Mario and friends return on the Nintendo Wii for his greatest adventure yet. If you own a Nintendo Wii, you better own this game!! ;)

Let’s a’ go…

I remember seeing Super Mario Galaxy on video at E3 2006. I was just happy that Nintendo was bringing Mario back in full force. I loved Super Mario Sunshine, but the game was missing something that Super Mario 64 had. Being in outer space was also kind of weird to me, but after seeing videos I loved the concept. Having Mario fly from planet to planet seemed really cool. And being a huge sci-fi junkie I thought it could not fail.

After a long delay in the game coming to the Nintendo Wii, Super Mario Galaxy finally arrived. And all I can say is it was well worth the wait. As with all Super mario games, Mario has to save the Princess once again from Bowser. And he sets off to collect 120 stars from various planets in outer space. Along the way Mario will be able to become Bumblebee Mario, Rainbow Mario, Fire Mario, Ice Mario, etc… This kind of takes you back to the Super Mario 64 days. You will also take on some level bosses both old and new (from past Mario games).  As you go from planet to planet you will open up these stars that will shoot you to the next planet (and back). Also along the way you can collect these colorful stars with your Wii Remote. There is a star icon on the screen and you just move your Wii-mote around to collect them. Coins also return and they will help Mario regain health in his health-bar. What would a Mario game be without coins though? 

So how does it play?

So how does Super Mario Galaxy play on the Wii? Let me tell ya… The gameplay of Super Mario Galaxy is pretty much perfection. You use the Wii-remote and the nunchuk, but it does not go overboard when it comes to what you have to do. It has the same style that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had but it feels so much tighter. Mario twirls around, butt-stomps and punches his way through each level. Along the way you will see some wicked gravity, as Mario will walk on walls and ceilings, walk around planets that change from night to day on each side. The game plays like a charm.

How does it look?

The graphics in Super Mario Galaxy are some of the best I have seen on the Nintendo Wii. Up until now we have all seen pretty much just basic Nintendo GameCube and Sony PS2 ports to the Wii and nobody has really taken the system to the max in the graphics department (Metroid 3 has though). Super Mario Galaxy does that and takes the award for having the best Nintendo Wii graphics to date. Everything in this game looks great, being colorful and shiny. When you start the game off you are in the Kingdom at night. Everything looks amazing. The street lights are gleaming and you can see a beautiful castle off in the distance (complete with a beautiful mirror image of the castle at night on a large lake). This game is full of detail. Objects have nice shadow and lighting as well as nice translucent effects. Super Mario Galaxy is absolutely beautiful!

Music to my ears.

The sound and music in Super Mario Galaxy is also a real treat. I personally love the title screen song. It has a cosmic Vince Clarke-esque twist to the original mario theme with the song having tweaking and bleepy sounds. The voice of Mario, the great Charles Martinet returns and provides Mario with his trademark sounds. Charles is a God in the Nintendo community and when you hear him doing Mario, Luigi, etc you can tell why. I had a chance to play Charles at Mario Kart DS at E3 2006 and he is such a nice guy.  He just adds so much more to the Mario character (as well as the other Nintendo characters he does). Super Mario Galaxy also has some amazing orchestral music, making this some of the best music ever in a Mario game. When you start off the game running down the Mushroom Kingdom you will see what I mean. It is pure pleasure for the ears.

So should I buy this game?

Hell yeah you should buy it! The bottom line is Super Mario Galaxy is a MUST-HAVE for any Nintendo Wii owners out there. Not only is it one of the best Nintendo Wii games every made, but it is also one of the best Mario games every made as well. It feels good to pop in the SMG disc and go at it with everyone’s favorite Italian plumber. I can honestly say that being in this business for well over 8 years now it is hard for me to find a game that I can say makes me feel good inside. Super Mario galaxy brings out the child in my 32 year old body, making me relive the good old days when I did not have to worry about bills or going to work to make a living. It kind of takes me back to the days when i was just a kid and all that was on my mind was having fun and playing Nintendo.

Super Mario Galaxy is one of those games that just makes you feel good inside. This game is another reason why Miyamoto is the friggin man and why Nintendo still makes the best 1st party games on the planet! Great job Nintendo. This is my Nintendo Wii Game of the Year.