Super Mario Galaxy - A Review

After reading so many positive reviews on the Nintendo Wii's long awaited Super Mario Galaxy game. I couldn't wait to get my hand on it. I was able to demo it at my local Wal-Mart’s Nintendo Wii Kiosk, but nothing beats the real thing.

A friend of mine got a tip that some Best Buy stores were selling them early so we headed to the nearest Best Buy store. Unfortunately, that store didn't have any for sale, but persistence prevailed. We headed out to two more Best Buys and finally scored a copy, a whole week before the official release date. We played the game all afternoon and were impressed to say the least. So impressed that I felt the need to write a Super Mario Galaxy review of my own.

First and foremost, I must say that Super Mario Galaxy is an absolute blast and is one of the most ingenious, lovingly crafted, and beautiful games I have ever played.

Super Mario Galaxy begins with Mario receiving a letter from Princess Peach inviting him to the castle for the Star Festival.  Of course, Mario accepts the invitation and when he arrives, Princess Peach, the Toads, and the entire Mushroom Kingdom are celebrating the arrival of a giant comet that flies over the Kingdom.  This is a very rare event and is something that happens only once every 100 years. 

Mario's rescue mission begins at the Comet Observatory space station, where creatures known as Lumas require star energy to power their planet so Mario can reach Bowser. The observatory acts as a hub world from which Mario can travel to different levels (galaxies). Each galaxy has its own unique features and several challenges. Completing each challenge earns you a star. Earning more stars unlocks more galaxies, so on and so forth, until you've caught up to King Koopa.

Pieces of the comet start to break loose and turn into hundreds of multicolored shooting stars called Star Bits which fill the sky and crash into the ground.  The Star Festival is going great and everyone is enjoying themselves until Bowser, Mario's arch enemy crashes the party.  Bowser launches a full scale attack on Mushroom Kingdom and snatches the princess and the entire castle using an UFO.  Because of this, Mario has to travel to different galaxies in order to track down and save the princess.

Along the way, specialty suits and items allow Mario to transform into several different personas. The bee suit transforms Mario into a bumble bee, that allows him to fly through the Honeycomb stage, where he can collect coins and stars. The boo suit, allows Mario to become a ghostly menace called Boo, and helps him to enter ghostly portals in the haunted house level that he couldn't normally enter. There are also a few classic Super Mario items such as a flame-throwing Mario, the ice flower, which allows Mario to freeze his enemies, and the usual invincible Mario.

Also, the gravitational effects are awesome.  In some of the galaxies, you can actually step off what at first glance looks like a deadly ledge and surprisingly wind up all upside down on the other side of the galaxy!  The gravity effect is one of the coolest features of this game.  You really have to play the game to feel this effect. 

The graphics in this game are excellent and are absolutely breathtaking. The backgrounds and characters feature bright beautiful color and definition which is pretty and vibrant. The characters are also pretty large so you get a real sense of the scale. None of my other Wii games look this good on the screen.

Super Mario Galaxy features some awesome, powerful music and features fully orchestrated pieces. A total of 28 pieces of music in the game are fully orchestrated.    I found the music to be jolly, catchy, uplifting, and really fitting for Mario.  I enjoyed the music so much that I would definitely purchase the soundtrack for my MP3 player if Nintendo offered it for sale.  That's how good it is!

In order to play the game, you need to use both the Wii-mote controller and the nunchuk attachment.  The joystick on the nunchuk is used to move Mario and the "A" button on the Wii-mote which makes Mario jump.  Make Mario run by holding the B Trigger, and crouch (andstart a long jump) with the Z Button on the nunchuk. Flicking the Wii-mote back and forth allows Mario to do a spin attack, which is also necessary to activate star cannons and other modes of transport around the different levels.

The game also features a co-op mode.  At any point during the game, a second person with a remote can hop in. The Co-Op mode in Galaxy was created with the intention of allowing players to help each other, not compete or lose track of each other.  That second person doesn'tactually control a character.  They really just control a cursor, to help you collect star bits, which will help you along your quest, and defeat tougher foes like a giant octopus in the lava, and even giant goombas that are beyond the heights of the world.  This player can pick up collectible items, and can also freeze enemies or projectiles in their tracks.

After playing Super Mario Galaxy, I must say that I'm impressed.  Although my collection of Wii games is still pretty small, I can honestly say that Galaxy is so far the most impressive game I've played on the Wii.  The graphics are very appealing and excellent.  The gameplay is simply amazing, addictive and just plain fun.  In my opinion, it is a definite must buy for the Wii that is sure to please die hard Mario fans of all ages.