I wasn’t going to buy Mario Galaxy 2 because of the recent influx of good games, but after seeing the 98 Metacritic average and an ad in the Best Buy flyer for a Mario keychain with the purchase of the game, how could I wait. Mario Galaxy 1 was refreshing with its approach to platforming, utilizing the concept of gravity, and the gravitational pull of planets. Though the difficulty was a bit on the easy side, it was definitely addressed along with other things, which makes Mario Galaxy 2 a must own.
For a brief moment, the story is explained to you and it is clear that Nintendo knows exactly how ridiculous it really is, but it still manages to make sense since you collect stars in space, not on earth. Like every other Mario game, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and it’s up to Mario to save her. After genius lines of dialog from Bowser such as “I’M HUGE”, you’re off into space collecting stars to get to Bowser’s Castle. Instead of a space ship with portals to different worlds, there is a traditional world map where you can choose which galaxy you want to complete.
The biggest issue in the first Mario Galaxy was that it wasn’t particularly challenging, which dramatically shortened its length. Nintendo recognized this and managed to make it challenging enough so it isn’t frustrating, and difficult enough to strain your skills. The controls are extremely responsive and any errors committed will be your fault, not Nintendo’s.
Because of the great controls, levels are created in a way where some sections will leave you no room to breathe, and any mistake made will send you back to your last checkpoint. To aid you on your adventure, Yoshi and Luigi will both be present throughout the galaxies. Though Luigi is an optional character, Yoshi is quite important and also has unique power ups for specific situations, which in turn provides a nice change of pace from your solo campaign.
The best part of Mario Galaxy is the levels, which all manage to be immensely different from each other. Every single galaxy is unique in its own way, and you will not see the same layout anywhere except for that particular galaxy. The puzzles and situations you encounter are mind blowing, and I found myself at times saying “How the hell did they think of this?” What you will see multiple times is the different suits that are equally as clever as the design and layout of levels.
One new suit you will discover very early in the game is the drill. When you pick up the drill and stand above dirt, a spin will bring you tunneling through the soil, until you hit something, or until there is nothing left to tunnel through. Fortunately, these suits are used often enough for you to enjoy them, but so much where they begin to feel tired and exhausted.
The one emotion you won’t feel while playing Mario Galaxy 2 is sadness, and that is all fault of the cheerful music and, vibrant and colourful objects. Both new and old music occupy the levels, and some even incorporate the music as a gameplay mechanic. The Wii is limited graphically compared to other consoles, but that hasn’t stopped Nintendo from producing one of the best looking games on Wii. You can view the environments from multiple perspectives, since the camera will pan to the side for 2-D gameplay, and change back to its initial 3-D.
For those people who are looking for more of a challenge, Comets return from Mario Galaxy 1, and they are just as unforgiving as ever. Alongside the Comets, there are also hidden stars within levels, which require your patience and skill to obtain. If you’re as curious as I was, after collecting the 120 stars, you are rewarded with something more to do, which will be perfect for those type of gamers who love collecting.
Mario Galaxy 2 is by far one of the best games in 2010, and one of the best games on Nintendo Wii. All the setbacks from the first game were addressed, and loads of new inventive levels and suits were added to make the experience refreshing, and extremely fun. The fact that every level provides something new to learn or see, gives the player more of a reason to keep playing through a game where story doesn’t matter, fun does. Everyone whoplays games often or plays games casually should at least try it, because it’s one fun experience that is always different.
