While my friends discuss loftier topics, I'll continue to do the really important stuff of talking about, what else, games.
I've continued nibbling away at Super Mario Galaxy little by little and I'm struck by just how truly wonderful this game is. It is such a casual and entertaining bit of simple gaming that I can't really say enough good things about it. It really reminds me of the simple pleasures of games of the past.
With that said, I did actually find a bug when doing battle at the Reactor stage. The boss (Bowser in this case) tries to jump and stomp Mario and actually jumped off the planet and presumably into infinity. It was very weird. I just ran around the planet for about 3 or 4 minutes waiting to see if anything would happen and had no choice but to exit the stage and return to the observatory. And of course, I had a nearly perfect run through that level that time. I can't say I've found too many bugs in console games before.
One thing that is absolutely fantastic about the game is the way they mix up the early stages so that they have some replay value. Many of the stages have variations that pop-up due to a comet flying around and when the comet is around a particular planet/galaxy it modifies the game play by speeding it up, having it timed, becoming a race, etc. I only wish the Cosmic Mario race wasn't so difficult. I've only run against him once and it seems to require a near perfect execution of all the moves to even keep up.
The other thing I'll briefly mention is that, at first glance, the controls seem so amazingly simple. And to the player, they are simple. But what people I'm sure don't realize is how the designers managed to subtly adjust the controls for each situation so that you don't actually have to think about what way to move the controller to get Mario to run in the right direction. If you push forward and happen to pass around the edge of a platform and end up upside down, technically, the push forward should force Mario in the opposite direction. The designers had the good sense to let Mario keep running in the same direction. If you stop and then push forward again, guess what, he runs exactly the way you'd expect him to but in precisely the opposite direction that the same action had him going just a second prior to that. It's truly amazing and it is apparent how much the designers thought about the controls to make sure the 3D environment and strange angles of the camera don't screw the player up. Everything is very intuitive.
Anyone who owns a Wii should absolutely have this game.
They'll be missing a great time if they don't.
3 comments:
It sounds like I'd have fun with it, even though I don't HAVE a Wii! I'm thinking that would be one fun coaster or paperweight! Maybe I'll ask Santa for one.
I'm quite certain you'd enjoy it. Good luck if you choose the real Mission Impossible of finding one.
Totally, dude!
Galaxy is one of those games that starts out good and just gets better with each level. My son has actually gasped out loud several times when finding a new suit, power, level, etc.
The joy of exploration and unique control is one that is all too lacking nowadays.
Its kind of funny...our two favorite games right now are Galaxy and and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. As first blush it would seem that they are at the opposite ends of the spectrum but the common thread is that a designer clearly said (in both cases) "What do we want this game to be?" and followed through.
Now they arrived at drastically different conclusions but they both stayed true to a goal and both ended up with ridiculously fun games.
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