- Super Mario Galaxy
- Available on: Wii
- More information: wikipedia
- Cover scans: mobygames - thecoverproject
- FAQ's/cheats: gamefaqs
- Press reviews: ign - gamespot - gamespy - 1UP - gametrailers
Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.
Mild cartoon violence: Every one hundred years, a comet appears in the sky above Mushroom Kingdom. To this day, a festival is held every hundred years to celebrate the first day the comet appeared. Princess Peach invites Mario to this festival. Shortly after Mario arrives, Bowser attacks with a fleet of flying ships, abducts Princess Peach and her entire castle into space, knocks Mario back to earth, and disappears. I have to save her again!?...Yep...yeah...uh-huh...that's right...again ;p
The ESRB rated this game for "Mild Cartoon Violence," and violence-wise, this game is extremely mild. The worst of it being when Mario jumps on an enemy's head, it scrunches up like an accordian, and then disappears into a puff of white smoke. I mean, please--this stuff's very, very mild, nothing to worry about.
Content-wise: This game is completely watchable for kids 6-. However, many of the gameplay elements are a bit out of their grasp, and the story is mostly told through text (there is some voice acting). They could run around the main hub (though there isn't near as much to do in this hub as Super Mario Sunshine), and could even maybe play a couple of the levels. But, overall, the majority of the gameplay is too difficult without lots of help from adults.
Difficulty-wise: The game's main hub is the Comet Observatory and leads off to the 6 galaxies (in the form of domes). Each contain 5 levels, 3 of which contain 6 individual objectives, and when completed, reward you with a Grand Star (there are a total of 120), which in turn starts to unlock more galaxies. The remaining 2 levels in each galaxy are a stand-alone boss battle and a single objective level. Eventually, after retrieving the required amount of Grand Stars, you'll face off with the last boss, Bowser, and save Princess Peach (for the 100th time).
To do this, Mario will be running around a mix of spherical and traditionally flat levels, while flying through space, collection coins, and defeating enemies. As I said above, a new addition to the Super Mario series is the introduction of spherical level design. The best way to explain it is, think of yourself walking on the surface of a giant ball, where gravity has pulled you to the ground and you can now traverse the area like it's flat. Of course it's not, so your perspective will constantly shift depending on where you are on the sphere. This design actually doesn't change as much as you might think gameplay-wise, and once you get used to it, it will feel just like the normal flat levels.
After the introduction level, Mario is introduced to his new sidekick, Luma (who is a baby star). Luma imbues Mario with the ability to do a 720 degree spin, by shaking the Wiimote at any time during the game. This ability has many uses, like jumping and the spinning in the air, which will let you reach higher areas; spinning into obstacles, which will break them and reveal coins and items; and you can also spin into enemies, resulting in them being stunned for a short time.
The remaining controls are very simple: A button is to jump; A button 3 times while holding forward is a triple flip jump; left-right on analog-stick + jump is a side flip; Z button + A button is backflip, and A then Z is a ground stomp. However, most of these moves are optional, and you'll mostly be using the A button and spin move throughout the majority of the game. The camera can be controlled with the directional-pad by pressing left or right, and centered behind Mario with the C button. However, the camera actually does a really good job of controlling itself most of the time, and whenever you need to adjust it, you can simply use the C button to get a better view of the situation.
The majority of the game's levels play out like a mix of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and even Super Mario World. Unique to this game is, of course, the spherical levels, and to traverse between them, you'll use devices called Launch Stars. To use them, you jump up and swing the Wiimote backwards, resulting in you flying into space and landing on the next sphere. Sometimes you'll have to reassemble these Launch Stars by collecting 5 Star Pieces, thus activating them for use and letting you progress to the next area. There are also things called Star Bits throughout the entire game, and they can be seen falling all over every area. You collect these by simply pointing at them with the Wiimote. These Star bits can be used as currency in the main hub to unlock bonus levels, and you can also shoot them with the B-trigger, which results in them stunning weaker enemies.
