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Greatest Game Of All Time?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Not much more to be said that hasn't already been said this game is simply amazing addictive and not only the game of the year but arguably one of the greatest games of all time. It's worth getting a Wii just for Mario Galaxy.

Wish it was multiplayer--otherwise great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am making it a habit to start my Wii game reviews with the information in the next paragraph because as a buyer, I wish I knew the perspective of the reviewer recommending the game. So if it sounds familiar, my apologies ;) Skip to paragraph 3 if you don't want our "criteria" for games.

We are a two adult, no children household. We look for Wii games that are suitable for many players (we like to have friends over to play), and that are very engaging, and fun. We don't like war/shooter games or games that are too juvenile. We also try to find games that are structured around the unique Wii experience. (Ie, we don't buy racing games and others that require you to use the Wiimote like a traditional controller--we'd use a traditional system for that!)

I will caveat my review by saying that I haven't played a traditional (Mario saves the Princess) Mario game since Super Nintendo Mario. So my review may not be the most helpful for ardent Mario fans because I don't have anything of recent history to compare this to.

However, this Mario is everything of nostalgia, and then some! The basic premise is the same--Princess has managed to again get herself kidnapped by Bowser. Bowser also kidnapped the grand stars and distributed them throughout the galaxy, depleting the power supply on the Luma (stars) home planet. You have to fly through space, defeating foes of various kinds on planets around the galaxy to collect up stars and Grand Stars. The "Home Base" of this game is this satellite planet that has several rooms and observatories in it, that each are a portal to various galaxies. As you collect stars, the power on the home planet is strengthened and you can see more galaxies. Each Galaxy has 1-5 levels to complete and each level has a star. Eventually, collecting all the stars and grand stars will give the satellite enough power to fly to Bowser's ship where you can, theoretically (I haven't yet succeeded) rescue the Princess.

The graphics are beautiful. I'm not a hard core gamer, so perhaps they aren't impressive to the strict game critic, but for the hobbyist gamer, I think they are beautiful. The characters and planets are masterfully 3D, the colors are rich and vibrant, the attention to detail is artful, the perspective is dynamic and the movements are fluid.

The sound is fun. Throughout the game little hidden areas will have new takes on the traditional Mario music. Nintendo was very masterful with the details. For example they even thought to change the way the music sounds when Mario goes under water.

The game requires both the Wiimote and the nunchuck. A second player may assist the first player with a Wiimote, but the second player is not a player in his own right, and cannot do all of the things that player one can do. So in reality, the game is 1 to 1.5 players. (The assistance of the second player is optional).

Every galaxy is different. I'm about 1/3 of the way through all the levels, and so far I've had to run, jump, float, back flip, dive, swim, fly, launch, and twist the Mario character. I know that future levels entail additional movements. The actual directional movement of the character is controlled by the nunchuck, and it took a bit of effort to adapt to using my non-dominant hand to do so, but I was surprised at how easy it was. The Wiimote is used to collect starbits (food for the luma stars), jump, and to do specific mechanics for various movements (like diving while swimming, etc).

The actual levels are surprisingly, easy. They're not simple, and they grow progressively harder, but I was surprised at how easily I (a novice gamer) could progress through the game. The bosses of each observatory present varying levels of difficulty. One critique I have of the game is that how to attack and defeat the bosses is not always evident, nor is it explained in the directions. Some people may enjoy "exploring" and trying to figure it out, but a few times when I gave up, I used the walk-through on mycheats.com for instructions on how to defeat the boss. I recommend that as a resource if you find yourself frustrated. The walk-through does not actually give cheats--just instructions.

Sometimes the instructions for a new type of movement are with the characters in a particular level and you have to talk to them to get the information. However, I haven't found it to always be obvious who the friends and foes are. I wish that was a little more clear in some places. Additionally, one thing that frustrates me is that on some planets, you can run around the entire planet, 360 degrees. So you can run off the side and around the bottom. On other planets, you can fall off the side and die. It's not always evident which way a level is, which leads to innocent Marios being lost to trial and error. Perhaps that's the nature of the beast of this type of game, but I wish it was more consistent.

The game is full of Easter-eggs, which is fun. Throughout the game you'll find hidden extra one ups, extra life points (one 1-up can be injured 3 times before it "dies"--the extra points bump this to 6), hidden galaxies and planets, extra coins and starbits, etc. I have many times gone back to levels to play them again to see what I may have missed. I know I've only touched the tip of the iceberg--this game is so richly detailed.

The game allows for 7 or 8 different profiles, which is nice. You can save your progress and someone else can play without damaging yours.

One thing I like is that you can leave any galaxy and observatory at any time, and, assuming you've "discovered" others, you can go play elsewhere. This is nice for when I get bored, or frustrated with one particular level or type of level, I can go play somewhere else and the game still progresses forward.

As I alluded, some of these levels are played in full 360 degree view. Sometimes the plane moves with Mario so he's always upright, with the gamer viewing him from behind or the side. But sometimes the plane remains stationary and Mario continues to run around it so at times you're playing with Mario upside down on the bottom of the planet or surface, or sometimes you are looking down at the top of his head, sometimes Mario is out the side of the plane at a 90 degree angle and sometimes you only see his shadow as he goes behind something. It's truly ingenious how Nintendo has done this and while it was initially difficult to get used to, it's proven to be very fun.

There is a lot of play in this game. Perhaps a more masterful gamer would complete the game more quickly than we have, but we have played 15-20 hours and are, from what we can tell, a maximum of 1/4 to 1/3 through the game. We appreciate that we haven't exhausted the game's potential so quickly as to disproportion the cost of the game to playing time.

My only critique is that I wish the game was multi player, for at least 2 players. However, that issue aside, we give this two thumbs up.

THE GALAXY OF A LIFE TIME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

THIS GAME IS REALLY COOL. IT IS THE BEST GAME SINCE MARIO SUNSHINE. IT IS THE BEST SELLING GAME NOT INCLUDING WII PLAY AND WII SPORTS ON THE WII.
THIS GAME ROCKS

Only if you already love Mario

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Okay, maybe I'm not even qualified to write a review for this game, because I'm probably not the intended audience. I've never spent more than a few hours on a Mario game.

I play games like The Sims and Civilization on my Mac, and my favorite Wii games have been those like Endless Ocean: Dive, Discover, Dream, Wii Sports, Rayman Raving Rabbids -- games where I'm not constantly dying. But I also really enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, at least for the weekend it was in my possession, so I thought maybe this one would be up my alley as well.

I was wrong. Perhaps it's because I don't have any nostalgic attachment to Mario, but I found the game and plot less-than-compelling. Collect stars and save the princess from the bad guy, blah blah blah. By the third galaxy or so, I was dying so frequently that playing itself wasn't fun, and with no plot to keep me interested, I gave up on it after just a couple of hours of play.

I'm okay with constant dying and restarts in games like Zack & Wiki, when it's the result of not having solved the puzzle yet; I lose enthusiasm quickly when it's entirely related to my control over my left thumb. I don't, by the way, think I have unusually bad fine motor skills, though I'll admit my twitch-skills aren't those of a long-time console gamer.

All in all, I'm sure that for those devoted to the franchise, this is a fun new twist. The game doesn't seem, though, to use the Wii controllers in any novel ways (at least not in the beginning stages). If you weren't into previous Mario games, I can't imagine this would hold much appeal either.

5 Star game? Not really.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 12
Date: January 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Having been a fan of nearly every Mario game previous to this one with few exceptions (Sunshine and the abomination that is Hotel Mario), I had some pretty high expectations for Galaxy. Unfortunately, most of them were not met. The story is as predictable as ever and is actually a near rip-off from the story of the original Paper Mario. The controls are slightly awkward at first, and the camera angles are absolutely disorienting. After awhile, you get used to it, but it doesn't feel natural.

I can say that the graphics are superb, but graphics alone does not make a game great. Besides that, the game seems marketed to young kids, which is something that Nintendo appears to be doing a lot more of with Wii games now. I lost interest in the game almost immediately after playing for a couple of hours and attempted to regain it by playing it again and again, but it just wasn't happening. I'd hold out for Smash Bros. Brawl or get Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario, or Twilight Princess if you're looking for a fun game that won't put you to sleep.

Super Mario 64 TWO!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: November 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been looking forward to this game for YEARS. As soon as I finished Super Mario 64 for the 10000000000000 time, I played Sunshine and was extremely dissapointed. I heard about this game and pre-ordered it immediatley. As dissapointed I was for having to wait a year for the release, it was worth it. It's too bad the Super Mario games only come out once per console. This game brings back all of those 64 feelings and was designed with the same formula but with new challenges so you feel as if you are playing right where you left off in 64. It's everything Sunshine wasn't. The graphics are the best on any Wii game, and the soundtrack is phenonomal, featuring a full orchestra and old tunes weaved into amazing new ones.

Fun game, but takes some getting used to

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: December 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun and addictive much like the other Super Mario games. However, the Galaxy aspect makes it a challenge to navigate the spherical surfaces Mario is on. It took me a while to get into it, but I am hooked.

It's meee Mario!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

What's there to say about mario that hasn't been said? The game looks stunning. the plot is "been there, done that" but at least they added some characters and kept things moving. The controls are easy to get used to and it's almost never a case of trying to do something and failing due to the controls. If you're a hard core gamer it will be short overall, but for regular playing this will be a great to do over spring or maybe even summer break...

Good graphics, boring game play and story line

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 10
Date: December 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I had hoped for a more entertaining game with a richer story line--like most mario games are. This was rather repetitive and didn't hold my attention or my son's attention for very long. It works well with the wii with some frustrating moves that might have been easier to figure out if there were a quick example or something.

Best Wii Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm probably not entitled to review this game, cause I have not finished it yet and only have about 10 stars, but I will....because I love it. It's easily my favorite out of all the Wii games I've played. Again, I can't say it's THE best, because I haven't played all of them. The camera work is superb and it's so much fun just to run around a planet.

Graphics: Amazing for the Wii. As most gamers know, the Wii is easily the least pleasant new system, graphics-wise. But, Galaxy makes you think that it's one of the best. It's absolutely stunning and the enemies, settings, and stars all look great and believable (well, as believable as Mario can be).

Story: Well, I have not finished it, but so far, it's a simple Mario story. Stays to the Mario series, easy. The idea of running around a planet and flying by stars from galaxy to galaxy is fun and to see it happen on screen is superb.

Controls: Very simple and easy to use. It also takes advantage of the Wii systems unique controllers with the shaking, but also stays with normal controls like flying as bee Mario and jumping.

Sound: Very, very fun music and nice to listen to as you hop from galaxy to galaxy. Also, the noises made by Mario and other characters are good. Great and simple music.

Playability: Amazing. You can come back every day for a year and still have fun, imo. It just doesn't get very old. I don't know. It's rare that a game does this to me, but I find myself coming back to it every other hour. It's kinda addictive.

Overall: Love it. Nothing more to say.

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