The Good

You'll be hard pressed to find a more colorful title anywhere else.

Can we not just take a moment and celebrate the return of the platformer? Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns. Man, I am a happy platforming camper! Let’s dissect those titles just a bit.

First off, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was and still is my choice for 2010 Game of the Year. I’m even going so far as to say that it’s my favorite Mario game, period. Hefty claims, sure, but I was so, so pleased with the final product that it’s hard for me not to sing its endless praises. You get your money’s worth from Galaxy 2, and while a lot of people keep complaining that it’s just more of the same from the first Galaxy, what the hell are you talking about? The basics are the same, but there are new elements added and over 95% of the game is entirely new. If you love Mario, you’ll probably love Galaxy 2. If you hate Mario, duh, you’ve been hating on Galaxy 2 for the worst part of 2010 and need to just step aside and enjoy whatever game you like instead. This is just MY favorite.

Metroid: Other M is mainly positive but what people have been talking about most is the stupidest aspect from the game: Samus talks. A lot. I’m of the camp that Samus absolutely should be allowed to talk, but not very much. No, it doesn’t ruin the game, but there are some elements that the Japanese team from Team Ninja fumbled pretty bad. Samus’ reasoning for running around the game depowered? Her superior officer, a guy named Adam, hasn’t okayed certain powers yet. Yikes. Samus, one of the strongest examples of a female not used like an idiot in video games, runs around in lava because her male superior said she couldn’t turn her heat suit on. That’s just, yikes. Otherwise the rest of the game is perfectly solid. But, ugh, can we get a collective facepalm here? *collective facepalm* Thank you.

With Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the emphasis was placed more on creating a game based around fun rather than a challenge. It was impossible to die in any level, making a handful of hardcore fans turn away, but those that stayed got a chance to see the Wii shine as a graphical marvel. Why? Because everything really, truly looks like it’s made of yarn.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is the near opposite of Kirby with platforming segments that’ll make you want to punch your co-op partner right in the face. Thankfully, Retro Studios pulled off a perfect recreation of the style from the original Donkey Kong Country games, making for so many good times.

By the way, thank you for bringing minecarts back. I appreciate that, I really do.

And while I didn’t do a review or anything of it (don’t ask me why, I must be a bad editor), Monster Hunter Tri sold exactly one gazillion copies and has quickly become the most-played title on the Wii. So good job Monster Hunter! Keep up that…monster hunting I guess.

In the DS department, holy cow, can we say Dragonquest IX and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver? Two massively successful RPG’s both attuned to the DS sensibilities of simple gameplay and deep, lengthy adventures with craptons to do. Both games can easily reward you with hours in the abundance of hundreds worth of gameplay. You’d hardly have a reason to buy any other titles. Except Super Scribblenauts. You should have bought that one, too.

Hey, our good buddy Akira Toriyama! I get get behind this!

The Bad

So the big letdowns from Nintendo this year sort of come down to what they didn’t do. The Wii’s sales have begun to take a heavy downward slide, and while I could go on and on about how hardware sales don’t really mean much, the basic gist is that the Wii has hit its peak. Why don’t we have a Wii HD? I have no clue, but yet another year without one just gives ammunition to graphical nuts that demand every game look as amazing as possible, otherwise they have no reason to play it.

In addition to the omission of a new main console update, Nintendo has continued to do a really, really sucky jobs promoting 3rd party developers on the system. There have been some great games released for the system, such as Masamura The Demon Blade, and too few people ended up playing it to reward the developer with a reason to make another title for the Wii any time soon. You may argue that it’s not Nintendo’s job to promote 3rd party titles, but keep in mind that Microsoft and Sony do that all the freaking time and as a result, sales go up on their systems and on the games promoted. Nintendo is just shooting themselves in the foot with 3rd party developers at this point. Anyone remember what happened in the GameCube era? We got a lot of good Nintendo titles, Resident Evil 4, and not much else. All because Nintendo was being stubborn.

My point here with Nintendo’s “bad” category is that while they didn’t do anything inherently wrong this year (thankfully they already got their stupid motion control system release out of the way), they didn’t particularly do anything to inspire confidence that their console titles will be much to look forward to in the future. Also, yet another year they haven’t hired me as a Localization Writer/Editor. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!

C'mon Reggie, you know I'm gold with a keyboard!

Somewhere In Between

With Nintendo, they usually just shift toward a definite “Good” and a definite “Bad.” Of the games that came out this year that fall somewhere in the middle, Epic Mickey sort of defines the middle ground. It isn’t a bad game by any stretch of the term, but it also isn’t quite the title people were hoping it would be. Plus, Warren Spector started griping about people griping about the camera, and that just bugs me. A bad camera is a bad camera, no matter what. Deal, Warren.

What's all this "we" business all of a sudden?

Another Not Quite Bad, Not Quite Good title was the Wii remake of GoldenEye. This was supposed to be the exalted return of the FPS to a Nintendo console but it turned into a big heavy “meh.” You can certainly do worse, but it’s not even interesting enough to mention more than what I just did.

Finishing off the Somewhere In Between are Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers and No More Heroes 2, both titles that have their fanbases but both titles that I completely forgot existed since the beginning of the year. But hey, go play those if you feel inclined. They’re probably in the cheap games pile by this point, so you have nothing to lose.

Looking Ahead

Where Nintendo really hit the hardest is their lineup for next year. I’m sad they have no plans for a better home console (announced anyway), but I am getting a 3DS at launch even if I have to give up a lung, a kidney, and a testicle. Might as well since Nintendo has me by the balls so frequently.

Anyway, enough of that imagery for you, the 3DS had demos for a new Kid Icarus title, a new Paper Mario title, a remake of both Star Fox 64 and Ocarina of Time, possibly a new Metal Gear Solid game, and perhaps the most impressive graphical feat, a Resident Evil title that’s sure to make a lot of those aforementioned graphics nuts very, very pleased. Damn do I want a 3DS.

Well, I'm a happy if not hypocritical camper.

The Wii doesn’t really have anything new I’m hoping for other than Skyward Sword, the new Zelda game, though that assumes it doesn’t get pushed back as usual to make room for…actually I’m not sure why Zelda games get pushed back so frequently. Make with the new Zelda titles already! Dance, monkey, dance!

Oh, and lastly, new Pokemon games. The 5th generation is already out in Japan, but the US will be getting Pokemon Black & White in the early months of 2011, so keep an eye out for when those come out and dominate the sales charts yet again.

What sort of rating does Nintendo get this year? I’m a diehard fan, so of course I’m handing Nintendo its A’s like I fixed the test in its favor. From a business standpoint though, Nintendo is scraping by with a D, which means it’s passing but it’d have to retake the course for credit toward its major. Simply, Nintendo needs to make friendly with the 3rd party developers as soon as it possibly can, otherwise it’ll be all alone again and we’ll have to watch as Microsoft gobbles the market (yeah, eat it Sony fanboys!).

Want more undying love for nintendo? Check out these articles:

-Let’s Think Deep: The Great Zelda Schism

-Smash Bros: A Retrospective

-Tips From a Grandmaster: Super Mario Galaxy 2

10. Mass Effect 2:

A great game and a great soundtrack. Bring on the next game in the series!

Not too long ago, I blitzed through Mass Effect 1 & 2 a total of two times in a row. Afterward I realized that I really liked the soundtracks I heard. This prompted me to, naturally, find said soundtracks and listen to them properly without my attention focused on things happening on-screen. And you know what? Mass Effect 2 is wonderful as an orchestra soundtrack. The background score fits things perfectly with drama and action, yet it still has those rare techno nightclub tracks that I’m so fond of. Simply, this is one cool soundtrack.

9. Custom Robo GameCube:

You probably never played this game, but I loved it.

Yeah yeah, I know, “You like THAT game?” Yes I do, actually. I found Custom Robo on the GameCube, the first Custom Robo game to make it to the US from Japan, to be an extremely underrated game that few people really gave a chance to. It was far from perfect, especially the concept behind the Robo battles, but for some reason I became rather fond of the soundtrack. Enough so that I’ve listened to it multiple times in its entirety. It has a very arcade-like quality to it, a quality that I enjoy due to my upbringing with video games in general. The music stirs up emotions I wouldn’t expect a game like this to stir up, so in the end, hey, I love this game and especially love this soundtrack. I really wish they’d make a new game in the series or remake the originals. Why haven’t they done that yet?

8. Super Mario Galaxy 2:

A space dinosaur is acting as maestro. That's awesome.

Of all the Mario games, how could I pick the newest one? Well, for one, the Mario Galaxy games have a real orchestra doing the music for them. That alone goes a long way to kick things up a level in terms of quality, but really, it’s just that both the series staples and the new additions are treated with equal care, making excellent recompositions of old favorites and new tracks that become well-loved instantly. The Puzzle Plank Galaxy’s music blindsided me the first time I heard it since I audibly said, “Wow, I think I really like this.” Taking background music for a Mario game and combining it with orchestral pieces in such as way that neither aspect is lost is just a feat I’m astonished by. Therefore, I love this soundtrack.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game:

You can actually just download this soundtrack and forgo the game, it's that's much better.

Anamanaguchi is an awesome band, and I’m not just saying that because I had the chance to meet them and see them play live. However, I will say that if you’ve played Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game more than a few times, you know that the music gets stuck in your head to the intensity that old Mega Man tracks are still imbedded inside your frontal lobe (or wherever they keep that stuff). I started having trouble sleeping after playing the game enough since I wasn’t able to stop the music in my head from waking me up. In total I’ve probably listened to the soundtrack a dozen times at this point, and I’m still hearing new tracks that I’m enjoying. The game gets a serious boost thanks to the soundtrack, so that’s why it lands on my list.

6. Final Fantasy VI:

It's a tear-jerker, so bring a tissue.

My very first Final Fantasy game was Final Fantasy III for the SNES. I’m aware that it’s really VI, but I don’t care anymore. The point is, the soundtrack was the first thing that made me like the game to begin with. I didn’t want to give this game the time of day but the music I heard in just the first half hour of gameplay alone forced me to continue playing long past the point of thought. I just knew that I now loved this game. Every character has a distinct and likeable theme, multiple areas stand out as great examples of music done right, and the opera scene, a scene every gamer seems to know by heart at this point, is enough to justify placing this soundtrack in a special league of its own. That league happens to be this top ten list, but still, that’s something, isn’t it?

5. Chrono Trigger:

It's like if Dragonball Z had a good RPG tied in to it. Except better.

Take everything I just said about Final Fantasy VI, drop the part about the opera scene, add a trial sequence, multiply things by a factor of 1.1, and you have my love for Chrono Trigger’s soundtrack. I picked Robo’s Theme not too long ago as my favorite track from this game, but it was a hard, HARD choice to make since each character has a theme I really love. The Battle with Magus, the world map, the opening cinematics, it all adds up into one monster of a good soundtrack. I’ve even managed to get my wife to successfully play Chrono Trigger while actually liking it to the point that Frog’s Theme can make her turn her head and yell out, “Oh! That’s my Froggie!” So there you go, welcome to the list Chrono Trigger.

4. Soul Calibur 2:

A flaming sword with wings is on the cover. 80's metal bands would be jealous.

Now before it happens, let me stop you right there Mr. Soul Calibur fan: The only Soul Calibur game I own is Soul Calibur 2. I played Soul Calibur 3, and acknowledge that a lot of people consider Soul Edge or Soul Calibur to be the best of the series. That said, I don’t care about those games; my favorite is 2 and one of my favorite game soundtracks comes from 2. I’ve been able to listen to it repeatedly and still enjoy myself since each track is extremely detailed to fit the stage it’s from. In fact, the amount of detail is staggering to my feeble little brain to handle. Having so many epic tracks in one 2-disc soundtrack boggles the mind, so I try not to think about it too much. I forgo that thought process and just enjoy the music for what it is: A masterpiece.

3. SSX Tricky:

I'm weird, I know, but whatever because this soundtrack is perfect.

If there’s one thing EA does well, it’s assemble soundtracks. While the SSX series doesn’t have any tracks that are inherently exclusive to SSX, SSX Tricky became one of the first video game soundtracks I decided I needed to order online, purely so I could listen to it at my leisure. And listen at my leisure I did. To this day, I’m amazed that every single track on the soundtrack is a track I have no problem listening to, and even more, some have become real favorites of mine as normal everyday music. It is a shame that the CD doesn’t include the mixes of “It’s Tricky” into the other tracks, brought on by filling your Tricky meter, but at the very least you have a solid CD filled with good music to cruise to while driving, and really, isn’t that what most music strives to be? Now why couldn’t I summon any interest in the series after Tricky?

2. TMNT IV SNES:

If only there was an official CD release for this soundtrack. I'd have bought at least one copy.

I knew I was going to select Turtles in Time as a favorite soundtrack, but what I didn’t know was whether I’d choose the SNES soundtrack over the arcade soundtrack. Here we are at the fabled day and I’m down to the wire having to make the choice, so with a gun to my shell, I’m going with the SNES version. Why? Something about it sounds better to me. Perhaps it’s the desire to hear this soundtrack played with real guitars. Because it has yet to be converted to such an awesome tribute album, I prefer to hear it as if it were closer tied to a video game, and the SNES version does just that. Plus, something about the arcade music sounds, I don’t know, weird. Debate aside, listen to Turtles in Time’s soundtrack and try and tell me it doesn’t sum up beat-‘em-ups perfectly. If only someone could recreate this soundtrack for a GOOD TMNT arcade game, my life would be complete.

1. Super Smash Bros Brawl:

Brilliant!

At last, my favorite video game soundtrack, and wouldn’t you know it, I managed to select the king of soundtracks. Most soundtracks on this list contain under 50 tracks, whereas Super Smash Bros Brawl has over 300 tracks, a staggering number by all accounts. I have a version of the Melee soundtrack on CD as performed by the New Japan Philharmonic, but Brawl far outshines it in diversity and scope. It contains the greatest hits of video game music with tracks from Mario games, Zelda games, Sonic games, Metal Gear Solid games, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Metroid, Star Fox, and more. It’s unbelievable just how much work and how many composers had a hand in this soundtrack. This is the most bang for your buck, so if I was forced to choose only one single soundtrack to listen to for the rest of my days, here it is. Can’t do better than this in my eyes.

There, I’m done. Four consecutive posts all about video game music. I’m all musiced out, but that doesn’t mean you have to be. I want to know what your favorite video game soundtracks are. Do you love some of my choices as well? Or do you have some you’re surprised I didn’t mention? Leave a comment and let me know, though it may take a while to respond since I have over 300 songs to listen through before I can do anything again.

Want more Top Ten lists? Check these out:

-10 Pokemon You’d Rather Not Evolve

-Top 15 Best Overclocked Remixes

-The 20 Greatest Mario Enemies Ever

Want to know how to beat every inch of Mario Galaxy 2? Read on my friends.

Welcome to my first attempt at offering tips and tricks to a popular video game. For me, I’ve always felt as if I was a fairly good game player, but I was never sure if that translated to teaching. We’ll find out today as I offer Tips From a Grandmaster for one of the best games of the year: Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii.

Before we begin, know that I’ll be giving away a handful of spoilers about the game. Namely, all of them. I’m going to tell you every little secret you may encounter and I’m going to do it very quickly and unforgivingly. I will tell you what you get for collecting 120 stars, what you get for doing what comes after that, and your ultimate reward. Hopefully I’ll also be telling you how best to play, but that’s all speculation on my part.

This is your final spoiler warning.

Bowser will have none of this spoiling. Leave now or feel the burn of a spoil.

Okay, now that it’s just us devoted Mario Galaxy 2 players, let me jump right into saying that I’ve now successfully 100% completed Super Mario Galaxy 2. Overall it may just be my favorite Mario 3D platformer now due to how spot on everything about it has been. But there are still some unfortunate downsides that I will address, specifically limitations you’re going to have to find ways around in order to proceed at the Grandmaster level. We ready to begin? First, the basics.

Collecting all 120 Power Stars isn’t too difficult in the long run. I’d say that the more difficult levels tend to be ones where motion controls are required, such as gliding or using the giant rolling ball (I LOATH those levels). Get those out of the way first so as to alleviate stress later on. Two trains of thought dictate that when coming to a particularly difficult star you either A. Take a break from that star and go onto something different, or B. Struggle through it until you succeed. I’m very much of the second option, but that doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes the best course of action is simply shutting the game off and allowing yourself to unwind for a bit.

Once you’ve collected all 120 stars and beaten Bowser yet again, you’ll learn of the Green Stars. These will double the number of stars in the game. Take stock of your skills at this point and above all take a break. It can be soul crushing to see Trickster Comets hit every single level again, right after you’ve just “finished” the game in your mind.

So it's basically a star, but it's green. Pretty simple concept to wrap your head around.

The basics of Green Stars are fairly simple. Green Stars in a level are proportional to the number of Power Stars in the level, meaning either two or three. Green Stars do not have a special condition to appear. Rather, they’re floating out in the open, waiting to be grabbed. They will not be inside boxes, chests, balloons, or enemies.

Most important to know for Green Stars is their distinctive sound. They make a sort of shimmery glowy noise when you are near them. This will be your big indicator as to their location or if you’re close to them. Sometiemes it works best to take it slow in a level and pay close attention to everything you see or hear. Many Green Stars will be painfully simple to grab. The very first Green Star in the first galaxy is pretty much right above your head, more or less, requiring a backflip at most to collect. Others will be downright nasty to grab.

My general rule for Green Stars comes down to going in order of your least-favorite galaxies first and working backward to something simpler. This will reduce your stress, as I mentioned earlier, and allow you to motor through some galaxies faster. I started collecting Green Stars from the S World first and worked my way back through all galaxies with gliding or ball rolling, then through boss levels, then all galaxies with two stars, then World 6 and so on. I ended with the Puzzle Plank Galaxy, my favorite for one reason or another. If you prefer to start simple and work your way towards more difficult galaxies, start in World 1 and move upwards that way. Nothing says you have to go in order though, so use that to your advantage.

And nothing said you had to like these stages either. They're unfair and I hate them.

Okay, now that you know how you’re going to be proceeding with the Green Star Challenge, you’ll need to know some techniques the first 120 stars didn’t teach you. Here they are:

This dude in now your best friend. Get used to it.

Get Comfortable With Luigi: You can switch between using Mario and Luigi at any time on the starship once you beat Bowser the first time. They play slightly different with the main change being jumping height. Luigi can noticeably jump higher and further than Mario. However, Luigi has less traction and takes a bit of extra time to stop, making precise movements tricky. Once you get the hang of Luigi, you’ll prefer him to Mario due to the game-breaking jumps you’ll be capable of. A vast number of Green Stars are placed in locations that seem only Luigi will have the jumping ability to hit, so you need to know how to use him and get really chummy because he’ll be your go-to guy for the second batch of 120 stars.

Sometimes you gotta break a few Yoshi eggs when baking a cake.

Learn How to Sacrifice Yoshi: Up until the Green Stars, I had never been in a situation where I needed to jump off Yoshi in order to get a little extra oomph to my jumps. Knowing the proper time to dismount from Yoshi to gain a little extra air is vital to collecting Green Stars since most galaxies with Yoshi in them place the Green Stars floating over an empty void reachable only with some well-timed flutter jumps and a hasty dismount/spin. Yoshi is your friend but you can’t get every star without dropping a few Yoshis to their untimely demise. Get used to this fact and learn how to dismount, a skill as simple as performing the backflip while on Yoshi.

It's fluffy. Learn to love it. Make that fluff an extension of your body.

Savor the Cloud Suit: It seems like a fairly simple rule of thumb that whenever a Cloud Suit is available in a level, you’ll be expected to utilize it to its fullest to get at least one Green Star in said level. Many times you’ll be asked to reach a Green Star only reachable with the Cloud Suit, meaning you have to know how to make really far leaps and create a cloud at the correct distance. Whenever you find a Cloud Flower and gain the Cloud Suit, don’t waste your clouds all willy-nilly. It is very likely you’ll be required to use all of those clouds at some point in the level. The Melty Molten Galaxy is a prime example of this. If you don’t save at least one or two clouds for late in the level, you won’t be able to get to one of the Green Stars. Be comfortable with the extra floatiness of the Cloud Suit and know when to spin and when not to spin.

Master the Triple Jump: You won’t have to use the Triple Jump until the Green Stars, but then it comes up a number of times. Green Stars will routinely be seen hovering just out of reach above your head. A backflip/spin won’t give you enough air, or even a summersault flip/spin. This is where the mastery of the Triple Jump is critical. The game won’t ask you to do a Triple Jump in any place that doesn’t allow for the running start, but it still demands careful timing. Practice in places where you aren’t likely to die from screwing this up. Once you have the rhythm down you should have less of a problem getting some of the more difficult Green Stars like the first Green Star in the Stone Cyclone Galaxy.

Line Up Your Shots: The Triple Jump is useful for gaining air, but the Long Jump/Spin combo will gain you the most distance, especially with Luigi. Problem is, some Green Stars are located outside your line of sight. You’ll frequently encounter instances where you can’t turn the camera to see straight, either, meaning you’ll have to manually look around to see where the Green Star is shimmering. Once you know where it is in relative distance and height, look for some markings on the ground to help indicate where to jump from. You’ll frequently find straight lines leading you right to the star, allowing you to have a better idea how to aim.

Hey, sometimes things get tough. You'll get over it. Sometimes ghosts chase you. You'll get over it.

Accept Failure: Some of the Green Stars are unfair, simple as that. I’d wager at least half of them are floating over an empty void, meaning that if you miss your shot you’re looking at one less life in your stash (or ‘stache). It is really easy to blame the camera in most places. Do that. It’s easier to accept that the camera is faulty rather than you as the player. Learn to accept when Green Stars are placed in a vague place in what appears to be an optical illusion and realize that you’ll need to just try again and again until you line the shot up perfectly. I can’t tell you how many times I was so dead sure I landed on the star from a crazy jump but fell right past it. Try again and you’ll get it eventually. It’s a pain, but learn to deal and you’ll be fine.

Come To Terms With What You’re Trying to Accomplish: Here’s where the End Game spoiler comes in: You aren’t getting anything from finding all 242 stars in the game. After collecting the 120 Green Stars, you’ll unlock the final galaxy, the Grandmaster Galaxy. This is a tough galaxy, and rightfully so. Once you collect the 241st star, the 49th Comet Medal, and accrue 9,999 Star bits with the Bank Toad, the final star will appear. It is a Daredevil Run of the Grandmaster Galaxy, meaning you have one hit point, no saves, and almost no chance to beat this one. I must have died fifty times just trying to collect this one single star. And what did I get for my trouble? You get three things, beyond the satisfaction of completing the game.

First, Roselina joins your starship. She will now sit on the starship and offer her thanks for having nothing left to do in the game. You don’t get to play as her or anyone else. She just sits there and says “Thanks” every time you speak with her. Secondly, you get a message on your Wii message board that shows a picture of your 242 stars lined up, saying basically, “Thanks for playing the game!” from the development team. Lastly, you unlock the death counter for your profile, letting you know how many times you died while playing the game. This isn’t a reward; this is an insult. “You won! Congrats! Yeah, but by the way, here’s how many times you died. Try harder next time.” Unacceptable. Worst completion reward to any game I’ve played in recent memory.

Look, Rosey, I like you and all, but your thanks isn't gonna cut it. Even Peach had the decency to bake me a cake.

But that’s the thing to remember: You aren’t pushing yourself to find every star because you’ll get anything. You need to understand that the whole point of you collecting everything in the game is so that you can say, “Yes, I did everything in this game.” Nothing more, nothing less. Once you understand this, the game is yours to make or break.

And that’s pretty much all I can say about Super Mario Galaxy 2. Any further Grandmaster questions can be directed to the comments where I will get back to you as soon as possible with an answer. Good luck and Godspeed young Mario star travelers.

Why am I writing this article? I could be spending this time playing more Mario Galaxy 2!

Okay, you know what I’m about to say. I’m about to have a joygasm for at least two full single-spaced Word document pages and none of it is going to be a surprise to anyone. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a good game, end of story. I’m not even the only person saying this. But I also don’t know when to shut up, so here we go with the most obviously unneeded review yet! Let’s! Ah! Go!

And Then Chris States the Obvious

At the time of this review, I’m roughly 50-odd stars into the game and more or less completely done with the first three worlds (world 1 is completely finished). I’ve got a chance to play with the new power-ups, Yoshi, and Luigi, plus I’ve done my fair share of Trickster Comets and all sorts of other random what-not, so I’ve got a pretty good handle on what the game has to offer me for the next half. And on the half that I’ve played I can fully recommend the game to any and everyone, as long as you like Mario games/platforming games at least.

In the larger scope of things, Mario Galaxy 2 has been getting universally high marks. You’d be really hard pressed to find someone that really hates the game unless you wait for Zero Punctuation to do the usual “Whine whine, this game is a GAME, whine whine, poop joke” thing that Yahtzee is known for. Granted, I’m curious what he’ll find to gripe about, but otherwise my point is that everyone seems to think this is a good game.

A bunch of old enemies come back, and I couldn't be happier.

To prepare myself for the new game, I replayed the first Super Mario Galaxy just last week to full completion once more. It helped a lot to allow me to segue into the sequel without any trouble since I knew the controls inside and out. I was just worried that Yoshi would be a pain to handle, but thankfully, the controls when riding Yoshi are just as responsive as if you’re just Mario. The game plays a bit different with no long jumps or spin recoveries or wall jumps, but Yoshi missions aren’t a hindrance.

Really, no missions have been a hindrance yet. I haven’t felt the difficulty become unfair at any point, nor have I really considered a death the game’s fault. I know when I’ve messed up, and I never freak out thinking, “Crap! How am I ever going to beat this mission?!” Which isn’t to say the game is simple. Extremely forgiving, but not “simple.” While you’ll definitely encounter some levels where you’ll lose way more lives than you’d expect, those same levels also pack in 1-ups like they’re candy. You may die seven times attempting a single star but finish with three more lives than when you began just because you’re picking up two 1-ups for every death. As I said though, this doesn’t make the game “easy,” it just alleviates frustration.

Missions that require you to ride this star ball are about as close to controller-smashing as I get.

Anyone that assumed this game was just Mario Galaxy 1.5 is entirely wrong. While the controls and graphics are identical, and the story isn’t breaking new grounds in the Mario world, the game is entirely its own beast to tackle. The biggest change from the previous game is the improved hub world, or lack thereof. Roselina’s spaceship is no longer the staring point for all your actions, replaced by a smaller spaceship and a world map similar to more conventional Mario games. For me, this is a huge plus. It keeps things flowing a lot faster and gives a much better sense of progress.

That sense of progress is furthered by new things constantly getting added to your space ship, mostly in the form of new guests from the various worlds. It might just be me, but I love having that drive behind collecting random things, just because. Also, every level has a Comet Medal that needs be found, and while I haven’t yet encountered a level where the medal is incredibly well hidden or out of the way, it does create a good little bit of anxiety to think, “Oh man, I still need to find that Comet Medal before I finish this star!”

So more new things: Power-ups. Yoshi is one major power-up and functions perfectly. Flipping around by aiming his tongue at flower grab-points is surprisingly fun for such a simple action, and the various fruits he eats give him new powers for a short time, such as the dash pepper that makes him run extremely fast for a short period of time. The three new power-ups for Mario I’ve encountered thus far are the drill, which has been shown extensively in trailers and works great, the Cloud Flower, which allows Mario to create three more cloud platforms by performing a spin move, and the Rock Mushroom, a great addiction since it lets Mario roll up into a rock and smash into things. They aren’t groundbreaking power-ups, but they’re in my top list already. I definitely like the Cloud Suit better than the Bee Suit.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with the boss battles, too.

Oh, and the new music is excellent. There are a handful of old Mario tracks recomposed here in epic style that just add to the full package, as well as fantastic new tracks. The Puzzle Blocks Galaxy in particular may be my new favorite track/galaxy both for the music and the awesome gameplay of the level.

My one little gripe is pretty small but it still bugs me: There is no way to save 1-up progression. The game keeps track of Star Bits and coins, but if you have over 50 1-ups like I had after the first play session, they’ll be gone when you turn your console back on. It makes me a bit frustrated to feel like I’m really accumulating a significant amount of lives but to know that it’ll all mean nothing if I save and quit. I just would have liked a system of saving 1-ups when the game is turned off, that’s all.

There, that’s my one and only problem with this game. I haven’t felt this happy with a game purchase in a long time and I can already say that while I doubt it’ll win Game of the Year, this is my choice for 2010 by a longshot. Go buy this from Amazon right now. In fact, Amazon might even take too long. Go down to any store you can find and pick it up this very day. The $50 price tag is such a good deal, so if you find any place that has a discount, oh man, that’s like asking the bank to change a $10 and having them give you back $16 because they had a special that day. Go play Super Mario Galaxy 2 as soon as possible.

Good, I’m done with the article, I can get back to playing.

Makotron's commemorative Mario poster, as seen from Deviant Art here, is just one of those images I can stare at for hours on end.

I started my Mario retrospective off yesterday by covering Mario’s 2D platforming career, taking him from the arcades through the more recent offering on the DS. I left off saying that I’d have to do a second part all about his 3D adventures, so that’s where we’re at for today. Here-a we go!

Super Mario 64:

Conglaturations! You've completed a great game and prooved the justice of our society!

Nintendo had a heavy burden on their hands when the N64 was announced. Suddenly, games were capable of more than 8 and 16-bit graphics. Everything was shifting towards polygons. Even more, platforming had to enter the realm of 3D if it was expected to survive. How could Nintendo ever rise to the challenge?

Enter Super Mario 64, a launch title with the N64, quite possibly the finest launch title to prove that, yes, this system was necessary, last proved with Super Mario World on the SNES and Super Mario Bros on the NES. Mario just had a knack for knowing the right things to do on every new console. But moving from 2D to 3D? How simple could that really be? Turns out extremely simple.

While Mario 64 certainly has some slip-ups, such as the awful reward for obtaining all 120 stars, the overall package is beyond solid. The gameplay, the real thing to judge it on, placed the 3D platforming bar higher than most games could clear on their first try, if ever. Fluid controls just made everything perfect. Mario was built without anything restricting his movements and adding a fairly simple camera only made the experience (mostly) easy going.

Naturally, Mario 64 wasn’t a complete walk through the park (cliché writing metaphor #76). It was brutally difficult at some times, especially the 100 coin challenges on each level. Those were just cruel at times, leaving you a mere coin or two away from the 100 but ruthlessly killing you like it took some sick pleasure from seeing you waste your time. Overall though, it’s a Must Play, and it’s easy to find on either the Virtual Console or Amazon for a price that’s reasonable for anyone.

Super Mario Sunshine:

After all the work he's done, yeah, he's earned this one.

The GameCube was announced and many people were wondering where Mario 128 was. Naturally, we as gamers thought the only possible title for the follow-up to Mario 64 could be Mario 128, because we’re just that blatantly stupid. Also, Nintendo made the mistake of showing a tech demo that included dozens of Marios on screen at once, leading people to believe that it was footage from the sequel.

While the GameCube didn’t launch with a true Mario game, it did get one within a year of release. Super Mario Sunshine came out to a willing crowd, but sadly, many of these diehards proved they didn’t have it in them anymore. And it all comes down to F.L.U.D.D.

See, the big gimmick with Sunshine was the waterpack on Mario’s back that allowed him to spray water and hover over gaps. A lot of people thought this dumbed the controls down, though the sections where F.L.U.D.D. was taken from you were just ungodly difficult in a good way. Still, most people hate this game relentlessly because it involved Mario cleaning Isle Delfino, a resort island, due to his wrongful conviction of polluting everything.

Honestly, I loved Sunshine for the exact reasons people hated it. I liked the idea that it was a game with a theme. Usually, Mario games always have a grass level, a mountain level, a sky level, a fire level, a water level, a snow level, and a sand level, among others. Sunshine had a fully realized theme for the whole game of “island resort” with beaches, waterfalls, amusement parks, and even a tourist village or two. I always thought this concept was really cool. I liked the feel, like I was on a Mario vacation. Simple, fun, great. Still, I’m not everyone, but I still rank Sunshine highly on my list of Must Play GameCube games. Especially now, look it up on Amazon for significantly less than the price of a new game. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth.

Super Mario Galaxy:

I think the Ice Mario power-up may have been my favorite from that game. I don't think I mentioned that before.

Finally we come to now. When I heard the concept for Mario Galaxy I was very skeptical. I thought, “How are they going to pull off a space theme?” Turns out Nintendo was quite aware how they’d do this. Lucky for you, you already know my thoughts on Super Mario Galaxy from my previous article covering just that. Also, don’t forget that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is coming out next month. That’s one month from pretty much right now. I wrote a preview article to let you know, remember?

Here’s my last little bit of advice: If you haven’t played Super Mario Galaxy, but you own a Wii, correct this and get it from Amazon today. Then, after you’ve realized how great the first Mario Galaxy is, preorder the sequel. Here’s the best part of the deal: A preorder of Mario Galaxy 2 from Amazon gives you a $20 credit for your next purchase. You better believe I’m using that for Metroid: Other M. Listen to me here. I worked for Game Crazy, so I know how frustrating getting hassled to preorder things is. This is one deal I fully endorse, and one I don’t get reprimanded on if I’m not making numbers, if that gives you an idea of my sincerity.

That about covers all things Mario right? Wrong. We’ve only just begun. All the “official” Mario series games are out of the way, but I haven’t gotten into the sports franchises, the parties, or the karts. Which to do first? Come back tomorrow and you’ll see for yourself. In the meantime, share some Mario memories in the comment section. I’m not just talking to hear myself talk. I mean, you can’t even hear anything in space anyway, which is where I am at the moment preparing for Galaxy 2. Just don’t forget my advice.

Still need more Mario? You can find him in these articles, too:

-Mario: A Retrospective Part 3

-Well Duh I Liked It: A Review of Super Mario Galaxy 2

-Tips From a Grandmaster: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Just like that dream I once had.

With Nintendo trucking along on its two new consoles (the Wii and the DSi), there are rarely any times that a new Triple A title needs to come along (according to them anyway). The Wii already got its Zelda, its Mario, and its Smash Bros, so what are the chances we’ll get another huge title in any of those franchises?

Surprisingly very high as this year’s E3 had Nintendo announcing both a new Zelda title (it was hushed but it was there), and two separate Mario games. One was New Super Mario Bros Wii, which got some people excited, but the other pushed Mario fans to the point of jazz hands: Super Mario Galaxy 2.

So What do We Know?

As of now we don’t know entirely that much about the game. We know it has an expected release date of 2010. We also know that they aren’t changing the basic format from the previous game. If you enjoyed Super Mario Galaxy, you’re going to enjoy the sequel just as much.

Oh yeah, THIS is what was missing from the first game.

In fact (and this may be sad to some), there isn’t even a new story to deal with. Shigeru Miyamoto has stated for the record that he doesn’t want the new title to focus on story almost at all. Despite the first Galaxy having a great story, there isn’t going to be one for the new iteration. Oh well, more time for platforming.

And the platforming is what stays the same, though there is more to do than in the first game. Screenshots have shown us that Yoshi is in the game and can be ridden, a staple from Mario games that doesn’t show up as much as it honestly should. New power-ups have been hinted at and new galaxies to find new stars in, though you will be returning to some previous locales from the first game to find new stars as well.

In basic terms, you won’t just get a rehash, but you won’t be getting a title that breaks new ground. Nintendo is just building upon the solid foundation from the first game.

Okay, that's just nuts.

Since the game is still in development there isn’t a whole lot we know just yet, though we know for sure it is on its way and that’s better than not knowing anything. As said before, the game is slated for 2010, but like most games there’s a super high chance that’ll be pushed back for one reason or another.

All I can say is that you should definitely reserve a copy when you get the chance.