A Perfect Blend of the Old and the New
Super Mario Galaxy is the Mario game for everyone. I don’t mean ‘everyone’ in the typical sense of it being easy and family-friendly, but that it has something for every gamer from the new to the old and from the casual to the hardcore. Since Mario is now both in space and on the Wii gamers might think that the game relies heavily upon motion controls and gimmicky gravity-based regions. Instead, the game does make good use of gravity, but still contains plenty of traditional platforming and even quite a few portions that play with a 2D perspective while the motion controls are reserved solely for a few non-traditional portions, such as Monkey Ball-esque segments, for the new spin attack, and for collecting star bits to stun enemies with and to access a few new stages and paths.
On a base level the gameplay is exactly the same as in Super Mario 64, except Mario now spins instead of punches. Also similar to its predecessor is the fact that the game is divided into regions consisting of a few multi-star galaxies, a few single-star galaxies, and a boss stage that unlocks the next region. However, the level design is what makes the game unique. Each of the main galaxies has three stars in addition to a hidden star and two comet stars. The stars are sometimes spread out over a single large stage like in the other 3D Mario games, but are also often spread out across chains of multiple small planets that Mario launches himself across, giving a feeling of similar-themed stages like in the 2D games. Every small planet has its own gimmick to figure out and often blends platforming with puzzle-solving. The single-star galaxies tend to be short, but use a specific gimmick in challenging and unique ways while the comet stars have the player redo a stage or a portion of a stage with a twist, such as increased enemy speed or only being able to take one hit.
The difficulty curve is very balanced as game starts off easily enough, but gets surprisingly challenging near the end. The amount of stars needed to access new areas seems much lower than usual and during my playthrough I was able to access the final stage before even touching the last two of the six major regions of the game. Thus, casual gamers can complete the game without running into too much difficulty while more hardcore gamers and completionists will likely enjoy the later stages, the comet challenges, and many of the single-star galaxies. While the game never gets quite as brutal as the water-less platforming segments of Sunshine, a greater amount of instant-death traps and a reduction of Mario’s life down to 3 allows for a much more balanced overall experience.
There is a large emphasis on power-ups in Super Mario Galaxy reminiscent of Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3. While the traditional fire flowers and invincibility stars are present, Mario can now also turn water into ice, temporarily double his health, and transform into a bee, a ghost, and even a spring. However, aside from the health increase, these abilities are used solely for solving puzzles and some, especially the spring, can feel overly gimmicky. Still, the puzzles are generally clever enough and the varied enough that these segments usually feel more interesting than tedious.
The aesthetics compliments the game brilliantly. The cartoony look of the game is great and goes a long way towards hiding the Wii’s weaknesses. Every time Mario soars through the sky to a new planet the player the game makes great use of the camera to give the player incredible views of the stage that invoke feeling both of awe and of interest as to when the player will be able to reach them. The music has a large impact upon the experience and ranges anywhere from atmospheric, to nostalgic, to surprisingly epic. The music even changes to fit the mood, going so far as to speed up when bosses enter new phases and to become disturbingly warped while attempting comet challenges. Like other aspects of the game, the aesthetics is a blend of the new and the old since the amount of remixes of traditional Mario tunes is staggering and there are many throwbacks to past games, such as the airships from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Luigi being trapped inside a haunted mansion. The only complaint is that the sounds from the Wii-remote are somewhat jarring and can become incredibly annoying unless the remote’s volume is adjusted properly.
Even the story is a blend of the old and the new. As usual, Bowser has kidnapped Peach using a method that is strange and never fully explained, this time somehow pulling the entire castle into the center of the universe, and it’s up to Mario to save the day. However, with the inclusion of the mysterious Rosalina and a race of star-people, Lumas, the game has some surprisingly dark undertones and even the ending is far more bittersweet than the typical happy and energetic endings of the Mario franchise. This isn’t to say that the story is very deep or that it plays anywhere near as large a role in the game as in the RPG’s of the series, but it is still a surprising and entertaining change of pace for the main branch of Mario games.
Of course, Super Mario Galaxy is not without its flaws. While the camera usually does a fantastic job of being both functional and artistic, at times it simply refuses to change to a comfortable angle. Swimming is still more frustrating and tedious than enjoyable, but these sections are thankfully few and the inclusion of the ability to move faster underwater by holding shells goes a long way towards speeding them up. The lives system also seems extremely arbitrary as 1-ups are gained so easily that even during the harder segments of the game I always found myself with 20 or 30 lives, if not more, thanks to the fact that star bits are plentiful and every 50 of them gives an extra life. However, the flaws are so minor and spread so thinly across the game that they are excusable. At its core, Super Mario Galaxy is a refreshing and fun blend of nostalgia and innovation and easily meets, and likely surpasses, the high bar set by Super Mario 64.
