I was just thinking, as I’m replaying this game as Luigi, how incredibly good it is. No other game in recent memory even comes close. I’m literally at a loss for what else to even include in the discussion.
It has a neat little story, absolutely gorgeous graphics, fluid and intuitive controls . . . It’s just challenging enough, without being too easy or frustratingly hard. It really has it all.
It has actual replay value, which I find to be exceedingly rare in games these days. I haven’t replayed a single-player game since KotOR in 2003. Before that it was Halo in 2001. Before that it was the SNES generation (back then most games had replay value.)
The music, I think, is vastly underrated. It’s easily the 2nd best music I’ve ever heard in a video game (after Halo 1.) It takes a back seat and woos you softly, but when you stop and listen you realize how beautiful it is. Always situation-appropriate, too.
The level design is just unreal. Diverse beyond belief and jaw-droppingly creative. Several of the levels, even on the 2nd playthrough, just blow me away. They never get repetitive, predictable, or boring. The Bowser levels, in particular, are phenomenal. I can imagine going back to 1987 and showing that to my friends, and watching their heads spin around in circles. And the way you can so naturally find your way through the levels without getting lost or feeling like you’re being pushed in a single direction, is unsurpassed in any game I’ve ever played. If this game didn’t win every major award for level design, then gaming awards are phoney.
Some people might scoff at this, but I think Super Mario Galaxy is a legitimate contender for best video game ever. I think back to my traditional choice of “best ever” - Super Mario World - and the only thing it had that Galaxy didn’t was the childhood sense of wonder and discovery. And Galaxy even manages to bring some of that back.
Nailed it. The game is magical, and that’s not a word I throw around lightly. It’s simply one of the tightest, well-designed, fantastic experiences in both concept and execution. The game is a shining example of why technological superiority is not essential to creating a good game…or hell, even a good looking one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Mario Galaxy may be the best looking game this generation (note that this has almost nothing to do with polygon counts or bump-mapping, instead it owes it all to artistic vision). Oh, and the music? Bloody brilliant. I had Gusty Galaxy as my ringtone for quite some time.
Mario Galaxy reminds me of why I play games. Unfortunately, the rest of the industry tries to make me forget.
I can’t really say anything about it that you haven’t already. Certainly a contender for best game ever made. And the sequel is coming out next year. It looks like more of the same, but never has that phrase sounded so good.
Well, I preferred Super Paper Mario, despite its flaws.
I have a hard time with SMG because there aren’t enough save points, so I keep endlessly doing the same things over and over again, then I get interrupted.
This is probably a clue that I’m too old and too busy to play this kind of game, plus I’m not very good at it.
Also, I preferred the music in SPM. I particularly liked Dimentio’s theme song.
SMG saves automatically after every star. If you have to stop before you get a star then there’s nothing to save. There’s really not a more convenient save system than that.
The only flaw I can point out is the stupid “star bits” storylines, or whatever they’re called. But yes, SMG is the most imaginative, meticulously designed game I’ve ever played, and makes me wish I still had my Wii.
Amen. I feel like I never stopped loving games, but game developers did.
Super Paper Mario made me feel like I got beat up and then kicked while I was down by all the cutscenes. The controls weren’t all that smooth and I got lost several times. I wish they would’ve chosen to make a platformer or an RPG instead of a watered-down hybrid of both. I didn’t finish it. Its spiritual ancestor, Super Mario RPG, is another contender for (top 5 or 10 or so) best game ever, but that series took a seriously wrong turn somewhere IMO.
You know, I even dug the story (I assume you mean the storybook sequence, right?). It was optional, and so could be skipped easily. It resonated with me though–it even made me a little teary-eyed, and most of my friends felt the same way. It was a simple, but well told story.
SMG was a fun game but I can’t get on board with saying it’s the greatest game this generation, let alone EVER. I can think of many games that are better than this from the current generation but like anything it’s a matter of preference I think and the types of games that entertain people vary just like favorite foods do.
I don’t know. Tough to say. I think there are too many great games in too many different genres to say which is the best, as the best in my favorite genre may not be your favorite genre so it’s hard to compare. Let me think and I’ll get back to you. This thread is about SMG and I don’t want to derail it. Maybe I’ll start a new thread.
How reminiscient of Super Mario 64 is Super Mario Galaxy? SM64 was a damn good game that I could go play right now and enjoy. In fact, I’m actually listening to the “metallic mario” theme from SM64 right now.
While I don’t own a Wii, I do have consistent access to one, so if SMG is comparable to SM64, I might pick the game up.
Mario Galaxy feels like a natural evolution of Mario 64. That is, it feels both completely new, and yet instantly familiar at the same time. You’ll feel a very similar sense of wonder as you did with the original all those years ago. And there are many direct references to the game itself, such as the yellow rabbit you have to catch, or updates songs from the game.
It’s a little more linear than Mario 64 in that you choose a star at the start of each mission (sort of like in 64, actually), but now you can only get that star instead of going off the beaten path and stumbling upon others. But this does allow the developers to significantly change each level for each specific star, which is pretty neat.
In short, if you liked Mario 64, you’ll probably like Galaxy too. And yes, that Metal Mario theme is rad. I really can’t recommend it enough–it’s “you should buy a Wii for this game” good.
I didn’t play Mario 64 when it was new-- errr, for more than an hour or 2 at least-- so I’m not nostalgic for it at all. I downloaded it to my Virtual Console after beating Galaxy, though, and I acknowledge that it was a very good game. Since I played them in reverse order, my opinion is probably very biased, so take this with a grain of salt: I think Mario Galaxy blows it out of the water in every conceivable category. It looks better, sounds better, controls better, has better levels, a better story, and is ultimately just more engaging and fun.
For someone who played Mario 64 first, Red Barchetta probably said it best when he said it feels like a natural evolution. A lot of concepts that originated in Super Mario World and were built upon in Mario 64 are still apparent in Mario Galaxy. And you will recognize elements here and there going all the way back to Super Mario Brothers 1, 2, and 3.
I’m unclear on how consistently true this is. Obviously there are the question mark stars that you go off the beaten-path to get, but there are at least some others, too. For instance I selected Baron Brrr’s star the other day, but instead of fighting him I climbed the peak and got the star on top. There are also the stars you get after feeding hungry Lumas.
You’re right, there were a few exceptions, such as the Hungry Lumas. Each world has one, but they always only appear within only one of the star-mission, meaning that you only have the choice between two stars in one of each world’s three main-missions. But these already felt more like alternate paths to me–I mean, you always knew what to look for (the Luma) and that it would lead down a separate path.
Baron Brrr is another exception, and more closely mirrors what Mario 64 was like. I can only think of one more level off the top of my head (Buoy Base Galaxy) similar to this, where you could get one of two stars in either order. There may a few other situations like this (though I can’t think of any–and I played that game inside and out…twice), but they are largely the exception.
Contrast this with Mario 64, where almost every one of each level’s 7 stars can be grabbed at any time. That game truly invited (if not fully embraced) exploration, while still loosely guiding players with a hint at the beginning of each mission.
I’m not saying one method is better than the other, as I think both games are absolutely brilliant (and in fact, I tend to favor more linear games in general). However, I think Mario 64 was exactly what it needed to be at the time. That is, with the transformation into 3D, the game “opened up” in more than just a mere technical sense.
I, for one, far preferred the open-ended style of Mario 64 and was deeply disappointed that Mario Galaxy didn’t maintain it. I always felt like I was playing on rails, rather than having the thrill of exploration and puzzle-seeking and whatnot. Oh well…
To be fair, the game is still relatively non-linear in that you’re not forced into any specific level. If you get stuck, or just tired of any particular area, there’s like 40 others available for your perusal. In this sense, it’s closest to Mario 3 or Mario World (more so the latter, actually), where you’re given a world-map and can choose whichever level you want, but the level itself is mostly linear.
With that said, I feel like both games were optimized with both experiences in mind. That is, I’m not sure if Galaxy would have actually been enhanced by offering non-linear levels (not to mention how confusing that might get, while hopping between planets), just as Mario 64 likely wouldn’t be better had it been more linear.
I couldn’t disagree more. I never felt like I was on rails and I think I’m hyper-aware of that feeling. You can go forwards and backwards within levels, play around, go off the path, you can choose to play the levels in almost any order you want, within reasonable parameters (can’t fight Bowser first, of course :p-- but you can choose to fight him at any time you want after 60 stars.) You can fight or choose to avoid almost any enemy. You can also exit a level at any time and go back to the observatory. And every level was an exericise in puzzle-solving, to some extent. There’s a star somewhere on this level-- GO!
