"I feel eight again, and I enjoy every bit of it."

Super Mario Galaxy, what can I say? The wait has been enormous, but now it's finally over. Was it worth it? Absolutely. This game is the TRUE sequel to Super Mario 64 which released over a decade ago. Super Mario Galaxy is on par with SM64, and quite possibly surpasses it as well. Read on to find out why!

Story: 7/10 (Does not affect my overall rating)

I'm starting out with this just to get it out of the way. As many know, the story isn't the strongest point of the Mario series. It's no different here, it gets the job done and allows the game to progress smoothly. It's the annual star festival and of course Mario is invited. Things seem to be going according to plan, everyone's happy and jolly but not all is well in the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and takes her to outer space. Mario gets caught in the mayhem and is brought to outer space too, thus begins Mario's grand adventure to rescue the Princess and stop Bowser. It's not a bad story, it's the classic Mario tale, but nothing very deep.

Gameplay: 10/10

This is where the main meat is and it delivers. The game is an absolute blast to play. Mario controls perfectly and even has a few new abilities under his belt. The galaxies are varied and fun to explore. I was concerned the galaxies wouldn't be very large and you would just hop from asteroid to asteroid but that fear was luckily put to rest. Some of the galaxies are like this, but not all. They're still very fun however because each little planet has it's own gravity, and this makes for some crazy game play. The best part to me however are the classic "worlds", where there's more normal platforming like in SM64. Another thing I really enjoyed and brought a smile to my face is the addition of power ups. For the first time ever, you can see Fire Mario in 3D and many more such as Boo Mario and Ice Mario. If there's one thing I disliked was the central hub. In past Mario games, these were pretty fun to run around and goof off in, but this hub is quite small compared to the old ones. It's a very minor gripe but I still would have liked a larger hub. To sum it all up however, Mario controls like a dream, the power ups are amazing, the worlds are fun, and the new gravity game play is a worthy gimmick and adds to the game.

Visuals: 10/10

These graphics are by far the best on the Wii and can even be compared to some 360/PS3 titles.
Mario looks great, the enemies look great, and of course the worlds look great. Another thing I was worried about was the visual style. I'm glad there's plenty of variety and they didn't just stick with a space theme like Sunshine did with a tropical theme. There's classic sunny fields, fiery volcanoes, Snowy mountains, etc. The only tiny gripe I have with the graphics is that some of the environments look a little too flat and don't have enough detail, but everything overall still looks amazing. Your jaw will drop at how gorgeous this game is at first.

Audio: 10/10

Words cannot describe how much I love the sound track to this game. Between the new music and the classic remixes, it's flawless! This is classic music you'll be humming years from now. Did I mention most of the tracks are fully orchestrated? Yeah, they really went all out with it, and I couldn't be any happier with it. The first time you hear the main theme, if you don't get goosebumps, there has to be something wrong with you. Moving on to the sound effects, none of them are annoying and they all fit in place. Mario still has his classic "Wahoo"s and collecting coins has the same familiar "bling" sound effect. Everything works and fits right into place. This is one game you will NOT want to lower your volume for!

Length: 8/10

Super Mario Galaxy isn't exactly the longest game to complete. It should take the average gamer around 12-15 hours to finish the main plot. However, you only need 60 stars to reach the final area. Considering there are 121 stars total, you can pretty much double that if you want to get the most out of this game. (And trust me, you do.) So about 30 hours to collect every star. Not a bad length at all but not the longest game out there. It's just a shame these games come out every 5 years or so, the experience is over with far too soon in my opinion.

There's pretty much nothing left for me to say but buy this game right now! The price for admission is well worth the experience. This is one of the greatest gaming experiences in the recent years and quite possibly of all time. I feel sorry for the poor soul who never plays this game before their life comes to an end. I never thought I'd see the day when Nintendo topped Super Mario 64, but I believe they may have finally done it...

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 11/16/07



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