The bosses more than make up for those minor issues. Not only are they challenging, they’re well designed. Bowser has hair that flows in the wind. The battles are incredible. Winning the fights involves countering an attack pattern. The artificial intelligence is not epic, but it still presents a fun challenge.
The graphics are impressive. Super Mario Galaxy is quite colorful, but Hardcore gamers might find some issues. The game is not about high polygon counts, so you can spot lines on rounded edges. Anti-Aliasing is also an issue, as objects have visually jagged edges. If you’re looking for a game to test the limits of your High Definition television, this isn’t it. Regardless, Super Mario Galaxy is easily one of the best looking Wii games. It’s also astonishing to remember how far the Mario series has grown. Super Mario Galaxy has a nostalgic look, but it’s also clean and modern. Mario ages well!
The music is nothing to ignore either. It sets the mood perfectly, as the music may change with your actions. Jump into the water and you’ll hear a slightly modified melody. If you find yourself having trouble with a boss, try muting the sound. The background music can be so powerful that it might make you anxious. Don’t let the music throw off your timing. Just relax and enjoy. Super Mario Galaxy is delight to the ears.
The sound effects are equally impressive, with the exception of voice acting. The limited dialog reminds me of the old Nintendo 64 carts. Voice acting was often dropped to save space. But since space isn’t as restrictive on the Wii, why did Nintendo skimp out on speech for the characters? This limitation creates a nostalgic feel, but I think the game could have benefited from complete voice overs. This is especially true with Rosalina’s storybook.
I don’t want to ruin it for you, but the storybook is awesome! The in-game illustrations are incredibly artistic and Rosalina’s story is surprising moving. I didn’t expect such a sad and touching story in a Mario game.
You can see lots of familiar faces in Super Mario Galaxy, like Mario’s brother Luigi. In this game Luigi starts off as fairly wimpy, but he gets worse. Luigi also plays the part of Nintendo’s email spammer. I was surprised to discover that Super Mario Galaxy uses the Wii Message Board. After playing the game for hours, I turned off my Wii. Instantaneously, the blue Slot Indicator light went on. I was tired, but I fired up the Wii to find out what was going on. It was a message from “Mailtoad” to find Luigi. He gets himself into a lot of trouble. I don’t like how Luigi was presented as the lesser sibling. In Super Mario Bros. 2, he was awesome.
Super Mario Galaxy is a fairly easy game, but it’s also pretty long. Some levels you could beat in less than two minutes, others could take hours. Sometimes I struggle to figure out how to win. I found the game to be challenging but rarely frustrating. I was really enjoying myself. That’s the way it should be. I play games as a form of relaxation. After playing Super Mario Galaxy, life seemed more fun and I felt younger.
It’s pretty much a no-brainer. While there are some minor issues with Super Mario Galaxy, it’s pretty close to perfect. This latest version brings honor to the Mario franchise. It’s clearly one of the hottest games of this holiday season. I’m glad that I got my copy.
I’m glad to see somebody else point out the limited ability to change camera angles and look around. I really enjoyed that aspect of the previous two Mario titles. I like checking out the scenery from different angles, and feeling like you had the freedom to go anywhere you could figure out a way to get to. In Mario Galaxy, you feel like you’re being channeled into a chosen path. (This can also be a plus, since it simplifies game play.)
I wonder if anybody could come up with a “Game Shark” code to enable a camera angle change anywhere you wanted? Would it see some things that were not complete (like the back of a Hollywood set)? Would it let you see behind some polygons (like you could with first person view in the other Marios)?
I completley agree with your remarks on Rosalina’s storybook. She’s grown to be one of my favorite characters Nintendo has ever created, and I happen to be sewing her dress for myself.