Gamers Galaxy: “Super Mario Galaxy”

We play video games for a lot of reasons now ““ to compete, to make friends, or maybe just to experience a story. However, games like “Super Mario Galaxy” remind us why we began playing games in the first place ““ because they’re fun.

Although players still collect coins and stars to open up new worlds, almost everything else has changed about the beloved Mario franchise. “Super Mario Galaxy” is Wii’s best game, and a beautiful reimagining of the platforming genre.

“Galaxy” is defined by its variety. The game remains fresh through over 20 hours of gameplay, and this incredible diversity is one of “Galaxy’s” greatest achievements. Gameplay constantly evolves. Each new galaxy explored brings a new platforming wrinkle, and despite the overwhelming array of control schemes and gameplay mechanics, their execution is perfect. Whether you’re flying though the Honey Hive galaxy as a bumblebee or bouncing through a toy-themed galaxy as Mario the Slinky, the controls are precisely executed via the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combo. Cooperative mode is seamlessly integrated with an extra Wii Remote, with one player collecting and shooting stars and alleviating environmental obstacles while the other player controls Mario.

The environments vary as widely as the gameplay. Despite providing approximately 30 galaxies to explore, “Super Mario Galaxy” never gets repetitive. Not tethered to a central design theme as in “Super Mario Sunshine,” “Galaxy’s” predecessor, the game’s environments are wildly creative, even deranged at some points. When you think “˜galaxies,’ planets immediately come to mind, right? Not if you’re Shigeru Miyamoto, the chief designer of the game. Mario orbits floating piles of junk, surfs along a giant hovering racetrack of water, and at one point in the game, romps through an entirely edible planet of cookies, cake and chocolate, replete with giant, floating silverware.

“Super Mario Galaxy” is Wii’s greatest graphical achievement to date, thanks to the game’s high production values and a lot of elbow grease on the part of Nintendo. Environments burst with exciting visual effects, dynamic lighting, and surprisingly impressive particle animations that many thought impossible with the Wii’s sparse chipset. Explosions billow impressively while stars constantly pop out of and into the environment. During some parts of the game there’s so much on-screen chaos you feel as if you’re simply along for the ride ““ a wildly entertaining roller-coaster ride, fortunately. The game is as fun to look at as it is to play.

The game’s difficulty level, or lack thereof, is the only dark spot in an otherwise shining example of game design. Much of Mario’s move set has been mapped to simple, accessible motion controls, part of a greater trend of catering to mass audiences on Nintendo’s part. Hardcore gaming experiences are still available on the retro style platforming levels/galaxies, where entire fortunes of hard-earned extra lives may be depleted in a matter of minutes, but the majority of the game offers few real obstacles. In particular, the difficulty level of the bosses is unsatisfying. Boss battles typically follow the pattern in which after an initial blow, the boss became redder and angrier, but no more difficult to defeat.

However, “Super Mario Galaxy” isn’t really about being challenging or about drawing players into an involved story line. It’s about gameplay, creativity, and most importantly, fun. With an emphasis on those values, “Super Mario Galaxy” is one of the most pure gaming experiences available on any system to date.

““ Frank Shyong

E-mail Shyong at fshyong@media.ucla.edu.

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