Sunday, July 27, 2014

Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii: Best Game Ever?

It's not every day one comes across a video game where they can say 'yes, this game, Super Mario Galaxy, is by far the best GD game I have ever played in my GD life!'.
My History:
I'm a video game junkie, if it's new; odds are I have played it. If I like it I write a review, let it sit, and hope that some little video game junkie will come along and read it. If I love the game, I spread the news far and wide...however, I have yet to come across a video game worthy of spreading the news to nearly everyone who will listen. The last game that I can recall playing and saying 'this is the best video game in the world', was Super Mario 64.
Since Super Mario 64 games have been decent, but no game took the cherry on top of the cake quite the way Super Mario 64 did. That is; until now.
I introduce you to Super Mario Galaxy. This is the newest and hottest release for the Nintendo Wii; the Holy Grail in Wii gaming.
Nintendo Wii fans have heard rumors about it, got glimpses of screen shots, and read every freaking pre-review we could get our hungry hands on.
The game seemed promising in all of these bits of information us fans were given...but who the heck would of thought it was all that and more.
Super Mario Galaxy is has nearly the same look that the original Super Mario 63 had. Crisp colorful graphics, charming background music, and the same villains we all love to hate. Nothing is really different in that aspect...but as similar as things are...things are also very, very different.
Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii starts off like this:
Princess Peach writes Mario a letter. In the letter she invites him to the castle to join her at the castle for the star festival. It is a night where bits of stars fall from the sky for all those to see.
Like in Mario 64, we set out for the castle. But uh oh...
Yep, it starts off pretty much that same as the original Super Mario 64 game.
As Mario makes his way to the castle, we are greeted by our long time foe Bowser and his minions. There is no such thing as a fiesta in the beginning of a Mario game. Bowser sees to that every time.
Bowser trashes the kingdom, and manages to slice Princess Toadstools castle from the very earth it lies on. He picks this slice of earth up, and the castle is dragged into outer space...Mario of course is in tow.
Once Mario is discovered though he is sent crashing through the galaxy's and lands on this bizarre round planet. Mario's wakes up to 3 rabbits. (We all remember these rabbits as those fast hopping pains in the butts from the original 64 game...you know, the rabbits that reside in the basement, that were nearly impossible to catch). Anyhow...before Mario discovers where he is, he must catch these annoying rabbits. The rabbits are relatively easy to catch compared to the original Mario 64 game.
After catching them Mario is given a brief explanation of where he is, what he has to do to help the princess, and so on.
Like the Mario 64, you are collecting stars again. To obtain a star at the end of each mission you have to complete a certain task. Some tasks require no thinking, other missions are based on luck, and some require thought, speed, or puzzle solving.
Controls:
On the very first planet you will realize that Super Mario Galaxy is going to be different...way different. Everything you once knew about Mario games are now gone... you see... in this game there is no gravity, and as you walk the small galaxies it may seem like you are going to fall off of the edge into the infamous pits of death...lose a life and start over.
This is not the case in Super Mario Galaxy. Here Mario can walk on walls, shimmy up onto ceilings and as bizarre as that all sounds, the controls are actually quite simple.
You use the joystick to control Mario, and the wii mote to do simple moves like jumping. When you advance a bit in the game, you are given new moves. Shaking the wii mote allows Mario a new spin move. The spin is basically what kills enemies.

The Star Pieces:

In the game you can use the pieces of star bits that you find as weapons. You aim with the wii mote and launch using the under trigger. It's easy!! Don't use all of your star bits though, you will also need these to feed hungry Lumas. When you feed these hungry Lumas they transform into galaxies or stars which can be used to launch you to other galaxies.
-Collecting 50 star bits also gives you a 1-Up (extra life).

Why I Love Super Mario Galaxy:

1. The controls are easy to use.
2. There are no odd glitches in the game that will cause it to freeze or jitter.
3. The game takes on the same graphics that the original Super Mario 64 used.
4. There enemies are all already well known. In Super Paper Mario for the Wii we were all greeted with new enemies...quite frankly these new enemies sucked. I was glad to see some old familiar faces in Super Mario Galaxy.
5. The game is FUN.
6. Re-Play value is huge!
7. They use charming well orchestrated music that plays lightly in the background.
8. Like all Mario games the beginning of the game starts off easy, and progresses towards harder challenges.

Multiplayer:

Although multi player lacks your sidekick Luigi...a friend can pick up another wii mote at any time during game play. They can use this remote to collect star bits that they see. This does not help much, but it's better than not having any interaction in the game at all.

Bee Mario:

In Super Mario Galaxy you can transform into different animals or elements on certain galaxies. In one particular galaxy Mario can be transformed into a little buzzing bee. The controls are a cinch to use! You use the Bee Mario to fly up to high ledges...watch out though, if you get hit by an enemy, or accidentally land in water you will transform back into Mario, and once transformed back, you will need to find another Bee suit to become a Bee again.
Ice Mario:
In one galaxy Mario is transformed into ice. When Mario is ice he can glide on top of water, once he touches the water it instantly turns into a patch of ice. You will need to lay patches of ice out accordingly in order to win a star in this galaxy. It's tricky, but very freaking fun.
Boo Mario:
Mario can transform into a giant Boo Ghost in Luigi's Haunted Mansion planet. This allows Mario to fly, and go through walls he normally could not go through without the suit.
Why Super Mario Galaxy Rocks:
This game is the best game I have played on the Nintendo Wii since I bought the console. This game is exactly what Mario and Wii fans have been waiting for. It's a fun filled adventure into a 3D environment filled with colorful, lush, exciting worlds.
I bought the video game over the weekend, and was glued to the television set the moment I turned the game on. I have already put about 14 hours into the game, and still I have barely even carved half way into the game.
This Wii game has lived up to my expectations, and the price is well worth it. In the past I had been very disappointed with the price tag on most games. Super Mario Galaxy though was the first game I have ever bought where I can say 'yes, this game is worth the $56.00 I spent on it!'
You can pick Super Mario Galaxy up now at any local game store, or at Walmart or Target. The price remains the same, but is a few bucks less at Walmart.
Seriously, grab this title as fast as you can...it's truly a remarkable game, and easily gets 10 out of 10 stars. I dub this one the game of the year.

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