Does anyone remember what happened when Sony and Microsoft were announcing their 7th gen consoles? HD, 720p, these were but a few of the terms being thrown around. Nintendo had a different plan however, motion controls! Nintendo was trying to be original and innovative with their new console, the Wii. Did it work? Let me rephrase that. Did Sony and Microsoft attempt to do the same with the Playstation Move and Kinect once they saw the potential? Yes.
I’m not saying the Wii was without it’s problems, I’m really not. The online play was laughable, the original wrist strap awful, and the inability to store data on SD cards (at first) frustrating. At least it was an example of gameplay over graphics. But it wouldn’t be Nintendo without their famous franchises, and after we got Super Paper Mario (originally intended to be a Gamecube title), Nintendo released Super Mario Galaxy to almost unanimous praise. Why? It’s time to take a look at my favorite game of all time (bold, I know).

STORY

Every 100 years a comet passes over the Mushroom Kingdom, and with it comes showers of interstellar chunks known as Star Bits. These are brought to Princess Peach’s Castle, where they combine to form a great Power Star, known as a Grand Star. This spectacular night is known as the Star Festival, held once every 100 years to celebrate the comet. And that time has come again. Princess Peach sends Mario a letter asking him to meet her at the castle, where she will give him something. Before anyone has time to celebrate however, the King of Koopas shows up, right on time. Bowser proceeds to kidnap Peach by lifting her castle into space. He also makes sure to bust up the entire Mushroom Kingdom with his fleet of airships. Thankfully Mario was entering the castle when Bowser took it, so this should be really quick-

Mario is saved by the creature Princess Peach was holding, who is known as a Luma. This Luma was special, and Mario is soon introduced to Rosalina, guardian of the cosmos and someone Nintendo can’t shut up about these days. Rosalina explains that her ship, the Comet Observatory, flies by the Mushroom Kingdom once every hundred years and is the comet that the Star Festival celebrates. Her ship requires Power Stars to run, and all of them were stolen from her by Bowser. Rosalina asks Mario to retrieve the stolen Stars, and in return she’ll help him rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. There you have it, the story is a little more complex than your average Mario story, but it still is nothing deep. The ending however, really takes the cake. After thwarting Bowser’s plans to conquer the universe, Bowser’s fortress explodes, creating a large Black Hole that starts to suck in Mario and co. The Lumas sacrifice themselves and the entire universe is reborn. That was unexpected. There actually is completely optional backstory for Rosalina in the form of the Library. After beating a certain amount of levels, you can listen to Rosalina tell her story. You unlock new chapters by beating more levels, and it’s a nice reward.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

Gotta get this out of the really quick, this game is gorgeous for a Wii game in general, bonus points for the fact that it’s an early one. The Wii may not have been as powerful as the competition, but this game is still like eye candy. Constant 60 frames per second, no slowdown, short load times, and it still impresses me. I also can’t forget the soundtrack. Fully orchestrated themes, iconic pieces that have become mainstays in 3D Mario games, and they never cease to be enjoyable. It got an official release but good luck finding a copy at a cheap price (the soundtrack shouldn’t be more expensive than the game).

GAMEPLAY

Super Mario Galaxy follows the typical 3D Mario formula. There are 15 main Galaxies, each with at least six missions, several mini Galaxies with one or two Stars to collect, and six Bowser Galaxies. In each Galaxy there are three normal missions in which you complete a simple task such as collecting five Silver Stars, simply reaching the end, or beating a boss. Then there is one Prankster Comet mission. Prankster Comets are special comets that randomly fly by a Galaxy, and come in five different types, Speedy Comet missions involve a race against time, the Cosmic Comets also involve a race except against a cosmic version of yourself, Daredevil Comets force you to complete a normal mission with just one health point, and Fast Foe Comets make every enemy move much faster. Every major Galaxy has one of these missions. There is one more type of comet however, and that is the Purple Comet. Every major Galaxy also has one of these missions. Unlocked after beating the game, Purple Comets cause 100 Purple Coins to appear in the levels and it’s up to you to collect all or at least 100 of them. Unlike the 100 coin missions from Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, these missions often have their own level design and gimmicks, not to mention the fact that they’re easy to see. There are also other types of objectives, like rolling a ball to the end, floating around in a bubble, or surfing on a wild course. And finally, each Galaxy also has one secret mission, like rescuing Luigi, feeding a hungry Luma, or just a simple secret. Speaking of Luigi…

UNLOCKABLES AND BONUSES

Besides the previously mentioned Purple Comets and the Library, once you get all 120 Power Stars and beat Bowser again, not only do you get a special ending, but you also unlock Luigi! Luigi is like the hard mode of the game, and getting all 120 stars as Luigi will unlock something more! More on that later. You aren’t just playing the same game twice, as there are some differences such as the fact that Luigi jumps higher but has horrible traction, Cosmic Luigi takes shortcuts making his missions harder, and there’s some pretty funny dialogue when you save Luigi… as Luigi! There’s also the Trial Galaxies, unlocked after getting all three of the special Green Stars. These are the toughest missions in the game, and many have ragequit due to them. Loopdeswoop Galaxy requires patience and care with the Wii Remote, Rolling Gizmo Galaxy requires…. patience and care with the Wii Remote, and Bubble Blast Galaxy requires……… patience and care with the Wii Remote.

THE CONTROL

One of the most important things in a video game is the control. Super Mario Galaxy’s control is nothing short of amazing. Fluent movement, great midair control, and the Spin. Punching and kicking has been replaced with the Spin. Just a shake of the Wii Remote, and BAM, Mario performs a Spin Attack that can do many things. You can use it to kill enemies, you can use it to gain altitude, you can use it to gain distance, you can use it to interact with the environment, you can use it to perform a homing ground pound, and you can use it to take one of this game’s many shortcuts. Mario also has the Long Jump back after Sunshine removed it, and combined with the Spin many things are possible. You can’t spam it however, as there is a one second cool down period, which is good otherwise your arm would get tired five minutes into the game.

THE FINAL LEVEL

After you get all 120 Stars as Luigi and beat Bowser again, you unlock Grand Finale Galaxy, in which you celebrate the Star Festival with 100% less airships. It truly is a nice breather after that collect-a-thon. Toads are everywhere, as well as the many… things you met on your journey. You recollect on your journey, and finally turn the game off.

SCORE

The reason I’m reviewing this game now is because as of November 1st, this game is officially seven years old. It was re-released as a Nintendo Select game, something only 17 titles share. This is my favorite game of all time. I own both the Nintendo Select and original version, with no regrets. What score will I give this game?

10 out of 10.

Go buy it!