Wooo-hoooo!!! Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) Review
Posted on
Friday, March 14, 2008
by Gary A. Ballard
I am not a fan of the Mario Bros. series of games. Yes, I'm old enough to have played the original Donkey Kong in arcades when it was brand spanking new. I've played Super Mario on the original NES and Super Mario World on the Super NES. But I never really liked platform jumping games, probably because I suck so horribly at platform jumping. I always preferred the Sonic or Crash Bandicoot games over Mario if I wanted to indulge in that kind of gameplay, but only rarely and without any real zeal. When Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii came up in my queue, it was the kind of game I wanted to play if only to review it for this blog. What I found was an incredibly surprising game, the kind of innovative take on an old genre that is so fun, the game transcends its genre trappings.
Super Mario Galaxy is about something. There's a story involving Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser again, but really, the story is about as coherent as an acid trip. For this type of game, story is essentially a meaningless contextualizing of the natural imperative to finish the level. The game would be just as entertaining with or without the story. Like most of the other first-party Wii games, such as Metroid Prime: Corruption, or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, this game is really a puzzle game masquerading as a platform jumper. Mario is sent to different galaxies, most of which are mini-planetoids floating in space. Mario must find his way to unlock the planetoid, which will either allow him to move to another planetoid or rescue one of the Power Stars he is sent to collect. Getting the power star finishes the galaxy, or in the case of multi-star galaxies, it opens up another set of planetoids.
The planetoid designs are fantastic. Each is an almost perfectly-sized morsel of fun, with some inventive puzzles that challenging, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically. The game isn't a HARD game, per se, as its gameplay is simplistic enough for all ages. The motion-controls are used sparingly, so that the game doesn't really give much of a workout except on some rare planetoids. But it will make you think about how to navigate through the puzzles or beat the bosses. The game's level design and gameplay philosophy remind me of Valve's Portal because of how different from other games of its apparent genre it really is. Though I think Portal is a better game, mainly because its FPS genre trappings are more my style than platform jumping, Galaxy is still one of the best games I've played on the Wii.
Graphically, the game is gorgeous, proving once again that High-Definition graphics are not necessary to make a good game. Walking about on the planetoids isn't quite dizzying, but the way in which the topsy-turvy gravity of the planetoids is implemented makes the game much more immersive than a non-first-person game should be. The sound is also top-notch, though Mario's "Wooo-hoooo!" has always grated on my nerves. My one complaint about the game is that the Wii's nunchuk analog stick can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable over long periods of play, though that's hardly the game's fault.
Super Mario Galaxy is one of those "tons of fun in small, easily digestible chunks" games, and as such is as close to a must-buy game on the system as there can be. I would rate the game as a 9.2 out of 10, because it just really is that much fun. Though I didn't finish the game, it was only because of the release of a real baseball game on the Wii (MLB 2k8 which I will be reviewing). I plan on putting the game back in my queue at a later time to continue my star collection.
Super Mario Galaxy is about something. There's a story involving Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser again, but really, the story is about as coherent as an acid trip. For this type of game, story is essentially a meaningless contextualizing of the natural imperative to finish the level. The game would be just as entertaining with or without the story. Like most of the other first-party Wii games, such as Metroid Prime: Corruption, or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, this game is really a puzzle game masquerading as a platform jumper. Mario is sent to different galaxies, most of which are mini-planetoids floating in space. Mario must find his way to unlock the planetoid, which will either allow him to move to another planetoid or rescue one of the Power Stars he is sent to collect. Getting the power star finishes the galaxy, or in the case of multi-star galaxies, it opens up another set of planetoids.
The planetoid designs are fantastic. Each is an almost perfectly-sized morsel of fun, with some inventive puzzles that challenging, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically. The game isn't a HARD game, per se, as its gameplay is simplistic enough for all ages. The motion-controls are used sparingly, so that the game doesn't really give much of a workout except on some rare planetoids. But it will make you think about how to navigate through the puzzles or beat the bosses. The game's level design and gameplay philosophy remind me of Valve's Portal because of how different from other games of its apparent genre it really is. Though I think Portal is a better game, mainly because its FPS genre trappings are more my style than platform jumping, Galaxy is still one of the best games I've played on the Wii.
Graphically, the game is gorgeous, proving once again that High-Definition graphics are not necessary to make a good game. Walking about on the planetoids isn't quite dizzying, but the way in which the topsy-turvy gravity of the planetoids is implemented makes the game much more immersive than a non-first-person game should be. The sound is also top-notch, though Mario's "Wooo-hoooo!" has always grated on my nerves. My one complaint about the game is that the Wii's nunchuk analog stick can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable over long periods of play, though that's hardly the game's fault.
Super Mario Galaxy is one of those "tons of fun in small, easily digestible chunks" games, and as such is as close to a must-buy game on the system as there can be. I would rate the game as a 9.2 out of 10, because it just really is that much fun. Though I didn't finish the game, it was only because of the release of a real baseball game on the Wii (MLB 2k8 which I will be reviewing). I plan on putting the game back in my queue at a later time to continue my star collection.
Labels: Mario, Nintendo, Video Games, Wii
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 10:46 AM
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