Forums > Submission Feedback > bigcj34's Super Mario Galaxy review

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.

I don't have to boost my review resume because I have a real resume.

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.

There three types of people in this world: those who can count, and those who can't.