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Review: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Super Mario Galaxy had a lot to live up to. For one, it had to be good enough not to sully the illustrious name of Mario with which it had been entrusted. For another, it had to utilize the Wii’s unique control system in such a way as to not be boring or derivative. Finally, in an age when a lot of high-profile, big budget games get crammed with so much stuff as to make them pointless to play, Mario Galaxy had to be, well, fun.

As an ironic bonus, Galaxy’s predecessor, Super Mario Sunshine, was rather sub-par, being in effect a glorified rehash of the genre-busting Mario 64. This meant that, basically, Galaxy just had to be better than Sunshine for it to be well received. Fortunately, I can tell you now that yes, Galaxy not only is better than Sunshine, but is also at the very least the best game I’ve played this year.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll assume familiarity with most of the ideas behind modern Mario games, and plunge straight into the use of the Wii remote and nunchuk to control our portly protagonist. As may be expected, a nunchuk is required to play, and the analog stick on same is what controls Mario’s direction. The new elements in control revolve, of course, around the Wii remote. Shaking the remote makes Mario do a spin attack, while pointing it at the screen allows the player to collect and shoot “star bits.” If these were the only ways that the Wii remote was featured in the game, I would have been disappointed — but fortunately, there are many more interesting uses for it. For instance, some levels have Mario surfing on a stingray, where he is moved left and right by twists of the remote. Other areas place Mario in a bubble, where the remote is used to push him around. Still others make him balance on top of a giant ball, and the remote is used like a joystick to move Mario around. In a nutshell, there are many instances where it is used, and surprisingly, none of them feel particularly forced. The designers had to stretch their minds a bit in order to bring these Wii-specific concepts to the game, but I think they all work well.

The major concern of mine regarding Galaxy was the camera. Mario Sunshine’s camera was notoriously bad: often re-positioning itself after you had patiently aligned it just the way you wanted for a certain jump. Camera control in Galaxy is almost a non-issue. Levels in Galaxy are much more linear than the more open-ended levels in Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine, which means that the programmers could place the camera in positions optimal for each situation. Of course, the player also has control of the camera, using the ‘C’ button on the ‘chuck to center the view behind Mario (almost like Z-targeting in the Zelda series) or using the D-pad on the remote to offset the view to the left or right. However, I rarely found myself even wanting to move the camera, which is obviously a good thing. The player should never have to worry about positioning their view – it detracts in a negative way from the gameplay. The only time I felt mild frustration with the camera was in some underwater areas.

The fact that the camera works so well is even more amazing considering the theme that the level designers explore throughout the game: gravity. Mario runs on small planets from which he can literally jump out of orbit. He sticks to walls, turns upside down, and goes through so many different twists and turns that his guts are probably tied in knots by now.

If you were turned off by the small number of levels in Mario Sunshine, be prepared to get blown away by the massive number of them in Galaxy. Even after beating the game, there were some levels that I had not played at all. These were not hidden levels, either, but those unlocked during the normal course of gameplay. Basically, even though levels are more linear, the length and variety of the game does not suffer because of it. Certain basic level themes return, such as a lava world and ice world, but there are many other new, interesting themes, mostly based around a space motif.

Tributes to old Mario games abound, yet are not heavy handed. Some old enemies return, but alongside a host of new. Galaxy is all that a gamer could ask for in a next-generation sequel: it takes inspiration from, but is not totally derivative of, it’s predecessors. If you own a Wii, this is a must-buy. My purchase of a Wii for this game was completely justified.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 2:03 pm ·

Impressions: Super Mario Galaxy

After finally getting a copy of the game and playing for, oh I don’t know, two minutes over the past two days, I thought I’d write up my initial impressions of the game. As we all know, I wanted this game to transport me to a magical gaming nirvana, but that doesn’t happen much these days (last time I felt “compelled” to play a game was when I discovered the awesome combat of Final Fantasy XII… I actually would wake up early and play it before work. Then I got tired of it after a week, since level grinding is level grinding).

Here’s the deal: it’s pretty cool. I have to come to the realization that I just can’t have Mario 64 ever again. That game was the reason for the jacked-up N64 controller, and although subsequent Nintendo controllers have been even more jacked, none of them have the capability for camera control that the N64 had. We just gotta cope with it.

Mario Galaxy does what it can, though. The camera is quite a bit better than Mario Sunshine’s; in fact, it feels very similar to a Zelda-style system, in that pressing “C” will center the camera behind Mario. I wasn’t adjusting the camera very often, actually, simply due to the nature of the way Galaxy works. Most levels are made up of small (usually spherical) planetoids, and the camera is usually pointing almost straight down on Mario, and has to adjust very quickly because of the constant curvature of the “planet.” So far I haven’t gotten frustrated with the camera, which is good news.

I’m still not totally sold on the Wii remote’s functionality, though. You use it to direct a cursor to pick up/shoot Star Shards, little bits of colorful debris that stun enemies. It just doesn’t seem to be that useful… it might have been cool to be able to pick up coins or something. You can also shake the remote or nunchuck to make Mario spin – what might now be considered his default attack. Spinning tromps enemies, as well as breaks crates and crystals. Jumping on enemies seems to be a bit harder now than it was in the past, mostly because of the crazy differences in the camera.

Right now I’m loving the fact that each area in the game is more linear. We don’t have to run through the same levels in the game over and over, it seems.

Expect a full review to come once I have a bit more time to actually play the darned game.

EDIT: Yeah, it’s good. I played for a while this morning before work, and have found little negative to say… maybe the worst thing is that you go through the levels so quickly.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 6:23 pm ·

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

A few weeks ago, I went to go see The King of Kong after reading a review by the Filthy Critic. His reviews are usually pretty accurate, and the verdict of “pants-shittingly good” plus the subject matter of the movie (video games!) made me actually get up and go see it.

The crux of the movie is the Donkey Kong world record. Set in 1982 by Billy Mitchell, it remained unsurpassed for over 20 years. Seems crazy, right? You’d think that someone would have beaten the record in that time, but apparently not.

The “protagonist” of the movie, Steve Wiebe, was a Boeing employee who got laid off right after he bought a new house. As a way of managing his stress, he begins playing Donkey Kong. After he learns of Billy’s world record, he thinks he can beat it, and actually does so.

However, this sets off a rather strange sequence of events. Steve’s tape of his record-breaking game is considered “invalid” by Twin Galaxies, the official record-keeping organization. To prove himself, Steve is asked to play on the “official” machine at an arcade in Florida. After he repeats his high score with a referee watching, Steve is one-upped by a shady video recording sent in by Billy Mitchell (who until that time had been a proponent of playing games in front of audiences).

The rest of the movie revolves around Steve’s attempt to challenge Billy to a live match of Donkey Kong, ostensibly to be put in the Guinness Book of World Records. Billy keeps evading this challenge, and through the end of the movie, is never actually seen playing the game.

For me, this movie was pretty interesting. It gives a fascinating look at a gaming subculture with which I have had absolutely no contact. In addition, it’s simply well put together: the narrative flows well, and even though the sequence of events doesn’t end how most people would like, it’s clear who the winner is. I would be pretty interested to know if Shigeru Miyamoto has seen this film, and if so, his thoughts. I definitely recommend this movie.

More information: Official movie site

1 comment · Written by Nathan at 6:07 pm ·

Where’s my Super Mario Galaxy?

Here’s my stupid Super Mario Galaxy story:

The reason I actually went to the trouble of pro-actively scoring a Wii (as opposed to waiting until I could buy one at someplace like Target) was because of Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Sunshine suuucked, but I liked Super Mario 64 so much that I was yet again willing to blow a ton of cash to recapture that awesome feeling of when I first played 64 at a kiosk in Wal-Mart.

A digression: back in 1996, I was a total Playstation convert, and had no interest in a Nintendo 64. Mario 64 freaking blew me away. You cannot imagine how amazing that game looked in my 15 year-old mind. After I played at that kiosk, I realized that I had to have a 64, if only for that one game. In this sense, it’s history repeating as I bought a Wii to play Galaxy (although I haven’t actually tried the game yet, in this case).

I didn’t pre-order the game, simply because there are no game stores that are really convenient for me to go to. But I did want the stupid pre-order bonus: a Mario-embossed coin. I would have ordered from someplace on the ‘net, but I also didn’t want to pay for shipping (are you sensing a theme here? I am one picky bastard). In the end, laziness and cheapness win: I don’t pre-order, and decide to just go buy the game on Monday when it is released.

So, yesterday after work I go to the Gamestop near the OSU campus. Imagine my annoyance when the morbidly obese, indifferent employee tells me that “it’s not released yet.” Yes, yes, it is released, you cretin, you just don’t have any copies due to distribution differences. He then advises me that I “better pre-order” the game, and since I’m there already, I put down money for the darn thing.

So embittering… the thought of playing that game was the only thing getting me through work yesterday. And I’m not going to have time to play today until after 10PM at the earliest. Ugh!

1 comment · Written by Nathan at 1:45 pm ·