Super Mario Galaxy

By Sam Leitch

Every Nintendo console needs a Super Mario game. As if creating the platform game, the scrolling platform game and pioneering the 3d platform genre wasn’t enough, Mario looks to once again make platforming fresh.

After Super Mario 64, you’d think that it would be pretty hard to ever capture that same ‘wow factor’ within the genre again. I mean hundreds of games have followed in Mario’s footsteps, so surely platform games look pretty stale these days right? I mean has any 3D platformer actually progressed the genre or even equalled the brilliance of Mario 64?

If you only see a few seconds of footage from Super Mario Galaxy you’ll be convinced that it looks unlike anything you have ever played before. Mario plummets through space and runs around tiny planets in a matter of seconds. The level designs are over the top and look to provide some interesting challenges, in particular testing your ability to think laterally and question physics and gravity. To say Mario Galaxy looks original is an understatement.

Of course the typical Mario charm is clearly evident. You’ll be running away from Bullet Bills, ‘butt stomping’ pegs into the ground (Mario is the original hard-arse) and letting loose a whole heap of high pitched yells. Hopefully there will be a few typical Mario tunes to add to the game’s quirky charm.

Unlike many other Wii games, Mario Galaxy looks like it has been created ground up to be a Wii title. The graphics look crisp, the animation smooth and the enemy designs… crazy. Unlike Super Mario Sunshine, Galaxy looks to be crammed full of set pieces and dramatic moments that will have you looking at your screen in utmost disbelief.

All said and done, Galaxy looks far from being ‘just another Mario game’ and is one game we are really hanging out to play. Gimme more of that classic Mario loving!

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