Last night I sat down and with Super Mario Galaxy and gave it a bit of a play through and have also been playing it today. My initial impressions? Super Mario Galaxy is a much better game than Super Mario 64. Hands down. There, I said it. Even at this early stage I can say that much. If feels alot more fresh, alot more fun and lively than Super Mario 64 did. Super Mario Galaxy is just such a charming game and everything feels like it's part of this living, breathing world. The way the enemies bound around. The way the collosal bosses move in a way that makes them seem agitated at the mere sight of Mario. The way the Lumar's float around and squeal and the Toad's that are littered through out the galaxy, giving the feeling that Mario isn't alone and that he wasn't the only one shot in outer space and that he is part of a bigger picture. Everything in each galaxy comes together to make the entire game world feel alive and inhabited.This game is instantly accessible. From the second you access the first galaxy you'll be launching Mario from planetoid to planetoid, collecting star shards and working the game like you've played it before. Everything has a real sense of familiarity and it's a testament to how well Nintendo implemented the controls and designed the levels. I feel like I could hand the nunchuk and Wii remote to my mum and she could play this game and enjoy it - unlike Super Mario 64 where the mere sight of the N64 controller put my mum off of wanting to even try the game and my Mum had played every single Mario game up until his N64 outing.
The graphics are stunning. The thing about the graphics in this game, is that as good as they look I know the Wii could be pushed much harder. This isn't me knocking Galaxy's graphics. It's me saying that this game looks fantastic and that I think it's only scratching the surface in terms of what the Wii is capable of. Bloom lighting, specular shine, reflections, incredible draw distance. This game is one of the first titles on Wii to look as though it's running on a next gen system. Just as much if not more so than Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
Audio in games is something I really do take in and notice and Super Mario Galaxy shines in the audio department. The music in Galaxy is top notch. Easily one of my favourite Mario soundtracks so far. As is to be expected there are some classic Mario themes, but they are integrated and re-done in such a way that it gives it a complete new twista nd feeling. Where as past Mario games would have classic themes thrown into the mix in such a way that it felt like the piece was calling out "Hey! Listen to this funky new rendition of a classic theme!" In Galaxy it's alot more subtle. Super Mario Bros. fans will smile when they access the final section of the 'Pull star path' mission in the 'Space junk galaxy' and I know for a fact that Super Mario Bros. 3 fans will be grinning and giggling with complete joy when they hear the music in the 'Rolling green galaxy'. I know I was. It's the subtle touches to the audio that make it so amazing. In the 'Rolling green galaxy' the music will change pitch and pace dependant on how fast you move. When you blast off from a launch star, the harp melody that plays will go in time with the music and vary from stage to stage. And something I discovered last night as I was sat meddling on the galaxy select screen is that as you move the cursor over a galaxy a sound will play to inform you that a galaxy is highlighted. But if you keep moving the cursor over different galaxies the sound will change key and pitch in time to the background music. Little touches like this make the game all that more special. Try it and see what I mean. Once again you'll smile.
I've played little over an hour of Super Mario Galaxy and already I'm in complete love with the game. With each new galaxy I see, I'm wowed. Just when you think you've seen it all, the game goes and throws you something else to go nuts over. It just gets better and better the more you play. Nintendo truly out did themselves. Mixing old and new to make an amazing game and finishing it all off with an insane amount of polish. Super Mario galaxy game is everything Super Mario Sunshine wasn't - a decent game which is fun to play and accessible to all.
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5 comments:
Wait till you get to the freezeflame galaxy, the level where they mix the two together is so cool! Although the second level of that galaxy is SO frustrating!
But yeah, I've never said "Whoa this is crazy!" as much as I have with this game! Almost every level is so original, fresh, and nutty!
I knew you'd love this, but had to make sure... Soon be buying one myself.
Buy it NOW Gnome. The game is magical. That sounds corny, but it's true. Bloody magical.
Just gimme one more day... Oh, and I absolutely believe you mate...
so, do you still love it ??
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