PixlBit

In the second half of our feature, we compare the game to previous Mario titles, and Jason reveals more of his shameful inexperience with both Galaxy titles.

Kathrine: So, Nick, if you prefer the earlier 3D Mario games, what do you think about having a world map instead of an interactive hub?

Nick: At first, I hated it. But then I came to be okay with it, given the fact that it was so annoying to navigate in the first Galaxy. Nothing has ever managed to match up to the Super Mario 64 hub. But understandably so, that was obviously a big draw of that title given the introduction of 3D.

Jason: I like having a world map... but I think they also had a mini-hub, which defeated the purpose.

Kathrine: The only problem I have with the world map is that you are taken to the starship every time you get a star, and have to go through the process of stepping up to the wheel to get to the map.

Nick: Yeah I also had a problem with that. Let me choose when to go to the starship, and let me keep playing the game all the other time. But when compared to the first Galaxy, it was much better.

Kathrine: Yes. Galaxy's hub was uninteresting because there was nothing to see or do there.

Jason: Also, I kind of wish worlds were grouped with similar themes.

Kathrine: I think mixing up the themes gave the game more variety.

Jason: I'll admit I'm just being nostalgic there.

Nick: I didn't quite understand the hub, the starship, that exists in the game. I'm not even sure what they were going for. It seemed like they included it for the sake of it.

Kathrine: I guess they wanted a place that felt homey?

Jason: I know I was let down, especially since you'd imagine flying Mario's face would be a lot more awesome. There should've been secret stuff there, too.

Kathrine: I found the secret entrance in the chimney! It goes to the same ol' engine room...

Nick: Yeah, the hub was a definite let down which really just felt like a relic of the older titles, just a hollow one. Another thing that appeared literally from the older title, were stages. What was that about?

Kathrine: That was my big disappointment. And most of the returning stages are in the special world you unlock when you beat the final Bowser. I wanted awesome stages for beating the main game, not the same thing from last game.

Nick: I can't say it was really that negative for me, it was just a "Huh?" moment for me

Jason: I saw pictures of those! Here's a question: Better or worse than the first time you played them?

Nick: There are a few minor changes, and a few new challenges.

Kathrine: Easier, they were. The "Mario's Purple Coins" star, for example. It doesn't have the spinning yellow platforms anymore. Even although you now have to collect every coin, it was still easier.

Nick: Yeah I felt they were easier, too. I did like the cosmic clone version of that level.

Jason: Okay, I like Cosmic Clones. Especially their voices.

Kathrine: Oh, and the very first star in the game is a Galaxy 1 retread of its first star. I know the monster looks different, but you defeat it exactly the same way.

Jason: Is it a Petey Piranha type monster?

Kathrine: Yes.

Nick: On top of that, he actually appears, twice in the Boss galaxy.

Kathrine: Most of the bosses make a reappearance in Galaxy 2, and they have the exact same method of defeating them.

Jason: I've seen that, Chris was bad at fighting the mole.

Nick: Ha ha, Chessa too.

Kathrine: The mole is so easy! Scary, but easy.

Nick: I really don't like any of the returning bosses. I thought the new ones were better overall.

Jason: I liked the Lakitu boss a little. I just fought a giant bug, and it was less awesome than I thought.

Kathrine: The only cool returning bit, is Whomp's Fortress. The reason for that is because it was from a much older game, and Galaxy's game engine changed the level up a lot. Whomp's Fortress was my favourite level from SM64.

Nick: Whomp's Fortress = Awesome. It was definitely one of the more enjoyable ones in SM64. It felt a bit small this time around though. Obviously intentionally so, but it was a tad awkward.

Kathrine: It still had little details, like a sling star where the cannon was.

Nick: This is sort of tangential, but reminded me of my biggest negative from the game. In that level, you have to collect a green star and to get to it you need to use the cloud powerup. But you have to jump towards the screen, and it was really frustrating, especially since I couldn't gauge depth. It happened in other places with the green stars.

Kathrine: We'll get to green stars in a moment, we should finish out bosses with Bowser battles. Interestingly, I felt the Bowser Jr. battles were much more engaging than the Bowser battles. Bowser Jr. always had some kind of machine, which would require mastery of a powerup to defeat him.

Jason: Not the Bee Suit, I hope.

Nick: Yeah, that was pretty interesting. I really liked the cloud suit one, unsurprisingly. With all the fans blowing clouds everywhere, it required good timing. I felt like the end Bowser fight was alright, but I think I just liked doing that ground pound move to send the planet flying more than anything.

Kathrine: Yes, flinging a meteor in Bowser's face is quite satisfying. But the problem with Bowser, it’s the same fight all three times, with just one or two things thrown in to make it a bit more difficult. Also, this might be related to story too, but knowing Bowser is the final enemy means I also know how the final fight will go down. There's no surprises.

Nick: Agreed. Now that's one place that story could actually do something for Mario: varying up the enemies. I'm sick of fighting Bowser variants.

Jason: That's why people like the Koopa Kids, variety! And the final villain isn't Wario?

Kathrine: I wish. I don't care if it's "Wario kidnaps the princess!" it's still something different.

Jason: Wario wants to buy the Samus doll for the Princess, but Mario wants to get it for her first! Nobody else had Nintendo Power, did they? That's exactly where it happened: Years ago, Mario comics. Anyway, there is a new enemy this game, right? Something like green stars?

Nick: Providing for an extra 120 whole stars!

Kathrine: Right, once you've collected 120 stars and beat the last Bowser one more time, you unlock the Green Star challenge. These greens stars are scattered around all 40-some galaxies in the game.

Nick: For the most part, I thought they were a really great inclusion. Overall I felt they pushed me to explore the depths of each Galaxy, sometimes they were a bit silly but good on the whole.

Kathrine: I have mixed feelings about the green stars for that reason. Some stars were placed in parts that made you do weird tricks in order to reach them, whilst others were just tossed over a pit and had you take a long jump leap of faith. But I do think it was better than playing the same game again with a different character.

Nick: There's no question about that. I feel like they didn't need 120 green stars. It could've been 60 and it would've had a bigger impact. So Chessa, what did you think about the green stars?

Chessa: Earlier on I thought they were pretty lame, later though I felt they became more challenging, but the ones you just had to find behind a wall or rock and fall on... kind of a cop-out.

Nick: Even though the ones like that were totally tacked on... I still enjoyed collecting them. There is something redeeming about collecting stars.

Chessa: Especially when you can't turn the camera. The camera and depth made for some frustrating green stars, there were some that required very awkward ways to get them. There were a few brilliant green stars, though.

Kathrine: Like the one on that volcano you had to turn to ice. Very clever.

Nick: Every one that required thought, reasonably skill, or exploration were a success for me. Which unfortunately, is about half.

Chessa: Many of them were much more platforming skill based, so I think people who think Galaxy is lacking that aspect would enjoy the green stars more.

Kathrine: Who says Galaxy lacks platforming skill? That's all the game is, I think.

Chessa: More Mario 64-ish platforming.

Jason: So, Luigi, he was the time trial guy, right?

Nick: Yeah, Luigi plays a different role this time around, he was for time trial this time. I thought this was an overlooked but pretty brilliant inclusion. Essentially, Luigi lets players face off against staff ghosts ala Mario Kart.

Kathrine: Strangely, you have to collect a star using Luigi to unlock the ghost. If I didn't have to collect every star with Luigi to unlock the ghosts, I'd have paid more attention to them.

Nick: Yeah, that was a misstep.

Jason: Oh, that's how it works? Does it save your replay?

Kathrine: No. If you collect a star with Luigi, a Luigi ghost appears in the level for that star. Some of them also just show you secrets and shortcuts.

Nick: I just thought it was pretty awesome that they worked staff ghosts into a Mario platformer. What's the last one that did that, Deluxe on the GBC?

Jason: Oh, wow, even then, in Deluxe, you saw a Boo. Having the actual ghost is an improvement.

Kathrine: NSMBWii had some videos of beating levels quickly. It wasn't a ghost you could race though.

Jason : What is a "Bronze Star?"

Nick: That's when you use the Cosmic Guide. Chessa got one of those... it was the boulder one.

Kathrine: Oh yes, the Cosmic Guide! If you lose 8 lives trying to collect a star, the Cosmic Guide appears. Then a purply, starry Rosalina figure appears. It doesn’t have to be 8 lives consecutively either. The guide can appear even after you get the star.

Jason: What can you do with a bronze star, then?

Kathrine: You can select the next star in that Galaxy, but it doesn't count toward your total. I think.

Jason: Chris had her show up on that boulder stage, too.

Chessa: The good thing about dying on that stage over and over again... you can collect lots of star bits.

Kathrine: Which I did, because you need 9,999 of them to open the last galaxy, which is a tedious grind.

Nick: Chessa was obsessed with collecting those, so we reached that goal much earlier than intended.

Chessa: Good thing I was then, hmm?

Nick: I think this segues nicely into challenge level overall. Any thoughts? I felt it was much more challenging than Galaxy, but much less so than Sunshine. Very skill based, which was nice.

Jason: It seems average so far. I hate having to collect things. I’m tired of star bits already.

Chessa: I thought Galaxy 2 had a good challenge level progression, but never became too hard.

Kathrine: I wouldn’t say that Galaxy 2 is a difficult game, but I do believe it is a nice continuation of the first. And the challenge was rarely cheap stuff, too. It stems from the game having more enemies, trickier elements, more gravity tricks... stuff like that.

Chessa: I’d say the only super hard level was the very last comet [242th star]. We almost lost a Wii Remote to that level... and a recliner arm.

Nick: And a TV. Stupid Boomerang Bros.

Jason: Well, that's a risk whenever you play a Wii game!

Kathrine: The Perfect Run. It's five or six segments of challenging elements, and you're doing a Daredevil Comet, so one hit and you have to start all over. Hammer Brothers have never been this menacing since SMB1. There's like 20 of them in the last segment.

Nick: Yeah, they managed to bring that back to them. It's pretty nuts.

Chessa: I thought the worst part of that level was the one with the flip panels. A cloud suit made it significantly easier. Took a few tries to figure that out initially.

Kathrine: I just long jumped and clouded over that part. The flip panels are one of the game's best elements though. That's when I realized I suck at jumping and spin too much to correct myself. And that's the great thing about the game's levels, is that many of them focus on one element, adding a whole lot of variety to the game.

Chessa: I liked the flip panels as long as I didn’t have to flip them with the Wii Remote. I liked the ones that were timed... although there were much fewer of those.

Nick: I liked the ones tied to the spin move because they really messed with your head, forced you to play differently. Which is something Galaxy 2 was amazing at doing.

Chessa: I just found that sometimes it would register two flicks instead of one, causing death and inevitable frustration.

Nick: Yeah, there was some occasional waggle-based frustration for sure.

Kathrine: I was bothered that the Nunchuk can do the spin too. I need to be able to move one hand without activating the spin, in case I have an itch or a drink.

Nick: Well, I'm not sure we have much more to discuss aside from the presentation. We’ve gone all this way without talking about it, because I think we all agree it's amazing.

Kathrine: For the most part! Actually, the only graphical blemish I noticed? When you are zooming out of Starship Mario, the clouds are very... flat.

Nick: I’m having a hard time recalling that. I believe you though. I love the music. Seriously, it's a fantastic soundtrack.

Jason: Yeah, the music is fun and grand at points.

Kathrine: I wasn't a fan of Galaxy 1's soundtrack. It felt too... epic. Not whimsical enough. It was better suited for, say, Zelda.

Nick: Or even Metroid in a lot of cases. The Galaxy 1 soundtrack didn't fit quite right, but I loved the orchestration of it.

Kathrine: Oh, the compositions were great, no argument there. So, in that case, Galaxy 2 is definitely an improvement. It's closer to the more traditional Mario stuff.

Nick: Yeah the soundtrack was well orchestrated and it fit the mood and tone well.

Jason: Sure, like when that thing happens with some character on that stage.

Nick: Exactly what I was thinking.

Kathrine: Nail. Head. Hit.

Chessa: They brought back a lot of great music from past games, too.

Kathrine: Super Mario World's banjo!

Nick: I almost crapped a brick when I heard that track!

Jason: I love every time music notes appear to collect.

Kathrine: There were a couple returners from SMG as well, including Toy Time Galaxy and the purple coin theme. Which were fortunately some of the best in that game.

Nick: Absolutely. So, to round this thing out, final impressions of the game overall?

Kathrine: Overall, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is better than the first, and a great game on its own merits, but it just misses the mark to deserve five stars.

Jason: I'm not sure of my stance. I don't think I've played it enough, but I had trouble getting into both games, which is surprising, because I seriously anticipated both of them!

Kathrine: We've already established you're an anomaly.

Nick: Obviously, my stance is that it's a five-star game and I went into deep detail in my review. In your opinion Kathrine, what keeps it from that and what score would you assign it?

Kathrine: 4 and 1/2 stars. Critically speaking, when a game sticks this close to a formula, and recycles this much content, I don't feel it deserves a better score, no matter how good it may be. It lacked the magic and discovery of the first Galaxy game, because I already knew how everything worked, how to defeat enemies, where secrets are based on conventions... very little surprises.

Nick: I can respect that opinion. I think it comes down to the person for a lot of that, personally the rehash stuff didn't bother me much, especially since it did house some new content.

Jason: I disagree with that, critically speaking, if it maintains a compelling momentum. If it can, then it could be worth it.

Nick: See, I disliked the first title so much, that Galaxy 2 was a breath of fresh air that finally put all of the mechanics of the concept to good use.

Chessa: And Nick just stole what I was going to say.

Kathrine: Disliked the first Galaxy? BLASPHEMY!

Jason: Whuh-oh.

Chessa: I really dislike that game. Honestly, the allure of Galaxy and the unique aspects with the gravity wore off really quick. So when I played Galaxy 2, between the levels and challenge level, I felt it was superior to the first in almost every way.

Kathrine: And yet a game which sticks so close to that same formula, and even includes some of the same stages, is awesome?

Nick: Well, I thought it included the very platforming centric stages. Overall, Galaxy 2 felt like a better platformer, whereas the first felt like an experiment in gravity.

Kathrine: It is better, but I still find it strange to think the first one is so bad yet this one is so good. I didn't think it was different enough to change an opinion like that, but I s’pose it all depends on what one looks for in a game.

Nick: I feel like they are drastically different games.

Chessa: I’ll be honest though, I would prefer not to have a Galaxy 3. Not necessarily Galaxy 3 in regards to gravity and planets, but the many small overworlds.

Nick: I highly doubt that's in the cards.

Kathrine: The development team had lots of ideas they couldn't get into Galaxy1, so they continued with Galaxy 2. But it looks like they've gotten pretty much everything into the two games.

Nick: Yeah, they've really mined the formula at this point.

Jason: Didn't someone say they wanted to do more drilling?

Chessa: God no.

Nick: Yes, but I think they missed their opportunity.

Kathrine: They could always tweak the drill and put it in a future non-Galaxy game.

Nick: If anything, I'd love to see them move back towards a Super Mario 64-style game.

Kathrine: Considering how Japan feels about 3D Mario, I have my doubts we'll see that.

Nick: This is true.

Jason: I'd like something linear to really be linear, no secrets except on the path, or I'd like it to be more open, back to how it was before. One or the other, if anything. I liked the linearity of the challenge stages in Sunshine better.

Kathrine: The Galaxy games have a lot more in common with the 2D games, which is why I love them. They are all about platforming and not about adventuring.

Chessa: It's the linearity of the Galaxy games that I like the least.

Kathrine: Platformers are linear by nature.

Chessa: I think they've become much more so as time has gone on. There are plenty of games heavily based on platforming that incorporate great exploration elements. Mario 64 provided a much more open experience, and I’d like to see that in future Mario games, or even a general world like 64 and Sunshine.

Nick: I think Galaxy 2 did a much better job than Galaxy at 3D linearity.

Kathrine: If only we could have both.

Nick: Maybe on the 3DS.

Jason: You know what? I say take Mario back to 2D! Make a new character for 3D!

Nick: I'm totally okay with that.

Kathrine: You know what feature Galaxy 2 should have had?

Nick: Super Mario 64 Mode?

Kathrine: Have a Luigi-like switch, by making Yoshi swappable with Birdo.

Nick: Ha ha. Something about riding Birdo around feels dirty.

Chessa: Only you would think that.

Kathrine: I don't dare ask why.

Nick: Oh well, maybe Birdo is due for her own adventure.

Jason: So, to wrap up, everyone say five words about Super Mario Galaxy 2. Best Super Mario Galaxy Ever. Bam! I win!

Nick: Better than Super Mario Galaxy.

Jason: Best Super Mario Galaxy Ever covered that.

Nick: Reiteration ftw.

Kathrine: Almost Super Mario Galaxy Brothers.

Nick: Ha ha.

Kathrine: Now one from Chessa.

Nick: Chessa really does not care?

Kathrine: Sad.

Chessa: I’m trying to be all clever and stuff. *sigh* screw five words, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a great game... and Yoshi is awesome.

Jason: Aww, poor Chessa. She tries so hard.

Nick: Well I guess that does it then. Super Mario Galaxy 2, excellent game, you should play it, especially if your name is Jason Ross.

Kathrine: Yes Jason. Play it. Every Wii owner should play Super Mario Galaxy 2, regardless of experience or opinion of Galaxy 1.

Nick: Agreed wholeheartedly.

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