As you can tell by this review, I love this game. There are a few niggles though. Occasionally the planets, can be bloody annoying and very unforgiving, with some ninja reactions required. Secondly, it’s on the Wii. I know its a Wii game, but I do wish Nintendo would make a more powerful console as the mind boggles about how pretty Super Mario Galaxy 2 would be like on either the PS3 or the Xbox 360. As I’ve mentioned before, Super Mario Galaxy 2 does look good but it’s not anywhere near as stunning as say Uncharted 2: Among Thieves or Gears of War 2.

In summary, this is a great game. Go buy it!

Screenshots:

“Which game character do you identify yourself with most/least and why?”

I didn’t participate – given the choice, I play western RPGs so I’m basically identifying with myself. Kinda cheating, no?

Silvercube is Luigi. Sorta.

“While I don’t really identify with him on a character level, I do like Italian food.”

Terence himself reckons he’s Gabriel Knight:

“Gabriel Knight may be a sexy adventurer, but he’s also bookish.”

(haha, out-of-context quote FTW!)

Pioneer Project also prefers self-made characters:

“…the characters that I have created, these are the personas I can identify with best as through time and emotional toil I’ve had a hand in their making. They share my personality entirely rather than me attempting to bash mine into a predefined character.”

While I think the above comment is a little harsh – I’ve never felt that I need to bash my own character into a predefined persona – I do agree with her later sentiment around the generic male persona. It does break the immersion when other characters refer to me as “he” and playing the Hulk SMASH! role can get pretty tedious.

You can tell that Aim For The Head is a zombie-lover just from the blog title, and it comes through in the choice of characters, too:

“Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2… …because the game is light on cut scenes and outside the quips and banter the characters are player or AI controlled and not just standing around, these games have given me a group of friends to survive the zombie apocalypse with. And through them and their banter, I care about them.”

Keith on Extra Guy loves Sonic the Hedgehog:

“If it wasn’t for Sonic’s love of chili dogs on the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon I would have never tried them because as a kid they looked like “yucky hotdogs with poo on them”.”

Next Jen is (yet) another female RPG-er who struggles to identify with game characters. I think I’m spotting a theme here:

“There’s not many characters from the video game world that I can relate to. Sure, there are characters that I like but those that I can relate and identify myself with, not so much.”

And finally, Cat from Carocat likes so many characters that he just couldn’t decide:

“Alistair, Carth, Garrus, HK-47, Mira [not a BioWare, but an Obsidian character], Mission, Morrigan and Tali are just some of them I’ve fallen in love with over the years.”

Come to think of it, years and years ago I did identify with Grace Nakimura from the Gabriel Knight series. She was smart, snarky, did her research, didn’t take crap from Gabriel and IIRC, had to save his ass on several occasions. I really liked Lara Croft too, until they gave her a bunch of annoying male sidekicks that she needed to talk her through every little puzzle.

Thinking back on it, my university room-mate when I played GK3 once accused me of being just like Gabriel Knight. “No wonder you like that game. He says exactly the same things you do. You’re both so sarcastic,” she said. Yeah, that’s me. I’m a 6-foot blonde hunky Schattenjäger that eats werewolves for breakfast. Didn’t you know?

This post was not exactly part of Gamer Banter, a monthly video game discussion coordinated by Terry at Game Couch. If you’re interested in taking part, please email him for details.

Age rating:

3+ (PEGI)

What is it?

A Mario game – 3D-platformer.

Is it fun?

Yes.

Is it worth the money? £32.99

Yes.

Why?

I’ve always been rather indifferent when it comes to Mario games until I played Super Mario 64, which was brilliant. Unfortunately the GameCube’s Mario extravaganza (Super Mario Sunshine) was well, total poo to be honest. However, I’m pleased to say that Super Mario Galaxy tops even the great Mario 64 for sheer enjoyment. I can’t even complain of the total lack of imagination shown by Nintendo when it churns out the same games for each generation of Nintendo console when this incarnation of Mario is just so much fun.

The graphics look great (by Wii standards) and complement the game wonderfully. Sure there are some iffy looking textures and a few jaggies, but I didn’t care as the whole game is amazing. The sound is a perfect mix of chirpyness and classic Mario sounds and themes. It also has a brilliant, brilliant music track for the Battlerock galaxy that I challenge anyone to play this galaxy and not have a giant smile on their face.

I loved the whole playfulness of Mario’s new galaxy environment. Flying, flipping, gliding, jumping and catapulting between all the planets on each of the levels is just awesome. The attention to detail that the designers have lavished on every planet, however small, is a joy to behold. I loved the way that seemingly simple puzzles were brought to life by splitting them over lots of mini planets and great use of the Wii controller. This is probably the first game after Wii Sports where the control method just feels right. From rolling around on top a giant ball, to flying through the air as a little bumble bee, the Wiimote and nunchuk make controlling Mario something to be enjoyed.

Bad points. Well, swimming underwater takes a bit of getting used to. The camera has a habit of choosing the worst time to change its viewpoint, which usually happens when you’re negotiating a really nasty sequence of platforms.

It took me just over 14 hours to get to the end of the game and finally beat Bowser, but that still leaves me with another 55 power stars to collect. Then I will have finally completed the game. So Lord knows how long that’s going to take with some fiendish and very dexterous puzzles lying in wait.

In summary:

A wonderful game in every way. Mario is the easily the best game on the Wii.

Screenshots: