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To the stars and beyond!
Console: Nintendo Wii |
When I did my review of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, I made it clear that it a review on the collection itself, not an in-depth review of each game in the collection. Well, with said collection now delisted by Nintendo I finally got a review on one of the games in the collection ready. Timing!
Let's dive in.
The
Mushroom Kingdom is celebrating the star festival, a special festival in honour
of a comet that passes the planet. Mario, invited by Princess Peach, is on his
way to the festival when (naturally) Bowser attacks. Using airships and a giant
UFO, Bowser rips the Castle out of the ground and flies into space with it.
Mario goes into pursuit but is left adrift in space. The star-like creature
that Princess Peach was holing, a Luma, swoops in last minute and saves Mario.
Eventually, Mario comes across the mysterious Rosalina and her star ship, the
Comet Observatory. The Observatory is capable of flying through space and catch
up with Bowser at the centre of the Universe, but only if Mario brings back the
Power Stars that Bowser stole. Thus, Mario sets off on a journey across the
Universe to reclaim the Power Stars, restore power to Rosalina's Observatory,
stop Bowser and save Princess Peach.
The story
of Galaxy is the typical Mario story. Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario sets of the
save her. While it's nothing fancy, Galaxy does do a few things that makes it
stand out. The entire atmosphere, the UFO the castle flying into space, leads
to a very distinct and dare I say epic atmosphere. Then there's Rosalina's
storybook. At certain points throughout the adventure, you unlock more chapters
in the storybook that Rosalina reads to the Luma. It's a bed-time story that
chronicles Rosalina's past and it’s just lovely. If there was a physical book
of that bed-time story, I would buy it.
Let's get
to the real meat of the game now, shall we? Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D
platformer in which you run and jump across all kinds of terrain and platformes
while stomping on enemies and collecting collectables. What makes Galaxy stand
out is the gravity mechanic. Each object in a galaxy has its own gravitational
force, allowing Mario to completely circumnavigate each planet. You can walk
upside down, sideways and jump from one free-floating object to another. While
such anti-gravity mechanics can become very confusing for the player, it never
does in Galaxy. It's a wonderfully implemented mechanic that is very easy for
the player to understand and works hand in hand with the level design, which
I'll get into later.
As this is
a Wii game, Galaxy includes some light motion controls. Light in that, outside
from certain mini-games, you really only need them for two things. New in
Mario's moveset is a spin, performed when shaking the Wii remote. This spin
allows Mario to hit and stun enemies, increase his air-time and reach new
heights. While Mario's spin was triggered a few times when I didn't intend it,
overall, it works out rather well. The flick motion is not at all complicated
which makes the ever-useful spin easy to perform. The controls in Super Mario
Galaxy are implemented very well. It's what you can expect from a Nintendo
game. Tight, easy to grasp and intuitive when it needs to be. The only real
complaints I can throw at it is that I do feel they are a bit too stiff and my
arms did grow tired during long play sessions.
Flying across a galaxy, you can really get a good sense of the scope of each level as well as how beautifully they are built up. |
This same
flicking motion for the spin is also used to activate the power-ups. Super
Mario Galaxy has only a handful of power-ups, including Bee Mario and the Fire
Flower. The power-ups are a bit of a let-down. They are once again very
situational and don't appear often. There are entire galaxies where power-ups
are nowhere in sight. They are also on a rather strict timer this time around,
restricting their use even more. Even the fire flower, Mario's oldest and most
versatile power-up, suffers from these problems. I wouldn't say the power-ups
in the game are outright bad, but they do leave something to be desired.
The game
also makes use of the Wii remote's pointer. Mario Galaxy introduces a new type
of collectable to the game, one that you can find in practically every nook and
cranny. Star bits. While running about or while being launched to a new
planetoid, you can collect these star bits by using the pointer. What's the
point in collecting so many all of these star bits? Well, for starters, you can
shoot star bits at enemies to stun them or certain spot in the world for a coin
to refill your heart meter. More importantly, star bits can be fed to hungry
Luma's. Scattered throughout certain galaxies and the comet observatory are
Lumas that request you to feed them a certain amount of star bits. When done
so, these Luma will then unlock either a new section of or just an entirely new
galaxy for you to explore.
There are
six different star systems aka worlds in total, each with around 5 different
galaxies aka levels for you to explore. These different star systems are all
accessible through the Observatory, the game's hub world. There are six
different domes in the Observatory which each lead to one of the star systems.
There are also, as stated earlier, Luma's floating about as well as a bunch of
Toad, Rosalina etc. The observatory is a decently sized hub world. There might
not be that much for you to do in it, but it serves its purpose and is pleasant
to walk around in.
The
galaxies themselves are absolutely stunning. They are all very well designed,
with multiple levels twists and turns. The anti-gravity mechanic means that, on
paper, every single surface of the world can be walked upon and explored. In
one moment, you're running around a giant beehive. In the next, you're walking
upside down on a giant robot in outer space. The variety in the levels is
large, so there's almost always something new to find.
Aside from
the standard levels you have boss fights and mini-games and also comet levels.
The mini-games are just OK. They require much more heavy use of the Wii's
motion controls making them much less responsive, even troublesome at times.
Luckily, these mini-games don't come around often and after a little practice,
you'll be able to finish them and nap those stars.
Grab those 120 power-stars if you want to unlock Galaxy's completion bonus! |
The boss
fights are much better, if a little inconsistent. What I mean by inconsistent
is not the quality of the fights but their appearance rate. They are sometimes
the last star in a Galaxy, other times they are the first and then they are
times they get a Galaxy all to their own. Small nit-pick, I know, but one that
did stick out to me.
The last
method in which the game brings some variety to its levels are the comets. A
comet can randomly come into the orbit of a galaxy, altering how a level plays.
A comet, depending on the colour, can either give the level a strict time
limit, amongst others. While irregular, the comets add a nice bit of 'spice' to
a level.
Conclusion
Super Mario
Galaxy is an amazing game. From the game design to the graphics, to the
soundtrack. It's all top-notch and on the level that you would expect from the
big N. Super Mario Galaxy is a game that'll give you an experience that you
won't be able to quite find anywhere else. (except for its sequel, that is).
All in all, a game that's worth a place in your collection.
If you're
playing the game on the Switch, you'll mostly get the same experience. The
game's graphic got updated to HD, the motion controls are handled by the
joy-cons and you can now spin by pressing the Y-button as well. When in
handheld mode, the game does require you to make use of the touchscreen, which
is a bit cumbersome. By no means a deal-breaker though. All in all both
versions are equally good and worth playing.
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