How does the map system work in SMG2? I’m hoping it’s a simpler and quicker system - one thing that REALLY bugs me in SMG1 is having to schlep all the way to a distant “observatory” to go and play a given level (unless there’s some shortcut that I’m missing?)
There’s still a hub world, but the actual navigation to the different galaxies is done through a map quite similar to the old maps in SMB3, SM World, etc.
I’m only a few stars in, but so far it is just fantastic.
I got all 120 stars (and there’s no chance in hell I’m getting all the Green Stars). It was fun, some of the levels were pretty challenging and some of the comet medallions were really tough to get to (mostly in the S world).
*Warning, the rest of the post contains information on levels very late in the game, I don’t really consider it a spoiler, but if you’d rather see all the challenges “fresh” skip to the next post.
The S world is really where the challenge picks up, thought it’s not overwhelming. Save one level in that world (Stone Cyclone) the comets made a lot of the levels quite a bit harder, though for a couple of them it’s because they stacked like 16 challenges (disappearing blocks, instant death floor, shadow clones, purple coins, AND a time limit. Oh, and the star appears where you start, behind a couple layers of said disappearing blocks. That’s the FIRST comet level in world S). I’ll admit, I loved the Galaxy 1 boss gauntlet, though the “light an easy enemy on fire to make it tough” thing is annoying.
One in particular was actually really simple, (just clones), but due to some walljump trickery you had to do was incredibly hard since you had to choreograph your moves JUST right near the end. That one was fun to beat. It was the last Flip Swap level in World S for anyone curious.
As for the power ups, I’m not sure why they felt the need to return two of the old powerups (Spring and Boo shroom specifically). They were only used for one star each, and while the Boo Shroom is cool, the spring powerup can die in a fire. The game could have done without either of them coming back quite easily.
I was disappointed with the Bowser fights, but then, I’m always disappointed with those fights so my opinion probably isn’t worth much on that topic.
Overall, it was a good game with some clever and tricky stars, I had fun.
Meh. Still prefer the observatory. I mean, you’re basically going to go through each “world” at a time, right?
The map just looks tacky. I know that functionally, they’re the same, but it’s Super Mario Galaxy, not Super Mario Maps.
Jragon - are the green stars only accessible once you have all 120 normal stars? And are they in a different location in the level, or do you just have to play through the level again like you did to win the first one?
(SMG2 isn’t out till June 11 here in the UK. Still, that gives me time to try and finish the first one - I’ve only got about 80 stars so far. The Cosmic comet races always screw me up.)
Same here.
But each time you start SMG1, it puts you in the middle of the observatory next to whatserface. If you want to play one of the levels accessed via, say, the kitchen, you have to trek miles and jump up stairs and walk round and round before you can access it. I’d much prefer to just select a level from a menu rather than waste time on a semi-playable but rather dull map screen.
The Green Stars appear after you get the regular 120 and then you beat Bowser a second time. A short cutscene plays with Rosalina reading a story about some green cosmic jewels or whatnot and it causes 120 green prankster comets to appear (or at least I assume 120, I only glanced, but it seems like the right number).
Green stars aren’t individual levels, they’re more like “hidden object” quests. For instance, the first green star is on the side of Yoshi’s house in the first galaxy, but the level you actually go into is the same level for the first star. I didn’t test to see if the second one corresponded to the level the second star gives you and so on, but given that some galaxies have more green stars than regular stars I’m assuming that it’s possible, but not necessarily the case.
Yeah - but once you beat the game you could fly in the observatory.
You mean with the red star? Yeah, I have that, but you still have to walk over and pick it up next to the spaceship thing, then mess about flying round and crashing into stuff. I just want to choose a level, click, play, goddammit!
So, is it really difficult like some reviews say?
I mean, compare it to other games. How hard is it?
To each his own. I loved the atmosphere in the observatory, and it never felt like very far to any given level to me. The new system is maybe slightly faster but way uglier. The best thing about SMG, to me, was the atmosphere, so I’m gonna be sensitive to any downgrades there.
I got a star!
From playing Galaxy 1 and 2, I find it quite a bit harder than SMG. There’s a tad more emphasis on twitch reflexes in SMG2, I lost like 4 lives in a row on the chilli pepper world. A lot more forced running (crumbling platforms etc) than SMG as well.
It’s beatable hard (so far!) but harder than say, the normal worlds in NSMB. Way harder.
I find it challenging, but I’m not a “gamer”. I have fun, and only like cartoon violence, so stomping on animated mushrooms is just my thing. SMG and SMG2 seem to have levels that are tricky, though.
But the Tree Trunk slide is FUN.
Meant to add: I can’t understand people who sit down and try to get through the whole game in one day! A star a day is lots of play for me (because I’m not especially skilled). It doesn’t bother me that it will take months to finish–more gameplaying for the money. 
62 stars in.
So far I would grade it past the first, but I hear there’s a lot more to explore, so we will see…
I’m somewhere in the 60s star count now, and boy if this isn’t an impressive gameplay experience.
Somehow they managed to be even more inventive and entertaining than in the first. This is a thing of beauty, somehow such a simple game is the most fun I’ve had in this technology fueled generation.
It is of note that game has now reached number one of the aggregation sites. While the ranking is debatable, SMG2 now has claim to the title of greatest game ever made.
45 stars in at the moment.
So far . . . It’s good. I wouldn’t rate it past the first yet because none of the worlds have really blown my mind, and I’m still deeply in hate with the map system. It doesn’t save much time. It just sucks a little bit of the soul out of the game. I’m convinced they only did it to appeal to “old school gamers” (meaning 20 year old hipsters who found their older cousin’s SNES in grandma’s closet when they were visiting 2 summers ago.)
None of the new powerups have impressed me, but after New SMB Wii I didn’t expect them to. I guess Nintendo and I just have different opinions on what a fun powerup is these days. And I was really hoping they’d take the time-limit off the fireflower, but I didn’t really expect that either so that’s not really a point against the game.
I haven’t seen a world as beautiful as Gusty Garden Galaxy yet or anything as awesome as some of the Bowser castles from the first one, but I have a way to go still.
I’ll probably like it better on the 2nd playthrough. I only thought the first SMG was ok for most of my first playthrough. It became my favorite game the 2nd time around.
Well, I must be more skilled than I thought, I didn’t find most of the game very hard at all a few stars requires a lot of “technical” skill (precision), but not much in the way of difficulty. It was a pretty medium difficulty game to me*. I think the longest star took me 30 minutes, tops, and that only happened once or twice. Most stars were in the 5-10 minute range.
- So far my meter for “very difficult” is some of Warcraft III on hard and the original Half Life. Megaman is hard too, but in a different way that can be good but occasionally drifts into bullshit territory (c.f. The room with a swing in it covered in insta-kill spikes except for one tiny passage under the swing in Megaman 9. Screw that room and its family).
Luigi’s Purple Coins in SMG1 was harder to me than anything in any MegaMan game, including MegaMan 9. Is anything in SMG2 harder than that?