A Game of Galactic Proportions - Super Mario Galaxy

[metroidhunter777]

Super Mario Galaxy

I'll spare you the intro and go straight into the game, though I will say a few things first. Ok, I wasn't looking forward to this game the way some people were. I'll just say that. Second, I had no idea what to expect from it, I'd only seen videos from E3 and the like. Now on to the review.

Storyline - Typical Mario, Princess Peach is kidnaped by Bowser, as Mario you have to save her. You advance the story in nearly the same way as Super Mario 64: You get Power Stars, you open up more places to explore. Nothing new here. The only difference is that each level is a bunch of planets in space, note the name Super Mario Galaxy. Bowser is trying to create his own super universe and stuff, so you have to stop him. Storyline has never been a strong point in Mario games, and it's still sticking to the original in a way, so the story line gets 9/10.

Graphics - All you can say is wow. Everything looks beautiful. The art direction in the game was amazing; everything looks like Mario but is still as realistic as Mario can get. For the first time outside of cut scenes that I can remember, they also employed a hair texture, noticeable on the Queen Bee. The backgrounds are great, as well. When in the middle of space, the backgrounds make it look like you're actually flying across the moons of our solar system. The lighting effects are noticeable as well. 10/10 for graphics.

Music - This is the one part of Super Mario Galaxy that completely blew me away. It's completely orchestrated, something I would never expect in a MILLION YEARS to be in a Mario game. But I love it. The original compositions are excellent, they really give a full mood of the galaxy you're in. The remixes are even better. For example, they remixed the Super Mario Bros. 3 battleship theme with the full orchestra and it sounds simply spectacular. They also remixed the Super Mario 64 Bowser Level theme, and it had the same effect. Then for the Bowser battles they used VOCALISTS. Kudos to Koji Kondo and the Super Mario Galaxy Orchestra for an astounding job well done; in all seriousness, I give the music an 11/10.

Playability - Everything you'd expect from a 3-D Mario game is here; it's essentially everything from Super Mario 64 minus the punch and kick and plus a spin attack. The whole gravity changing effect is pretty cool, though it can get a bit trippy on the later stages. Everything was easy to control and reacted fine, and Mario did whatever it was I wanted him to do... besides swim. Swimming is really only frustrating on the small globes of water, where the camera is above Mario rather than behind him, making it hard to control. Otherwise, great. 9.5/10 for playability.

Amount of Fun - Super Mario Galaxy will easily keep you occupied for hours. The most pleasing part of the game for me was playing with the gravity. It just gives you that "WHOA THAT WAS SO AWESOME" feeling. 10/10 for fun.

Other Stuff - As a typical Nintendo game, few voice-overs, Peach's letter in the beginning of the game is the longest. The two-player ability is pretty cool; it makes the game much easier for the player controlling Mario. There were few memorable characters in the game, however. It's the typical length of a 3-D Mario game, as well, in two terms. At few hour intervals, it takes about 2 or 3 days to beat, and, in typical 3-D Mario fashion, you don't need to maximum amount of Power Stars to complete the game, then you can continue the game collecting the rest of the Stars, which massively improves replay value. No score for this section, really.

Overall - This game is the true successor to Super Mario 64; it re-invents 3-D game play in terms of innovation and has everything it needs to go along with it. Though it has its problems, as mentioned above, the pros of the game certainly outweigh the cons. My final score for Super Mario Galaxy is a 9.8; not quite perfect but pretty darn close. It's a game the everyone should play and everyone will enjoy. They will get an extra kick out of it if they enjoy music as much as I do.

[DSWiiMaster42]

Great review, and this is by far the best game on Wii.

[WiiGuy]

Best game on the wii so far :)

by playing galaxy i wonder how great Mario kart wii will be :O

[Allegretto]

Great review, and this is by far the best game on Wii.

It is a great game, and a very nice review, but i wouldent say its the best game for the wii, however thats a matter of opinion  ;D Mines TP just cuz i love legend of zelda

[SWORD21]

Pretty good review! I enjoy this game a lot.

[PXD]

Ohmigosh! Can it be? Am I actually getting back into the review-commenting business? Well, it appears I am ;p

I don't know if you ever read any of my comments thrown across the Reviews board back on NSider, but I used to have quite a hobby of doing it, and...well...why not do it here.

I'll spare you the intro and go straight into the game, though I will say a few things first. Ok, I wasn't looking forward to this game the way some people were. I'll just say that. Second, I had no idea what to expect from it, I'd only seen videos from E3 and the like. Now on to the review.

That first sentence seems quite...contradicting, in my opinion. Sparing me the intro, but saying a few things first. Hm...

Definitely avoid making it too personal with 'me', 'I', and such, because it could give your review quite the biased appearance (and nobody wants that, right?). Get creative with those words - I know (or I'm pretty sure) you have it in you.

Typical Mario, Princess Peach is kidnaped by Bowser, as Mario you have to save her. You advance the story in nearly the same way as Super Mario 64: You get Power Stars, you open up more places to explore.

A few of my personal suggestions - "Typical Mario game: Princess Peach is kidnapped by Bowser, and it's your job as Mario to save her. You advance through the story in nearly the same way as in Super Mario 64: The greater number of Power Stars you accumulare, the more locations you're able to explore."

Obviously you can mix up the words a bit, but that's up to you.

One other thing I see you didn't mention was about the actual storyline, where you're able to listen in on how Rosalina and the Lumas came to be (via Rosalina's storybook), or simply skip it and focus on completing the levels. In my memory, it's the first time the 'storyline' aspect of a Mario game was placed as something purely optional, and for that, it deserves a note of mention.

Nothing new here. As you said before, it's a typical Mario game. Must you rub it in twice!? Gosh! ;p

The only difference is that each level is a bunch of planets in space, note the name Super Mario Galaxy. "The main difference from past Mario RPGs is that each 'area' appears as a planet, with separate sections depending on which episode you select." (I think it's already clear enough by the name to not mention the Galaxy connection)

The art direction in the game was amazing; everything looks like Mario, but is still as realistic as Mario can get. "Everything looks like the average Mario game, but is still as realistic as the series can get."

For the first time outside of cut scenes that I can remember, they also employed a hair texture, noticeable on the Queen Bee. If it's ONLY noticeable on the Queen Bee, I can understand, but if there's other characters where it's evidently apparent, make sure to take note by adding a 'most' in there.

Also, the 'I' is fine to be used there. Just thought I'd let you know.

The backgrounds are great, as well. Is the comma truly necessary? Yep, my old nitpicky self.

It's completely orchestrated, something I would never expect in a MILLION YEARS to be in a Mario game. But I love it. Definitely find a way to combine those two sentences. I don't know...to me, it just doesn't look right ;p

Everything was easy to control and reacted fine, and Mario did whatever it was I wanted him to do... besides swim. It's nice to give a personal spin on the game like this, just so people can relate, but perhaps..."Everything is (fairly) easy to control and reacts fine - swimming is the only real problem." Something like that, I guess.

Amount of Fun - Super Mario Galaxy will easily keep you occupied for hours. The most pleasing part of the game for me was playing with the gravity. It just gives you that "WHOA THAT WAS SO AWESOME" feeling. 10/10 for fun.

You COULD try and expand this section a bit more. I try and keep all my sections about the same length, just to give out enough details.

As a typical Nintendo game, few voice-overs, Peach's letter in the beginning of the game is the longest. Most Nintendo games don't typically have voice-overs (though I guess that could be left up for debate, as I don't own everything Nintendo's ever created). Ah well.

"As a typical Nintendo game, you only get a few voice-overs - Peach's letter in the beginning of the game being the longest."

The two-player ability is pretty cool; it makes the game much easier for the player controlling Mario. "Super Mario Galaxy also offers a pretty cool two-player mode (one person controlling Mario and the other collecting Star Bits), which makes for an easier time for the person controlling Mario."

Though you didn't mention it in your review, make sure you define any foreign terms to those who don't have the game. An example I put above would be explaining what Star Bits are. Sure, not the end of the world, but it's nice to clue people in. Never assume, no matter how likely, that everyone has the game you're reviewing. At least one person who reads it typically doesn't.

There were few memorable characters in the game, however. It's the typical length of a 3-D Mario game, as well, in two terms. Wait wait wait! You jump from the two-player thing to memorable characters, and then the length? My my...

At few hour intervals, it takes about 2 or 3 days to beat, and, in typical 3-D Mario fashion, you don't need to maximum amount of Power Stars to complete the game, then you can continue the game collecting the rest of the Stars, which massively improves replay value. I really suggest another look at this long sentence.

"At a few hourly intervals, it takes about 2 or 3 days to beat, and in typical 3-D Mario fashion, you don't need every Power Star to beat the game. After you beat the game, you can always go back and collect the rest, and by doing so, it improves the replay value quite nicely."

No score for this section, really. Eh, you could at least say how good it is overall, if you're able to.

Overall - This game is the true successor to Super Mario 64; it re-invents 3-D game play in terms of innovation and has everything it needs to go along with it. Though it has its problems, as mentioned above, the pros of the game certainly outweigh the cons. My final score for Super Mario Galaxy is a 9.8 (BOLD the score! Add some emphasis!); not quite perfect but pretty dang close. It's a game the everyone will enjoy if they play it, and they might hopefully enjoy the music as much as I do.

Overall for YOUR review...I've seen worse.

:p

It's actually a pretty nice one, and I don't regret clicking on it and making my first attempt to get back into the commenting business. You went into details (not immensely deep, but not quite the shallow end of a pool either) and gave specific examples to support your own scores, and did a fairly nice job covering the game in general.

Who knows? I might keep a closer eye out for any more of your reviews in the future...

[Oren]

Great review, and this is by far the best game on Wii.

It is a great game, and a very nice review, but i wouldent say its the best game for the wii, however thats a matter of opinion  ;D Mines TP just cuz i love legend of zelda

HA so your that guy who sent that pm to my brother!!

any way your right SMG it the best wii game ever

[jnfs2014]

good review, but the Peach voice over is ilk.