Nintendo Okie

When you get your hands on the latest game in the main Mario series you know you’re going to be in for a treat.  2007 brought us one of the most spectacular games to ever have the Mario name on the cover.  It was the perfect mix of classic and contemporary.  It took Mario to a place no one ever thought possible and it did it in a brand new way.  Getting oriented on the first planet you set foot on took you a bit, but once you got the hang of things the ride never stopped from beginning to end.  Super Mario Galaxy 2 was met initially with mixed reactions, but it’s easy to say now that it takes everything from the first game and makes it better. 

Brilliant and Clever Levels

The first Mario Galaxy game was an oddity.  How was it going to work jumping from planet to planet?  It didn’t seem, at first, like that would make a very good game.  They showed, though, that it does work and not everything was a small planet.  Many times you were jumping around on vast expanses of land and it felt like a traditional Mario game.  Super Mario Galaxy 2 never gives you the feeling of not knowing where to go.  Nintendo has taken the planet concept and expanded it beyond anyone’s imagination.  So many of us as fans, and I think rightly so, were worried this would be more of the same and it would feel more like an expansion to Super Mario Galaxy.  That wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing, but immediately you know, this is not just more of the same.  The levels are far more expansive.  The planets are all very different from each other.  Sometimes you’re hopping from small planet to a slightly bigger planet, the next minute you’ll be free falling along what seems like a planet shaped like a toilet paper roll.  They use the level design and gravity together in ways that feel completely intuitive, but fresh and new. 

They’ve also done a very great thing with the camera and how it’s used.  You still have very limited control over the camera, much like you did in Super Mario Galaxy.  There were times in the first game that I would have liked to have a little bit more control over the camera because the angle felt slightly wrong.  Never once in this game did I wish the camera was in a different place.  If it was an odd spot where I needed to move it I could.  It never feels like it’s in the wrong spot though and I didn’t ever think twice about it while playing.

The other brilliant thing with this level design is the transitions from 2D to 3D.  Most of the game is played from a 3D perspective, but at many points throughout the game you’ll switch to a 2D plane and you won’t even realize it.  It still looks very much like every other part of the level but you’re only moving left and right or up and down.  It’s a flawless transition.  I noticed while playing that many of the water levels are done from this 2D perspective.  Water levels have always been a sticking point for many gamers.  They generally don’t work well in 3D.  Nintendo took that to heart and came up with some brilliant underwater levels all shown from a side view.  There are a few levels where you’re completely underwater and the use of a turtle shells takes away many of the arguments, but these are easily some of the best “wet” levels I’ve ever played.   

What’s Old is New

You’ll be greeted with a lot of familiar faces.  I almost called that the first boss would be Petey Piranha, like in the first game, and I was right, to an extent.  There are a number of times that you’ll go into a boss fight and you’ll know exactly how to defeat them, because you did it already in Super Mario Galaxy.  The problem is, the level has changed slightly, or you don’t have the same abilities you did the first time.  This creates a wonderful sense of familiarity while at the same time making for a completely different experience.  You’ll find moments littered throughout the entirety of your play through.

Bowser and Bowser Jr. are back as the main antagonists.  This time, Bowser’s taken a play from the New Super Mario Bros. Wii playbook and become huge.  He’s screen-fillingly large and because of it his boss fights feel completely new.  I won’t spoil them here, but I think you’ll find the fights with Bowser to be quite challenging, intense and completely awesome.

The Map is Your Friend

Probably the biggest change to the formula is how you move around to the different galaxies.  Gone is Rosalina’s observatory and in is a map reminiscent of Super Mario World or New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  Planet Mario is your new way to travel the galaxy.  It’s a large planet, shaped like Mario’s head and much like Rosalina’s observatory you have free roam of the place.  What’s new, though, is the feeling that this world actually means something more than just a long walk from one area to another.  Every time you gain new power ups or meet new friends in a galaxy that is brought back to Planet Mario.  You can then practice with these new power ups so that you’re more familiar with them, or friends will give you access to extra lives or areas filled with coins.  It makes the hub feel less barren and more like a place you might want to explore.  It’ll be worth your time.

It’s also much easier this time around to figure out exactly where you need to go and what stars you need to get.  There are two levels to the map; the Grand Map shows each of the game’s main worlds.  Point at a specific world and you’ll see every star you’ve earned, where missing stars are located and if you’ve completed that Galaxy.  It makes it very simple to figure out where you need to go to get a new challenge.  A white crown will show you when you’ve found everything there is to find in that galaxy.  Blank stars mean there is still more to do.  By clicking on a world you then are taken to the map showing all the galaxies in that world.  You can point to a galaxy and click.  Planet Mario will then travel immediately to that world, no need to travel yourself.  Another click and you’ll enter that galaxy menu and select which star you want to go after.  It’s very simple, easy and user friendly. 

It’s All About the PowerUps

The one thing the Mario franchise has been known for is the clever power ups that help Mario rescue the Princess.  Since the very beginning of the franchise and the fire flower you’ve had some way to enhance Mario to make the journey just a little bit easier.  That continued with Super Mario Bros. 3, arguably the game with the most memorable suits for the portly plumber.  The favorites from Super Mario Galaxy are back; the Bee Suit, the Ice Flower, the Fire Flower, the Star, and the Spring.  There are also some new items to help Mario along the way.  The Cloud Suit allows you to create platforms to gain access to unreachable areas.  A quick flick of the Wii Remote will place a puffy white cloud below you.  Just like with the Bee Suit you must have this suit on or your new platforms disappear under your weight.  The Rock Suit encases Mario inside a giant boulder allowing you to bowl over enemies or break down obstacles.  The puzzles that involve these new suits are quite clever.  You’ll have to destroy things to uncover star chips.  It never ceases to amaze me how creative the development team can be bringing new ideas to the table. 

It’s Simple, Yet Difficult

Nintendo has said time and time again that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be more challenging than its predecessor and they were right.  Veteran platformers will find the main areas of the game and the main star challenges somewhat easy, but that doesn’t mean that the game isn’t hard.  The prankster comets will do their best to challenge your skills and your patience.  I can say, I hated Purple Coin challenges in the first game and that hasn’t changed here.  These things are tough.  In some challenges multiple Shadow Mario’s will travel along the same path you have previously and if you run into one you lose a bit of health.  It makes knowing the path you want to take essential to completing the challenge.  Other challenges like the Iron Man challenge, where you fight a boss with only one health point, are also back. 

The more challenging levels are set off from the main path by way of branches in the map.  Most of the game can be played without branching off too much, but to get the full experience you’ll have to find all the branching paths and complete the more difficult levels.  The game is more accessible to new players through a couple of different options.  The first is a hint TV on some levels.  These will show you how to perform tasks that some newer players may find a bit difficult to do.  I will admit to using the hint TV once, because I couldn’t figure out how to blow up a hole in a level to drop down to the next part.  The other is the return of the Super Guide.  This time though, since Luigi is a playable character you’ll see a shadow version of Rosalina in the level who will show you how to finish the level.  If you use this feature to complete the level you will still get the star, but it will be bronze rather than gold. 

Old Friends – Yoshi & Luigi

That’s all you really need to know.  In the first game you unlocked Luigi after finding all 121 stars.  Now he’ll be wandering around the galaxy and will be waiting at the start of numerous levels.  He’s helping you in your quest to recover all the power stars and if he’s waiting there you have the option to take control of Luigi for a level.  He’s not available on every level, but he’s in enough that Luigi fans won’t be kept waiting long.  He also feels just different enough from Mario to make the game interesting.  His jump feels a little higher and he takes just a split second longer to stop than his brother does.  As a huge fan of Luigi I’m glad he has more of a role early on in this game. 

Yoshi is also back.  Like in New Super Mario Bros. Wii you’ll be able to take advantage of his skills in a number of levels.  Controlling him feels great as well.  There were some issues that people had with his previous 3D role, but those seem to be gone here.  I never had any problem getting him to go where I needed him.  Using the pointer to control his tongue gives him almost a bit of a shooter feel.  He also has new abilities.  These fruits that you can pick up allow you to run very quickly up walls and over water, swell up like a balloon to float to very high ledges and light up hidden pathways.  They feel like a very natural extension of the different colored shells from Super Mario World and really make Yoshi stand out as more than just something Mario rides on. 

Conclusion

I never completed all 242 stars in the original.  There were many points that I just felt that it was too frustrating to go on.  I have never once felt that in this game.  While it’s more difficult at spots it just feels great to be in this world.  Super Mario Galaxy is one of the games everyone says is a must have for any Wii owner.  Some people feel justified in owning a Wii for that game alone.  Super Mario Galaxy 2 is better in just about every conceivable way from the previous game.  The new power ups feel fresh and new.  Luigi is unlocked almost from the beginning.  Yoshi is back, playable and awesome.  What could have been a simple rehash of Super Mario Galaxy has easily taken on a life of its own.  It feels brand new, while being very familiar to anyone who’s played a Mario Game.  Don’t wait any longer than you have to to own this title.  You owe it to yourself to play this game. 

Final Score: 5/5 Excellent

Collected 79 stars so far. 70 are required to complete the main story.
Total Play Time: 13 Hours (Up to this point.  Many more to come.)
Review copy of the game provided by Golin Harris / Nintendo.