Well, here I am again. It’s been 2 years since I started this blog, and I am very proud of it. A lot of hard work went into retyping some reviews, and I am actually still retyping some reviews as of now, but this isn’t about retyping reviews. This is my 2-year anniversary review special. At first, I wanted to do a bad game, but I decided not to torture myself with a bad game on this special occasion. I decided to review my favorite game of all time. I am not saying it just because it’s a good game. It is literally my number 1 favorite game of all time. There is no way around it, no game has gotten this spot in awhile. Final Fantasy 9 and God of War 3 were very close competitors, but this game just took that spot like no other game could. So, let’s dive into my favorite game of all time, Super Mario Galaxy 2
I am going to say this right now to start this review off right, I am a HUGE HUGE Mario fan. I mean, it’s like the number 1 franchise in history to usher in platforming, and it’s just flat out famous. I mean, yeah, there were some hiccups in Mario’s career, but that’s because people who weren’t Nintendo were stupid, like Phillips, who made that god-awful Hotel Mario. Recently, I have been thinking of what were my top 20 favorite games of all time, and that is no easy list to make, since I love a lot of games like Final Fantasy 9, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Brutal Legend, Psychonauts, Uncharted 2, and you get the idea. Hands down though, my favorite game of all time had to be Super Mario Galaxy. It just ushered in a new wave of next generation 3D platforming. It had great level designs, a steady challenge, and it was just flat out fun. I could pop it into my Wii any day and play it. Sadly, I have to now push Super Mario Galaxy aside so that a new game that I have just fallen in love with and is now my favorite game of all time, Super Mario Galaxy 2 can replace it. This is hands down the game that just tops any other 3D platformer. I mean, come on! It has been getting critical acclaim, and even though it didn’t have the same impact as the first game, it made an already super amazing game just perfect. Let’s dive right into this wondrous game and let me explain why I think this is the perfect platformer.
The story is paper-thin, and you can tell Nintendo didn’t really care what the story was, but this time it’s a good thing to not bother with a story for a character like Mario. All you need to know is that Mario is going to see Princess Peach for yet another Falling Star Festival like the last game, and then Bowser, who for some reason is as big as Godzilla, decides to take Peach to take control of the galaxy once again. It is up to Mario to travel through the galaxies and stop Bowser. Like I said, the story is paper-thin and isn’t really important, but it’s Mario again, so why do you need a character like Mario to have a deep dark story? Either way, it fits the game, and it doesn’t get in the way of the wonderful gameplay featured in this game.
The gameplay feature in this game is basically the same as the last game, but with a few changes. Back are a lot of mini-galaxies to travel to on a giant ship in the shape of Mario’s head. The entire map set-up is like Super Mario Brothers 3 or any other Super Mario game that uses a map-like system. There are about two or three stars on each mini-galaxy, and usually one hidden star, which is harder to find than the others since it’s usually in places you overlook. Mario’s platforming hasn’t changed much here. He can still triple jump, backward jump, wall jump, spin, and butt pound. He has all of his basic moves, and that’s good, since Mario is an archetype of a platforming protagonist. He has very basic moves that are then set up to be more complex moves. There are still some unique levels, like having to travel on top of a giant marble that has a star inside throughout some of the levels. There are also water-racing levels, ice skating levels, and flying levels. The flying levels are more on the line of getting to the finish line in a certain amount of time by flying with a bird. This is a Mario game, and he has a bunch of power-ups. Back is the Invincibility Star, Fire Flower, Boo Mushroom, and Bee Mushroom, but we also have a few new power-ups. The first one comes in the form of a giant drill that helps Mario drill through sections of the earth, and during one boss fight is the main gimmick to beat that boss. There is also a Rock Mushroom that gives Mario the ability to roll over enemies and knock down barriers and get through areas faster. The third and final new power-up is the Cloud Mushroom. This gives Mario the ability to make three cloud platforms at a time. To reload on clouds you would need to get another Cloud Mushroom. A major gimmick that was introduced in this game was the ability to ride on Yoshi through some levels that needed him. He can basically grab anything with his tongue and turn it into a coin or star bits. Yoshi also has an array of power-ups. Different fruits will give him powers, like super speed, the ability to make pathways appear and go up to higher areas. Yoshi can also grapple onto stuff like flowers to flip across areas, or pull on handles to make platforms appear. The final and another major gimmick for the game is to play as Luigi during some levels instead of Mario. Luigi just stops a little slower than Mario, and can jump higher, so you pick your preferred playing method.
The graphics are outstanding. There is very little that changes the game engine from the last one, but there are a few awesome effects. It’s just a very good-looking Wii game that has a very charming look with bright colors, amazing level design, and amazing music. The levels, like I said, are amazing looking. There is more work put into some levels than other entire games as a whole. I know that seems like a pretty big thing to say, but it’s true. I have to think one of my favorite levels of all time in a Mario game is the Throwback Galaxy that is actually designed like one of the early levels in Super Mario 64, with the enemies called Whomps. It’s such a nostalgic look at one of the first 10 games I ever played, Super Mario 64. The music is OMG amazing! It might not be like the HD and Blue Ray counterparts, but god dang does it sound good! Koji Kondo gives us yet ANOTHER masterpiece with new tracks and remixes of old tracks. Each time I enter a level, I take a minute to absorb the musical score of that level. Then I play through it, though I will give people a heads-up and say that this game is HARD. I mean it isn’t the hardest game of all time by no mean since it’s more on the line of what you have to do then how to do it, but it’s going to challenge even the most experienced Mario players. I know I might be overly praising this game, but like I said IT”S MY FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME! It was hard to top Super Mario Galaxy, but they did it! Also, this is my review and I will write what I want. The boss fights are also very creative and are just a blast to play through. Even the final confrontation with Bowser caught me by surprise, and was probably the most epic Mario/Bowser fight of all time!
Before I continue with this, I just want to give my personal experience with this game. After playing and beating Super Mario Galaxy multiple times, I just get such a good feeling inside me, not of just accomplishment, but of love and just an overall unexplainable feeling I have for this game. You can just tell so much hard work went into it. A lot of heart and soul went into this game. I don’t mean that other Mario games are slackers, not at all. It’s just for some reason I feel so much closer to this game. There is something that makes me feel so attached to this game. You might call me biased in this review, but this is MY favorite game of all time, I’ll praise it as much as I god dang want to!
I am being 100% honest with you all about what I am about to say. I really have no major issues with this game. It is like the perfect Mario game. I really have only minor issues with this game that won’t hurt my score of it. One of the minor issues of this game is that I wish Rock Mario were a little more controllable, since it was kind of awkward during some levels trying to get the star. The same goes with Yoshi when he gets the super speed power-up. It controls well, but for a certain area of the final level, it took me forever, since Yoshi kept bumping into something while running down a narrow pathway. That is really all I have to say that is bad. None of this will factor into the final score, since they are just minor issues that aren’t worth worrying about.
Well, there you have it. My review of my favorite game of all time. Great gameplay, amazing graphics, perfect difficulty, and the exact definition of replay value. This is the game to have for any Wii owner. Yeah, we have games like the new Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Metroid title, but this is the best game on the Wii. This is the game I would recommend to any gamer of any age. This game gets my first ever Cam’s Seal of Awesomeness! Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking around for 2 years reading my reviews, everyone. Hope to see you in the future.
This game gets a perfect 10 out of 10.
Comments