Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Episode Transcript
It's time for the "Super Mario Galaxy!" review (wahoo!), for the Wii.

Super Mario Galaxy was the first REAL Mario game for the Wii. First, actually, was Mario Party 8... eh, but that doesn't really count.

You start out as Mario heading toward Princess Peach's castle. When he arrives, Bowser flies down in his... flying pirate ships?... hm, and kidnaps Princess Peach, again. I know you've probably heard others say this before, but I can (indistinct) as well. You'd think Peach would hire a bodyguard, or take karate lessons, or even just carry a gun arround with her. Well... okay, not a gun; it's an E For Everyone game, but still? Why does Bowser even care about Peach? Is she, like, the only girl he's ever seen? He's got Kammy Koopa.

(A scene from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door: Bowser is talking in his battle in the Palace Of Shadow. Scene on the left: Gwar har har har har har! What's a finale without a Bowser appearance, huh? Scene on the right: A cruddy finale, that's what!)

Gross... (Back to the game)

And where the hell did Bowser get all his resources to build his flying ships of doom? How did he even know how to BUILD them? Ugh, I need to lay down.

(Crickets chirp as the screen goes dark. When it gets light again...)

Okay, back to the game. Bowser somehow summons a spaceship, which extracts Princess Peach's castle right up from the ground. As Bowser escapes to outer space with Peach, Mario gets launched into the sea of stars as well, and ends up on a strange little planet, where he meets the lucious Rosalina. Mario must be really dedicated to Peach, 'cause if I was him, I think I'd just stick with Rosalina.

Rosalina's ship is stuck out in the middle of nowhere (kinda like where I live, hmm), and most of the power is out. She tells him that in order to save your special one, you will have to help her by powering up her space station. To do this, you will have to out to different planets and find the (dramatic voice) Grand Stars.

Here's where the game gets fun. The planets are not just boring spheres of mass, but small, wacky, minion- infested globs of mass. Rosalina's background, if you care to look it up, is in a book, which pretty much tells you about how she got to where she is today. It's actually (starts crying) a pretty depressing story (sniffle, stops), but I won't go into it for those who haven't played it yet.

Once you complete all the planets in a galaxy, you will then move on to a different... galaxy... in the same solar system...? Hmm... whatever, until you reach the boss galaxy, and once you defeat the boss, you will then recieve your (dramatic voice) Grand Star (plays the scene when Mario gets the Grand Star from Megaleg, normal voice) which will power up Rosalina's ship, and light up different areas of the ship, in which there are different galaxies you can complete.

There are also upgrades that Mario can acquire. There's the Bee Suit, which will allow Mario to hover for a bit, the Fire Flower, which will let Mario launch fireballs at enemies and objects, the Ice Flower, which will turn Mario completely into ice and lets him walk on water, a Boo Suit, which will turn Mario into a Boo which then he can pass through gates and bars, a Spring Suit (it doesn't really control the best, but it's a suit),it can launch Mario high up into the air, the Invincibility Star, called the Rainbow Star, which, well duh, makes you invincible for a bit, and the best but least placed suit in the game, the Red Star. This awesome Star will let you fly freely anywhere for a while. Least placed means it is only available in the most bogus areas in the game, so you will rarely get to use this great Star.

As you run through each level, you will encounter tons of Star Bits. Lumas, which are the floating stars that help you through your quest, will eat them. If you can feed them enough Star Bits, they will usually turn into a warp or sling star, which can launch you onto a different path.

The controls are great. To control Mario, you move him around with the joystick on the Nunchuck, and press A to jump with the Wiimote. To spin, which in the air is more like a double jump, quickly jerk the Wiimote. That's basically it, and also, you can point the Wiimote to the screen to pick up Star Bits. This can come in handy when you can't get to them easilly. It's also nice when you have someone with you as they too can point their own Wiimote at the screen to pick up Star Bits for you. Hooray for teamwork!

The camera is ALMOST perfect. There were just a handful of levels where the camera was evil, and made me die frequently. There was one part of one level in particular where there was ALMOST no depth perception. I died AT LEAST 20 times, because of the bad camera angle. But 98% of the time throughout the game, the camera was great.

The graphics are breathtaking, even for the Wii. The game still has that cartoony look to it, but Nintendo went all out to make it look stunning. And the music score is beautiful. (the audio from the game is turned up so we can hear it; the BGM for Good Egg Galaxy can be heard. After a few seconds of this...) This game truly is a work of art.

There are 120 Stars in the game, and if you can capture them all, you'll get a special prize! Actually, I felt like Super Mario Sunshine lasted longer than Galaxy, even though Sunshine also had 120 Stars, or Sprites as they are called.

Closing Verdict
This game is amazing, and I was actually skeptical about playing it in the begining. I say this because of all the crazy gravity changes around you,the camera could have been your worst enemy. But fortunately, Nintendo does not let this happen. I think they realized that Mario is their mascot, and when you create games that promote your company through your mascot, you want those games to be great. Hmm..

"Super Mario Galaxy!" (sorry, I had to do that) is a fantastic game. It's easy to pick up and play for beginners, yet challenging for Mario veterans. I would definitely recomend this game to anyone. This game is great fun, challenging, and has that certain Mario charm that we all love.

This game gets a 4.5 with the title of EPIC!!!

Other Game Information
Developer: Nintendo (Nintendo EAD)

Publisher: Nintendo

More Reviews
Back To Season 1

Previous Review: Sonic And The Secret Rings (Wii)

Next Review: Sonic Unleashed (Wii)