The Closest Thing to a "perfect game'
I have been a huge fan of Mario since i was at least 4 years old, but honestly i was a bit worried when I heard about Mario Galaxy 2. I felt that this was very odd that Nintendo would release another proper Mario game on the same console. I thought it was just going to be Mario Galaxy with Yoshi and a few new powers... I couldn't been more wrong, and I about to tell you why.
The story is nothing special or new to the Mario franchise... Princess Peach has been captured by Bowser and apparently a Plummer with a mustache is the only one who can save her. The Mario franchise has never really been criticized for the story and after 29 years I think we can live with that. Even with that in mind some of the cut scenes are very well done and shot which does help with the lack of story.
The game play is exactly the same as in Mario Galaxy 1 but still works very very well. New power ups such as the rock suit and cloud suit have also been added and are extremely good fun to use and that is the main focus of this game, to have fun. Mario's old friend Yoshi has also been added to the game and his controls work very well. You can swallow enemies and fruit and can spit them back out making them fairly lethal weapons. Another great thing about Yoshi is that he isn't just there for the hell of it. He is need to get past certain points and also needed for a few boss battles. Lastly about Yoshi is that he also has his fair share of power ups. He can run rocket fast, he can light up paths and he can also turn into a balloon and fly. Overall Yoshi is a great addition. The A.I. is fairly standard for a Mario game, Goombas run at you, Hammer Bros. throw hammers and move around. Fairly simple stuff. The boss battles are also well done but can sometimes seem too easy.
The presentation is possibly the greatest thing about this game. The graphics are stunning and could pass for a HD title in my opinion. The environments are well lit and colorful and just beautiful to look at. I actually found myself looking at the graphics for 10s of minutes until I snap back to reality thanks to Goombas running into me. The music is also incredible, it fits the title so well and is also very enjoyable to just listen to. The game's level design is arguably the greatest thing about about Mario Galaxy 2. The levels are ridiculously fun but can also be very challenging which is brilliant and it just shows the amount of care and creativity that has been put into this game. The level selection system has also been redone so it is much more streamline and easier to select levels. The game ditched the level selection system in the first game and chose a much more 'Classic Mario' approach.
Overall the game is beautiful, creative and fun game and if you seriously don't like this game you are just a terrible person. It is one... no wait... it IS the best game on the Wii at the moment and is a Must-Buy for anyone!
The Good
* Graphics
* Music
* Level Design
* Fun
* EVERYTHING
The Bad
* Nothing
Review by James Ensor
