There is little debate that Mario, also known as Mr. Video Game, is one of the most recognizable video game characters ever made. Ever since Mario's conception, his games have helped carry Nintendo to popularity in the video-gaming industry, and 25 years later, "Super Mario Galaxy" is the latest installment in the popular franchise.
At a press conference, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime called it "the first true successor to 'Super Mario 64,'" and it shows. "Super Mario Galaxy" is a classic Mario game and an epic adventure that by itself is reason enough to own a Nintendo Wii.
The game starts as the Mushroom Kingdom is celebrating a centennial event when a comet passes overhead and rains stardust onto the kingdom. Bowser interrupts the celebration by using a fleet of flying ships to airlift Princess Peach's castle into outer space - with the damsel in distress inside. Mario must pursue his archrival to space and not only rescue Peach, but also stop Bowser's latest diabolical scheme.
Mario meets Princess Rosalina, his helper on his quest. From her star observatory, the game opens wide for the player to travel across the universe. "Super Mario Galaxy" requires the player to collect stars, which make their first return to the series since "Super Mario 64." The more stars he finds, the more galaxies he can access.
The greatest trait of "Super Mario Galaxy" is the controls, which are exhilaratingly simple and a joy to use. Gamers move Mario using the nunchuck, and his main attack is a spin accomplished by twisting the Wii remote. Mario can double and triple jump, make long jumps, flip backward and kick off from walls. Players can also use the Wii remote to fire star bits at enemies and obstacles by pointing it at the screen. The controls are extremely easy to master and are never a hassle.
In his quest to save Peach, Mario explores a huge universe and has a variety of power-ups at his disposal. Mario can travel to more than 42 galaxies with a myriad of different themes, including deserts, volcanic planets, masses of space junk, chains of asteroids and metallic space fortresses, to name just a few. The super mushroom, fire flower and invincible star now make their first appearances in a 3-D Mario game, and new power-ups present themselves including one suit that turns Mario into a bee and another suit that turns him into ice. Old obstacles have also returned because the bottomless pits from side-scrolling Mario adventures make their first appearance. They appear as black holes, and if Mario falls into them, the player loses a life.
The early trailers of "Super Mario Galaxy" indicated that Mario could travel across small, spherical planets. While this may sound dizzying, the camera angles and controls work like a dream, and being able to move up walls and across small planets and asteroids adds refreshing flexibility to the game. The camera angle never grows frustrating, as simply tapping the C button will restore default position behind Mario.
Mario's explorations are in some of the most beautiful environments on the Wii. Planets look gorgeous even from a long distance, and elements, such as falling stars and rolling rocks, look amazing. Our mustached plumber is crisply redesigned for the Wii, and moments where he catapults to new planets and soars through the air surrounded by star bits are some of the most amazing moments in graphic history. The sound is completely orchestrated and a joy to listen to, and there are also remixed tracks from the classic Super Mario Bros. games that are perfectly in sync with the environments.
"Super Mario Galaxy" also has incredible replay value. Mario needs to collect 60 stars to reach the final confrontation with Bowser, but there are more than 120 to collect. Some stars can be reached with special challenges, including racing to collect stars under a time limit or requiring Mario to race a shadowy clone of himself to the star. Star bits can also be used to unlock secret galaxies. In addition, collecting 120 stars unlocks a secret character, and collecting 120 stars with this character unlocks the final 121st star. This massive bevy of content makes sure that even experienced Mario players will spend at least 25 hours collecting the required 60 stars to face Bowser, and more than twice as much time, should the player decide to collect every star in the game.
After delays and heightened anticipation, "Super Mario Galaxy" has finally arrived, and it has proven to be more than a successor to "Super Mario 64." The game not only raises the standard of games on the Wii, but also raises the bar for third-person platform games for all consoles of this generation. If there was ever a must-play platform game, this is it.
