waking up on a small planetoid, Mario meets a Luma and Rosalina, who promise to use their space station to help Mario search for Peach, but first Mario must help them repower the station with Power Stars stolen by Bowser…
Gameplay:
Super Mario Galaxy represents the evolution of the platforming genre. Most surfaces in the game now have their own gravity fields, allowing Mario to walk on the sides and bottom of platforms and planetoids without falling off, unless there is a black hole nearby. Mario can still perform his famous jumping attacks, but now he can also stun enemies by shooting Star Bits, small stars that can be collected on screen using the Wii remote. Collecting 50 Star Bits or the familiar Coins will give Mario an extra life. Star Bits can also be used to feed hungry Lumas, who will open up secret areas when full. Various star objects allow Mario to boost high in the sky, blast off to a new planetoid and slingshot from star to star to cross vast distances. Bee, Ghost, Fire and Ice power ups are available, giving Mario new abilities and weaknesses and allowing him to explore previously unreachable areas. Mario will also float in an air propelled bubble and ride a large marble through narrow obstacle courses.
The main hub of the game is Rosalina’s space station. The Space Station holds Observatories and Hungry Lumas that allow Mario to blast off to new Galaxies. Each Galaxy contains a certain number levels that each holds a Power Star. Some of these levels will involve boss battles, solving platforming puzzles, getting to the end of the level or finding a hidden path. Prankster comets will also randomly appear, providing different challenges depending on the comet, each with a Power Star reward. Unlocking new Galaxies requires gathering a certain number of Power Stars, and unlocking a new Observatory involves finding an Enemy Base Galaxy and defeating the boss.
Cons:
- Difficulty: The only real con of Super Mario Galaxy is the ease of the game. Seasoned gamers will not have much difficulty collecting all 120 Power Stars, and the game provides more than enough extra lives to make certain that there is enough chances to beat a level. This should still be considered an improvement over Super Mario Sunshine’s wildly varying difficulty, but it could have been harder.
Pros:
- Controls: At first it looks like the controls could be tricky with the addition of gravity, but it is surprisingly easy to get the hang of controlling Mario and using the Wii Remote. The marble can be a bit frustrating to control, but otherwise it controls very well.
- Camera: One of the biggest problems with 3D platformers has traditionally been the camera. While still not perfect, as the switching of viewpoints can cross a player up from time to time, Super Mario Galaxy’s camera comes as close as possible to an ideal camera.
- Variety: While somewhat easy, Super Mario Galaxy does provide a varied mix of mostly fun playing styles when it could have easily stopped at the core gameplay mechanics.
- Nostalgia: Fans of Super Mario Bros 3 will especially appreciate some of the nostalgic elements of Super Mario Galaxy.
Summary
Super Mario Galaxy does for Platforming what Super Mario 64 did for the same genre back in 1996. The basic formula has not only improved, but has evolved and still does the things that make Mario great. While easy, Super Mario Galaxy still provides a fun experience and some hope that maybe platformers are not dead yet.
Grade: B+
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