Patreon button  Steam curated reviews  Discord button  Facebook button  Twitter button 
3DS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | SWITCH | VITA | XB1 | XSX | All

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) artwork

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) review


"Super Mario is such forgiving fellow. In one game he may be trying to take Bowser and his henchmen off the throne, and in others he’s playing a gentlemanly game of golf or tennis with him. But Mario games that involve pounding on top of Bowser have become an increased rarity; this is only the third original 3D Mario title ever. For many, this is truly the second, as Super Mario Sunshine didn’t count apparently. "

Super Mario is such forgiving fellow. In one game he may be trying to take Bowser and his henchmen off the throne, and in others he’s playing a gentlemanly game of golf or tennis with him. But Mario games that involve pounding on top of Bowser have become an increased rarity; this is only the third original 3D Mario title ever. For many, this is truly the second, as Super Mario Sunshine didn’t count apparently.

Let’s get one thing straight: Super Mario Galaxy isn’t fantastically ace. Although a very solid polished game, it stinks of hype, only getting its huge appraisal due to the fact everyone has been waiting for this since the genre-defining Super Mario 64. As a reviewer who hasn’t owned a Nintendo console until the Wii, I just approached Super Mario Galaxy like any other game. Take out Mario, the novelty galaxy browsing and the Wiimote features and this is just a typical platformer indistinguishable from other decent last-gen titles like Ratchet and Clank.

But SMG is far from poor though, as this is a decent title that any Wii owner would be wise to play. This time, Bowser has no time for a game of golf with Mario when he has plans to rule to universe, crashing the centennial Star Festival and uplifts Princess Daisy’s castle into outer space. As Mario awakens on a random planet, the mysterious Rosalina offers to help but her observatory is useless for travel without the power stars. Consequently Mario must travel through outer space to rescue the stars to operate the observatory and reach the centre of the universe. You certainly guessed right, it’s another case of Princess Daisy being held hostage and hence the plot isn’t particularly exciting. But now you have a valid excuse to collect 120 shiny power stars.

The diversity here comes from the presentation of levels, using SM64’s fundamental formula but beyond recognition. The observatory is a hub to allow access to other levels (called galaxies) accessible by entering various rooms that are gradually unlocked depending on the number of stars collected. Each galaxy contains various planets that Mario can transfer between from the usage of launch stars. As each planet contains a gravitational force, falling through a gap on one will cause Mario to land into a lovely ball of dark matter and kill Mario. But while this layout for a game is welcome, it’s very superficial and adds no drastic changes. What’s done here is no different to scouting around conventional worlds; this title is essentially the traditional stomping on enemies’ madness.

The controls here are largely conservative, using the Nunchuk and Wiimote are used to control Mario the usual way, but with a few added twists. Firstly, Mario can execute a spin by shaking the Wiimote, and secondly starbits that are scattered around the galaxy are collected by pointing the Wiimote at them. But spins are necessary to activate launch stars, whilst pointing the cursor at blue stars will pull Mario towards them. However, most of the Wiimote features are utilised in many of the mini-game galaxies, unlocked by feeding Luma your star bits. These mini-games include rolling Mario on top of a ball by precise tilting of the Wiimote, steer Mario through on a water mantine or direct Mario around in a bubble with a cursor-controlled fans. Many mini-games don’t even rely on the use of the Wii-mote at all but instead activities such as running around disappearing or toppling platforms. The balance of using motion specific enhancements and traditional controls is spot-on in such a game. Although Wiimote use could’ve been a lot more, it’s hard to imagine how it could’ve been implemented without potentially making a Bowser’s breakfast of it.

Nintendo rarely ever offer anything less than a polished, near fault-less experience when it matters. The visuals showcase what a Gamecube on steroids can do, although comparing it to the 360 is a slight exaggeration. The graphics are bright and cartoony providing plenty of galaxy themes, with fantastic animations and physics whilst the camera is virtually glitch-free. Not bad when it could’ve been potentially problematic considering the complex level design. The classic roster of characters and features is to no exception here, with the return of Koopa, goomba’s, stalking flying bombs, coins, and of course the signature mushrooms. However the redemption of these signature features, alongside the recycling of parts such as the plot and the melodies suggests that Nintendo are still too eager to remain hooked onto its roots. The very few clips of voice-acting are inexcusable these days, and although Nintendo don’t want to ruin a franchise Sega style, some more new ideas wouldn’t hurt. Full credit to Nintendo’s new innovations here, but they seriously need to slacken their heritage. It’s sometimes fascinating how the fanboys cope.

Super Mario Galaxy isn’t quite the omnipotent title that it’s made out to be. Importantly fans and even the journalists need to sober up from the euphoria of a proper 3D Mario release since absolutely zonks ago. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this, but this galaxy navigation is a macho gimmick, the star-collecting leads to some repetitive and laborious objectives and the Mario-brand is the only real selling point. Nevertheless it’s a solid platform game with plenty of variety, the usual polish and enough collectable stars to keep you going for a couple of months. It’s a must for any Wii game collection, but partly because triple-A titles are a little slim at this moment. I await the next title to play a gentleman’s game of golf with Bowser once more.



bigcj34's avatar
Community review by bigcj34 (May 24, 2008)

Cormac Murray is a freelance contributor for HG and is a fanboy of Sega and older Sony consoles. For modern games though he pledges allegiance to the PC Master Race, by virtue of a MacBook running Windows.

More Reviews by bigcj34 [+]
Crazy Taxi (PC) artwork
Crazy Taxi (PC)

Though the game isn’t messed up and the underlying premise shines through, this port is a missed opportunity that could have been done better. The game is fun and addictive in short bursts, but it does get repetitive and the Crazy Box challenges don’t prolong the lifespan much.
Alien Storm (Genesis) artwork
Alien Storm (Genesis)

Like many pre-16 bit conversions before, Alien Storm demonstrates how the arcades power isn’t always necessary to provide an arcade style blast.
Vector (PC) artwork
Vector (PC)

Vector does a great job of providing an entertaining experience where only the arrow keys need be used.

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Super Mario Galaxy review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!

board icon
Felix_Arabia posted May 28, 2008:

Here's some feedback like I promised.

I thought this was a decent effort. Most of the writing was easy to follow. The sentences aren't overly complex like they were in past works of yours, and I also thought that the review made some good observations, such as the point about gamers being drunk on hype.

There were some strange things, though.

But Mario games that involve pounding on top of Bowser have become an increased rarity . . .

The bit about 'involve pounding on top of' just sounds weird. Too many prepositions.

At the end of your first paragraph, you state that Super Mario Sunshine 'apparently' doesn't count in a lot of gamers' minds as a proper 3D Mario. How so? A small bit of elaboration would be nice.

I also question your use of the word 'omnipotent' in beginning of the final paragraph. Perhaps a better word would be ‘flawless’? I tend not to picture a Mario game as having divine powers, even if you're using the word to say that it doesn't have divine powers.

The biggest issue I had with this review, though, was that I wasn't entirely sold on your analysis. I, too, would give SMG an 8/10, but I think for different reasons. Namely for an excruciating lack of challenge. But with your reasoning, you're stating that SMG needs more new ideas. That can be a valid viewpoint, but I didn't feel convinced by the way you presented it. You stated the obvious new additions like the (as you called them) 'largely conservative' controls and the space gimmick and all that. For a lot of people, they're going to think that those two elements alone are novel enough. For me, that's enough fresh breath for an established series.

I think that if you're going to state that SMG needed even more new ideas, then you have go one step further in explaining why you felt the space gimmick and controls gimmick aren't up to snuff. Obviously you tried to explain why they didn't completely satisfy your interests, but I just didn't feel that you made these elements sound lacking enough. If what I’m saying seems a little confusing, this sentence from your review should illuminate what I mean:

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this, but this galaxy navigation is a macho gimmick, the star-collecting leads to some repetitive and laborious objectives and the Mario-brand is the only real selling point.

So if there isn’t anything wrong, and then you list three items that sound very interesting, any negativity you have to say about it seems contradictory. Making a convincing and compelling argument is always difficult to do. Work on that for next time. The other reviewing aspects are mostly fine.
board icon
bigcj34 posted May 30, 2008:

Thanks for that, it's probably one of my few reviews that try to away against popular opinion, so as you said not so easy to give a convincing argument. Thanks for that, I guess saying that "there isn't anything wrong" is a bit of a cliche. I didn't think SMG was a bad game, but I felt Mario's presence was almsot single-handedly the standout point. The word omnipotent is one I always encounter in RS with these God arguments, but doesn't seem to fit in a review by the sounds of it.

Yes, this is copied sraight off my FAQ's post.

You must be signed into an HonestGamers user account to leave feedback on this review.

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998 - 2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Super Mario Galaxy is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Super Mario Galaxy, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.