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REVIEW: Super Mario Galaxy

Developed and published by Nintendo for Wii.

One of the most recognizable characters in all of gaming history adds another notch to his belt with his latest Wii platform adventure. Super Mario Galaxy is an incredibly rich and fun game that will not disappoint.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the short plumber ever since I bought my own Game Boy in high school. That’s right. While I tried Mario Brothers on the Commodore 64, and played Super Mario Brothers on the NES, I didn’t really play any Mario game in earnest until I had my very own Super Mario Land cartridge.

Since then, I’ve been hooked.

Super Mario Galaxy does not disappoint from any perspective. Taking advantage of the Wii’s full medley of hardware, the game is a feast for all of the senses (well, except taste and smell, unless you put some sugar or cologne on the disc). You can tell the bar for production value was set high. Even though the character designs are streamlined, there is still an incredible amount of detail present in both them and the worlds you will be playing on.

That’s right. Worlds.

Super Mario Galaxy makes a risky departure from the rest of the series by sending Mario hurtling through the stars. Various “Galaxies” actually house the levels (planetoids) that much of the game takes place on. This strategy allows for a wide variety of worlds to explore.

The story begins with Mario making his way to Princess Peach’s castle. A party is going on in celebration of a comet that passes only once every hundred years and the land is abuzz with excitement.

A meteor storm showers the land with multi-coloured stars (that you can pick up by running into them or pointing your Wii-Mote at them: a blue star cursor is your cross-hair). Suddenly, everything goes wrong as Bowser attacks, using a UFO to literally carve the land around the royal palace, pulling both the Princess and her home into the sky.

Mario tries to rescue her, but fails, and is sent hurtling through the universe and into unconsciousness. He wakes up in a strange place and is given the low-down by a new character (Rosalina) and her little Lumas (star-like creatures) about what has happened. Mario then begins his quest.

The graphics for the game are tight. As I mentioned before, the characters are very detailed. The animation is smooth and the imagery is crisp. There are no slowdowns that I could see, and skipped frames isn’t even an issue here. Not even when there are tonnes of events happening on screen. Being fully three-dimensional, the level designs look great and the special effects are incredible.

The sound is also well done. Presented in Dolby II, the audio effects have great placement, with familiar (and sometimes not-so-familiar) Mario-esque tunes pumping in the background. Trust me when I say the title screen will grab your attention when it comes to sound.

Super Mario Galaxy takes full advantage of both the Wii remote and the nunchuck to deliver the most innovative controls for any Mario platformer. Even from the get-go, you are given several new abilities. I won’t give away any spoilers here, but one of the main movements involves you shaking the remote (or nunchuck), which has both combat and non-combat applications. Amazing!

I am not lying, nor am I exaggerating, when I say that Super Mario Galaxy is my favourite platform game of all time (so far).

There’s so much to see and do in the game, not to mention unlock. Like all Mario games, the new power-ups are, if you’ll forgive the pun, out of this world. Bee Mario? Awesome! In addition to these new power-ups and play mechanics, secrets and hilarious moments keep the entertainment level high for as long as you are playing.

Like every other Mario game I’ve played, you can bet that I’ll be going through it again to uncover hidden secrets that I missed the first time through. Given some things that I’ve read about the game, I’ve probably missed a lot!

Do yourself a favour. Make sure you own this game for the Wii. You will thank Nintendo for making such a great game, and one that’s worthy of being a Mario title.

Posted in Mario, Nintendo, Reviews, Wii |