Super Mario Galaxy

[Spatial]

Another game I've put off until Christmas but it's been difficult to avoid the Mario love.

Finally cracked it open today and after just an hour and a half I see why this has been getting praised. It's definitely the most fun I've had on the Wii to date and despite Galaxy's approach, it still feels like classic Mario. It just oozes charm

I can see this being the perfect accompaniment for those long, dark Chrimbo nights.

[sj33]

Got this for Christmas, honestly lost for words, such a joy to play. Controls may look confusing to an observer, but they actually feel so natural.

The overall style is quite strange mind, definitely Mario, but I couldn't shake off that Kingdom Hearts feeling... maybe it's the whole thing about going to different worlds/planets, each with their own unique function... I kept half expecting Mario to hop into a Gummy Ship.

Not meant as a criticism at all though, this is the best game I've played in a long time, and a real wake-up call to people who probably spent most of this year playing FPS's.

[Revolution6000]

I was kinda hoping SMG would be the game that actually makes proper use of the Wiimote, but maybe it really just is a piece of crap best used for the casuals to wildly flail about with. Controls alright, but really, nothing that couldn't be done on a regular controller.

It's a good game, wouldn't say anywhere near as good as what some people seem to think, and at times it's a little repititive. Maybe I just need to play more, at 27 odd Stars just now.

[sj33]

See this is the thing. You have one group of people who just want to see an excellent, brilliantly executed Mario game... and another that tries to do something new in every stage to separate that from the previous stages. Sonic Adventure took the latter route, and we had a situation where people rushed through the other stages just to get to the Sonic/Shadow levels.

I was only ever going into this expecting a very good, excellently executed Mario game, and it delivers that and more, imo. I can certainly understand the disappointment in that it's not doing too much new, not using the Wii Remote to it's full potential... but I think the rest of us were neither wanting nor expecting that.

As I say though, I can definitely understand people feeling that way towards it.

[TheForce]

I was waiting to start with Mario till I finished HalfLife2 Ep2, but my 360 died on me 1st xmas day (ring of death) , so I had the perfect reason to start with MarioGalaxy , and what a joy !!
It's even better then I hoped it would be !!! this is just so much fun to play, I played it for 8hours straight, I've only pauzed the game to go to toilet or to get something to drink/eat !
The controls are spot on and take almost no practice at all (for the ones that have played the previous games atleast).
So far it's quite easy, but I reckon the last 10 to 20 stars will be pretty challeging !
Can't wait to get home and continue with this one ! great stuff !!
Mario is BACK !

[Zapp$ter]

*snip* and another that tries to do something new in every stage to separate that from the previous stages. Sonic Adventure took the latter route, and we had a situation where people rushed through the other stages just to get to the Sonic/Shadow levels.

Actually, that's exactly what I've thought of Mario Galaxy so far. It seems every galaxy has had something different to do to separate it from the previous ones. Even within the same galaxy, there's been lots of variation. Generally, they seem to use an idea once and then almost discard it rather than developing it further. It's only now that I've gotten to something like 40+ stars that I'm starting to see some repetition.

[C']

It was a difficult 6 week wait, but got this for Christmas and only had time for a couple of short goes so far (8 stars obtained) but already I can see this is something pretty special.

I only recently played through Super Mario 64 from start to finish (120 stars) and whilst it was a great game, Galaxy feels more like a traditional Mario game in 3D compared to SM64. Already this feels more like a platformer than SM64 did (which felt more sandbox-style to me except for the Bowser levels and a few of the later areas like Tick-Tock Clock) and the power ups are pure Super Mario (Bee Mario is awesome) which shows up the ‘cap’ powers in 64.

Although I’ve yet to travel beyond the first observatory, it seems the game is designed with a large amount of galaxies each containing a smaller number of tasks to complete (3 stars each in the first 2 galaxies) which again feels better than Super Mario 64 and Sunshine’s method of having a smaller number of worlds containing a large number of stars which meant worlds could get a little tiresome by the time you got to the 6th or 7th star as repetition set in.

Definitely lives up to the hype and easily the best game on the Wii.

[Ouenben]

Although I?ve yet to travel beyond the first observatory, it seems the game is designed with a large amount of galaxies each containing a smaller number of tasks to complete (3 stars each in the first 2 galaxies) which again feels better than Super Mario 64 and Sunshine?s method of having a smaller number of worlds containing a large number of stars which meant worlds could get a little tiresome by the time you got to the 6th or 7th star as repetition set in.

Definitely lives up to the hype and easily the best game on the Wii.

Theres main galaxies that have

->Open Spoiler<-

6

stars and the small/mini galaxies with only 1 star

->Open Spoiler<-

(except 1 secret one)

[Spatial]

Just got to the Space Junk Planet - what a cracking Galaxy that is.

Between it looks georgeous and the music is truly beautiful, but I really did laugh at the bit at the end of the third stage where

->Open Spoiler<-

the junk starts clumping together to form the platforms

That's nothing that hasn't been done before but it was so well done

[Nisa]

I've been playing this in small doses since the UK launch and loving every moment of it,so far I have 70 odd stars but I don't want to go to Bowser just yet, really want to savour it rather than just rush through to the end.

It is by far the best game I've played this year and definitely a contender for best platformer ever. Last night I unlocked Melty Molten Galaxy which is sooooo good and the music is fantastic as well.

[r3z]

Recently got this and just upto 60 stars, but I was wondering what the point of the gold coin high score is, as I read that you don't get a star for collecting them like with SM64/Sunshine?

[Mofoman]

Nice to see this finally getting the recognition it deserves in japan, mainly due to strong Wii sales, drive by both people playing this and word of mouth and wii fit, which is a phenomenom in itself in japan at the moment.

Anyway:

Mario Party DS (NDS, Nintendo) - 329,826 [1,156,000]
Final Fantasy IV (NDS, Square Enix) - 287,697
Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo) - 214,334 [749,000]
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 113,831 [664,000]

Sales starting to get better every week in japan which is healthy for agame of this quality as Nintendo needs it to sell over a million before they decide to reuse that beautiful engine and mae us a sequel uber quick, I'd even settle for an expansion pack type game, it's so good.

I can see this easily being the best selling 3d mARIO TO DATE, as the weeks go by in japan, Worldwide sales, no problem, but japan has been frosty to 3d mario ubntil now it seeems.

[fuse]

Been playing this in small doses, now up to about 25 stars.

It's absolutely bloody fantastic.

[Daragon]

I really should stop reading the posts in this thread, I got 4 stars on this so far and I'm not really used the Wiimote and nunchuck yet I've put it on hold while I work on Twilight Princess. I figure they're both fantastic games and very special in their own right, but it's my first proper time with either.

[C']

Personally I found Twilight Princess a little dull but this really is a class apart from any game out there at the moment.

Tops Orange Box as my pick for GOTY.