N+ Review: Super Mario Galaxy
By Joel Luther. Thursday, 22. November 2007, 19:56:05
Super Mario Galaxy is the latest Mario platformer to be released, and it is gathering critical acclaim from many sources. It's Mario's first outing on Wii, and things are a bit different this time around. Read on to see our thoughts.
Mario games have never been known for their story. Anyone care to take a guess on what happens in Galaxy? You got it: Princess gets kidnapped, Mario saves princess. There is, however, a major difference in this game and other Mario platformers: it takes place in outer space. Here's a brief run-down of the story: every one hundred years, a comet passes by the Mushroom Kingdom. The game begins during this event, at the Star Festival. The Toads are outside celebrating when Mario's long-time nemesis, Bowser, arrives and crashes the party. Because Mario is unable to reach Peach in time, Bowser rips her castle up from the ground - with Peach still inside. He takes her captive and Mario takes it upon himself to travel into space and rescue her. Mario soon meets a princess named Rosalina and her many Lumas, star-like creatures whose destiny is to transform into other objects. Mario must retrieve power stars to power up Rosalina's star ship and travel to the center of the universe to rescue Peach. Not the most believable story, I know, but it's a video game. There is a sort of background story, with more chapters becoming available as you play through the game. I found them to be very interesting, but of course not everyone will, and Nintendo has included the option to skip them altogether.
Galaxy has been criticized for being too short. I find that to not be the case at all. Rosalina's starship serves as the center of the game, from where you'll be traveling to six different domes to reach over forty different galaxies, each with up to seven stars to obtain. You can beat the game with 60 stars, but you will want to strive for 120 to get the super mega awesome unlockable at the end, which I won't spoil here. Secret stars are scattered throughout the game, requiring a keen eye and sharp gameplay abilities. The game also features several comets, which can be annoying and fun at the same time. I'm sure many of you have attempted a speed run through a game? The Speedy Comet actually give you a reason to speed run through a level - beating it within a certain time limit gets you another star. There's also a Cosmic Comet, in which you'll face off head to head in a race to the finish against Cosmic Mario, and the Daredevil Comet, in which you'll be forced to play through a segment of a level with only one health unit.
Let's go ahead and get the graphics business out of the way. At E3 2005, Satoru Iwata assured consumers that: "When you turn on Revolution and see the graphics, you will say 'wow!'" While this quickly became an Internet meme, I had yet to say wow - until playing Galaxy. This game looks amazing on Wii. Galaxy is the first title that really pushes Wii to the limits and shows off the power of its graphics processor. Not only is the art amazing, the effects combine with that to really make this game look like a dream. You'll think you're playing a game on the 360 or PS3. Heads up to third party developers: this is how Wii should look. No excuses now.
The game controls like a traditional Mario platformer: move around with the nunchuk, jump with A, etc. Shaking the Wii remote allows Mario to perform a spin, which helps both to attack enemies and to reach high ledges. IR control is limited, but it works extremely well when used. Throughout the game, you'll be using the on-screen pointer to collect Star Bits, which eventually serve as the game's currency. Feeding them to star-like creatures called Lumas unlock new galaxies and planets. In one of the later galaxies, you'll be using the pointer to sweep off snow from a planet.
Certain stages will place Mario on top of a sting ray in a suspended tube of water, with the goal being to reach the end. In these stages (there are two), you hold the remote face up pointing away from your body. Turning the remote from side to side allows Mario to turn, and pushing A speeds him up. These controls work extremely well, and make me long for a Wave Race Wii. Other stages will find Mario standing on top of a rolling ball. In these stages, you hold the remote vertically and tilt it in the direction you want to go, with the ultimate goal of reaching the end and obtaining the star inside the ball. Again, these controls are near perfect.
Another change in Galaxy is that the player only has three units of health, compared to eight in previous games, which adds to the challenge. To make up for this, the developers placed more 1-up mushrooms throughout the game, balancing out the health issue. You'll die more often, but you'll have many more lives to make up for it.
Mario Galaxy is the first Mario game to feature a fully orchestrated soundtrack. It works. Amazingly. This is the best music in any Mario game, and some of it is remixed from the days of 8-bit Mario. Throughout the entire game you'll be longing for Nintendo to release an OST. There's my plead: Nintendo, release an OST.
If you're not convinced to buy Galaxy yet, let me run you through the power-ups in the game. THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT POWER-UPS. You'll first find yourself using Bee Mario, which transforms Mario into a bee and lets him buzz around and stick to honeycombs. There's also Boo Mario, which allows you to fly and go through walls, Ice Mario, which allows you to turn water to ice and in turn walk on water, Fire Mario, which lets you shoot fireballs at enemies and light torches, Spring Mario, which lets you bounce to reach high places, and Flying Mario, which allows you to fly around the Observatory. Sadly, Flying Mario is not used in any levels and is completely wasted.
Galaxy is very addictive. Once you start playing, you won't want to put down the controllers. I tried at least ten consecutive times to obtain one of the later stars, and you'll end up doing the same.
WiiConnect24 support is extremely limited, but it is there. You are able to take snapshots of your stats (stars, coins, etc.) and send them to friends.
My biggest gripe with Sunshine was the horrible camera. My biggest gripe with Galaxy? The horrible camera. It's definitely not as big of an issue as it was in Sunshine, but it is unfortunately still an issue. There are parts where you want be able to see your character at all, which is really annoying. This problem is very limited and does not occur often, so I won't be deducting points for it.
If you are prone to motion sickness while playing games you might want to be careful while playing Galaxy. I never get any ill effects when playing games, but I had a headache the entire time I was playing Galaxy. The gravity and effects might just be too much for some people.
It is extremely difficult to write a review of Galaxy without saying one thing. Galaxy is not just the best game of the year. It is not just the best game on Wii. It is not just the best Mario platformer ever. Super Mario Galaxy is, without a doubt, the best game I have ever played. If you own a Wii, you must buy a game. If you don't own a Wii, buy one, then buy this game. It's that good.
N+ Summary
Game: Super Mario Galaxy
Developed by: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1-2 (Co-op)
Release Date: November 1, 2007 (JP) November 12, 2007 (US) November 16, 2007 (EU) November 29, 2007 (AUS)
Rating: ESRB: E (Everyone), PEGI: 3+
Supports WFC: Yes
Video available: N+ Video Vault
N+ Points
N+ Amazing visuals; easily the best on Wii
N+ Fun gameplay
N+ Addictive
N+ Wii motion controls work great
N+ Huge game: over 40 different galaxies with 120 stars
N- Points
N- Poor camera in certain areas
N- Gravity may make you queasy
JudgmeN+: 10.0
(41%)
WIDGETIZE
Ace Jon # 22. November 2007, 21:28
Also, "you'll be forced to play through the entire level with only one health unit" - that's wrong. Daredevil comet just makes you play through the single part of a level, like the boss.
DrLaunch # 22. November 2007, 21:35
Joel Luther # 22. November 2007, 21:40
drlaunch: Yeah, or you can buy it at Play-Asia.
MK # 22. November 2007, 21:53
Anton # 22. November 2007, 22:50
Pikachu Electron # 22. November 2007, 22:53
Ace Jon # 22. November 2007, 22:59
Also, my name's not John.
Anton # 23. November 2007, 07:28
Also sorry for the joHn thing, super common name in the US.
Ace Jon # 23. November 2007, 11:38
lol
Haavard # 23. November 2007, 15:03
.ed # 23. November 2007, 17:46
i read japan had under 250,000 the first day.. thats crazy low
it IS selling extremely well now in the US though, i think it has lasting power to sell very well for 6-9 months before it tapers off. sinceit's a mario game it will never really have 'poor' sales
Joel Luther # 23. November 2007, 18:18
From the press release:
http://press.nintendo.com/object?id=14094
.ed # 23. November 2007, 19:16
Joel Luther # 23. November 2007, 19:22
http://press.nintendo.com/object?id=9887
Haavard # 27. November 2007, 09:36
"Don't believe the hype: Super Mario Galaxy is not that great"
I know, I know. Giving them attention is exactly what they want. But the review just doesn't make sense.
Pikachu Electron # 27. November 2007, 22:55
That review in that link is Comedy Gold