Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy is probably my favorite video game ever. Not that it's better than every game in every way, but taking everything into account — gameplay, graphics, musical score, depth and variety — it wins for sheer overall wonderfulness. It's what I want a game to be.

Super Mario Galaxy 1
Nintendo


I don't think it's worth trying to get what Super Mario Galaxy is about from screenshots, and cramming it into words would actually detract from the beauty. The only common point of reference I can think of is that feeling you got as a kid on Saturday morning. You had no idea what was in store, but it just felt like it was going to be great. It's that feeling.

There's an underlying energy of mystery and awe that runs through the game, paired with stunning visuals and a film-quality soundtrack. Each game level is a collection of one or more planets, which means the flavor is constantly changing, even within the same level. The intense curiosity to see what's next keeps pulling you forward through ever stranger and more brilliant worlds.

There are so many moments where I stop and smile at the sheer cleverness and beauty of the design. Many of the puzzles involve considering the effects of gravity when you're upside-down, or which direction gravity will be pulling from after a leap.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo


Here's the main thing you should take away from this: this is not Mario 64 with better graphics and a wireless controller. The best bits of previous Mario games have been brought forward, but this is something brand new. This is the game other games dream of being.
Design Element
Super Mario Galaxy
Posted Feb 15, 2008 — 10 comments below




 

Fred — Feb 15, 08 5497

I'm playing it right now! I've got 81 stars at this point.

Zack and Wiki is also fantastic — a childlike culmination of Mario, Zelda, & the SCUMM games all wrapped up in one!

Scott Stevenson — Feb 15, 08 5498 Scotty the Leopard

@Fred: Zack and Wiki is also fantastic

I was looking at it, but Totally Rad Show said the puzzle got frustrating from the perspective of constant trail-and-error-memorize-retry ala Dragon's Lair. Did you not find that to be the case?

Tristan O'Tierney — Feb 15, 08 5499

Hear hear! I managed to get all 120 stars during Apple's "thanksgiving week off." What an amazing game.

Fred — Feb 16, 08 5501

Sorry about the double post, all I did was refresh!

I've only played the first few levels, they were nice and clever, but my coworker played further, and he just ranted about the aforementioned trail-and-error-memorize-retry loop — that the continues and hints get really expensive and the loop bites you in the ass. However, he kept having tons of trouble with the waggle parts of the puzzles that I found really easy.

Jim — Feb 16, 08 5502

I know alot of folks really like this game. I rented it and was bored out of my mind as were my kids. Back to Guitar Hero III...

Manton Reece — Feb 16, 08 5503

Couldn't agree more. It really is a masterpiece and the most fun I've had gaming in years. I'm at 90 stars and still enjoying it.

Nigel Kersten — Feb 16, 08 5504

I love it.

I'd pretty much given up gaming years ago in order to go cold turkey on a terrible StarCraft addiction, and picked up a Wii in the last couple of months.

Super Mario Galaxy is full of joy. I'm at around 100 stars, and I'm still finding the levels mind blowing. They're just so inventive.

So from what I understand, once you get 120 stars, you get to run through the whole game again, but as Luigi....

Step — Feb 18, 08 5529

Yes, yes. With every star I'm more convinced of Nintendo's brilliance. I'm at 113 now, and my wife is still enjoying watching me play.

She's at 57 stars now, but is convinced she'll never be able to do some of the levels I'm hitting now. I wouldn't have thought so either, 50 stars ago...

I love the easy two-player "whenever you want" mode. Makes it easy to help my daughter or wife, or let them try and contribute. When we hit a difficult level and want to complete it, we just yell for help. Great family game, yet great scalability to different player abilities.

I am totally enamored of the design and pure brilliance that went into this game.

Lee — Apr 09, 08 5712

I couldn't agree more with everyone's comments. I just finished SMG recently. Every level is fun and new, and the challenging levels don't make me give up, but rather keep me interested in beating it (purple coins anyone?).

Now I'm onto Super Paper Mario. It's definitely pulled away from the RPG feel, but the flipping and abilities keep me wanting to play and find the next crystal heart before the worlds are destroyed! Lots of fun!

custom lanyards — Dec 04, 09 7004

One of my all time favorite as well! I think I still know how to get 100 lives from the upside down turtle :)




 

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