The Mario franchise is one which has been running for almost 30 years, and it has seen many an incarnation, ranging from the days of 8 bit to full 3D. Although the graphics and mechanics of the game have changed over and over, the core gameplay has remained. However, that being said, the goomba-smashing and fireball-shooting ways of the series can grow old. Fortunately, the latest game in the series, Super Mario Galaxy, is here to break that mold, and introduce a new style of gameplay which will be the new standard of Mario games for years to come.
 
The story of Super Mario Galaxy is a pretty forward one, and one which is no far shot from the usual in the Mario universe. Princess Peach has invited you, Mario, to a party at her castle- only to be disrupted by Bowser when he cuts her castle out of the ground using his giant ship, carries her off, leaving you the dutiful task of rescuing her. Unfortunately, to make matters even worse, Bowser’s reign of terror extends past his kidnapping of the Princess, into terrorizing the entire Galaxy. You, Mario, must take on the dutiful task of saving Princess Peach and saving the entire universe from the evil clutches of King Bowser. 

The gameplay of Super Mario Galaxy is comparable to that of the original games, but with one key difference- instead of exploring one game world at a time, it’s almost as if you’re trekking across many different types of landscapes all in one setting, and you do this by entering different “Galaxies” which are viewable from the Observatory in the main game hub.

The Galaxies themselves posses different mini-planets. You travel to these different planets by different means, such as being shot out by a Warp Star, using the gravitational pull, or by hopping on debris. Each of these little planets is unique, they all look different and have a different purpose and feel. Some might just be big chunks of rock, others might be floating gardens with little castles, or perhaps a little grassy ball with a cottage. Whatever the planet looks like, it will be beautiful, enjoyable, and interesting romp.But the planets themselves aren’t the only mechanic of the game that is new and interesting. One of the defining aspects of the game is the gravity. Part of the way that you traverse various landscapes is by manipulating the gravity to left yourself up onto other platforms, or even to send yourself flying down to the ground.

Beyond the basic platforming elements of the game, the main objective of every level is to find the Power Star after defeating the big, nasty, and unfortunately overly-easy boss of the area. You will usually platform your way across planets, debris, and shifting panels, blasting baddies with fireballs or crushing them with your size 10’s, until you reach the big boss at the end and win yourself a Power Star.

The game is fun, and has a lot of content within its gameplay. However, with all of this fun comes a price: difficulty. The game is incredibly simplistic, very easy, and will not pose almost any challenge to an experienced player, which seriously cuts down on the value of playing the game, let alone playing it a second time through.
 
The game has an incredible sound track with great sound effects. The score was composed by Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo. Everything is grand and epic, and really gives you sense of adventure and intrigue no matter what world you’re playing in.

When it comes to sound effects, everything is absolutely great. Whether it’s the juicy pop of a Goomba under your boots or the whimsical sprinkling of star bits falling around you, everything is very well recorded and evokes a lot.
 
One of the high points of the game is, in any one’s book, the graphics. One of the biggest criticisms of the Wii console is its apparent lack of high definition graphics. However, I can honestly tell you that the graphics in Super Mario Galaxy are not just some of the best on the Wii system, but some of the best to be found on any console. In this game, you will not find the gritty realism of a game like Gears of War, or the insanely complex shading of a game like Crysis, but what you will find is a game that is unsurpassed in pure smoothness, fluency, and attention to detail. Everything has this glowing halo cast around it, which gives it a bright and cheery look, and prevents jags.

The textures of the game are no less impressive, as they are incredibly smooth and well defined. Bricks, grass, rock, cloth, almost everything in the game has extremely good texture work, much like that of what you would find on games of other consoles, like Banjo and Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.

Although the graphics are some of the most beautiful around, and are very pleasing to the eye to say the least, they are by no means perfect. Occasionally, you will find some textures which are bad enough to attribute to pure laziness on the part of the developer. Luckily, however, these particular short comings are only noticeable on a very minute level, and you will not notice them unless you inspect the right things carefully. For example, one of the faults of the game is the N64-esque little yellow flowers, but because of the shading and the outside environment, these flowers will actually look very good, only showing their faults upon very, very close inspection.

The controls of the game are great. Within sheer minutes of picking up the game, you will have the hang of it and be thoroughly enjoying your experience. You can shake your Wii Remote to make Mario do a spin attack, you can press A to jump, or if done in quick succession, a quadruple jump. Combined with B, you can do a back flip. The controls are simplistic, but easy to learn and get the job done.

Super Mario Galaxy is a truly incredible game with very fun gameplay, an epic sound track, and truly incredible graphics. It has become one of the highlights of owning a Nintendo Wii, and the only criticisms that could be made of the entire game is some poor environmental models here and there, and a far too easy set of boss fights, but don’t let that turn you off, because Super Mario Galaxy is a game that anyone can enjoy. Why? Because it’s pure, simple, fun, and if you don’t own this title already, do yourself a huge favor and pick it up.

+ Incredible graphics.
+ Epic sound track.
+ Easy pick-up-and-play controls.
+ Fun overall gameplay.
- Too easy.
- Occasional lazy models.

Outstanding!

Written by: Matthew Emerson Wright