Super Mario Galaxy

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 September, 2006

Star treatment.

Were you to have dissected my brain on the flight to E3 this year, you would have found many things. I suspect you would have discovered first of all where the air marshal was sitting. Having patiently explained that you were the unwitting protagonist of a preview introduction being written several months later, you might then have peeled back my scalp, levered open my skull and fingered your way past the layers of neuroses, the section dedicated to obscure '90s pop trivia ("aha, so it was Deep Blue Something who wrote Breakfast At Tiffany's"), and then arrived in whichever lobe played host to my main fear about Super Mario Galaxy: that it would, like many of the DS launch titles, struggle to feel like much more than the novel first steps of a toddler in an earthquake.

What you would have discovered on the return flight, however, would have been quite different. Because at some point during E3, I had a real "thunk" moment, and realised that what we had weren't toddling dev-feet struggling for purchase, but firm-footed dev-feet, freeing up the hands. The DS, though less diverse in its control schemes than its new family member, has already taught people a few lessons about what works in games that mix pointer-control and classic game design. Most relevantly here, Metroid Prime: Hunters taught them that traditional movement and pointer control can be combined rather well, and showed them how. With that bedrock of knowledge, Super Mario Galaxy manages to be simultaneously extremely familiar and intuitive - fundamentally sure-footed if you like - leaving the Nintendo team Shigeru Miyamoto's waving around in Japan to concentrate on what happens when you start waving Mario around.

Shown off again shortly after Nintendo's press conference in London on Friday, it's still lovely, and since I didn't get to write about it last time and there's only so much I can write about the experience of touching Tim Henman's leg, it felt high time for a recap. The demo's the same, but, well, I didn't have to punch anybody's grandmother to get near it, unlike poor Mathew did in Los Angeles, so I was able to take my time and soak it up.

As the above hoped to illustrate, Mario Galaxy comes very naturally precisely because both you and Nintendo know what Mario's doing right from the off. Using the Nunchuk for analogue movement, the Wii remote for jumping, triple-jumping and butt-slamming, and Nintendo's AI programmers for preventing the automatic camera going doolally, the real fledgling steps here are taken with the arms, with pointer usage and wiggle motions for activating objects in the world the key new elements - and a real sense that the developers want you to use the controller for fiddling with their world rather than struggling for control.

'Super Mario Galaxy' Screenshot coins

Coins are back of course, and the health system's consistent with Marios 64 and Sunshine.

"Activating objects" is a remarkably sterile description of how this unexplored ceiling - hung with stars - is charted by remote motions, mind you. Having started prancing around in traditional style, the unorthodox comes slowly but whimsically. You point a reticule at the screen and use it to jingle some bells hanging above the starting point - an action that manifests some musical notes leading up an incline, collection of which plays a little tune and pops a 1up mushroom out of a nearby bush. Later Mario grabs hold of a sticky, springy sort of space-plant, which bucks like a playground bronco as you wiggle the Nunchuk analogue. But by hovering the reticule over it and tightening the trigger, you grab hold of Mario and are able to draw him back like a rubber band, before releasing him to spin off into the eternal night, on to whatever the next sequence Nintendo's dreamt up might be.

You can still leap between platforms, but gravity is localised to whichever space rock, asteroid, floating pirate ship or larger spherical world you're anchored to, so in the case of smaller objects you can often walk up a wall rather than jumping to reach a ledge. Land on a spiralling walkway and your platform gene prompts you to wait, the expectation being that it will start to gradually rotate and you'll have to time your movement to match the assumed gravity; instead, you can simply walk along it, the perspective angling round with you as it spirals. Where you're not reaching into the game with the Wii remote to straighten Mario's platforming bowtie, you're being shown something you expect and conquering it in ways as alien to the Mushroom Kingdoms of old as brain surgery is to transatlantic flights.

It's a heady mix of old and new and new-old, and it's consistent in this. Visually it has a sort of fuzzy felt sheen to it, which is to do with the particular way the game is lit - as though Mario's being struck by the light of stars on all sides. Again, it distinguishes Galaxy without sacrificing the trademarks.

'Super Mario Galaxy' Screenshot glasses

Unfortunately, the game does not come with these people. I want his glasses.

The demo version, while short, certainly enthrals, and those uncluttered by grabbing hands waiting in the queue behind - those who get to explore it several times - can take different paths to several different bosses. There's a giant spider, whose web straddles a sort of galactic ring that Mario can run around the inside of, and whose behind needs to be sprung against using the Wii remote for more rubber band action. There's a giant robotic nasty whose comeuppance is a matter of wiggling the Wii remote on flying bullets and then leading them around to its weak spot. And there's a lava-bound sort of crustacean, spitting lava balls and the occasional fruity ovoid, which needs to be wiggled at to return it to sender. Vanquishing bosses presents Mario with stars. And like Mario 64 and even Mario Sunshine before it, there's still something unmistakably satisfying about their collection.

But as I said to the lady commanding the demo pod, and as you would have discovered if you'd ripped open my head in May, the most satisfying thing about Mario Galaxy, in its present form, is that the Nintendo's progression from DS to Wii has already helped put developers in the right frame of mind to take advantage of its innovation - and on evidence like this it's helped Nintendo get off to a good star. It may not be a launch title, but Super Mario Galaxy ought to launch Mario back to the pantheon of greats, and I can't wait to see where else the journey takes him.

Super Mario Galaxy is due out exclusively on Nintendo Wii in 2007.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (90) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 5 years ago

    High res movie here: [link url=http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18084
    ]    http://ww w.evilavatar.com/forums/showthr...[/link]

    I am NO Mario fan but I *am* impressed!!!!

  • JetSetWilly #2 5 years ago

    The Wii's killer app?

  • Machiavel #3 5 years ago

    So you were subconsciously itching to play Trauma centre instead, then? ;)

  • Steroyd #4 5 years ago

    You know... normally i would say the "Mario is being milked" line... but this actually sounds interesting.

    Well at least it doesn't sound like the dire Mario 64 DS.

  • Kay #5 5 years ago

    By far the most interesting sounding Wii title. And it's Mario, so what's not to like?

    K

  • Tayl #6 5 years ago

    Meh. Mario fanboys in the gaming media will swoon, insanely bloated review scores will duly follow, and everyone will bite their bottom lip & hush when asked "does it really topple Mario 64?I mean, really?". We've been here before, circa 2002, circa the pre-disappointment hypefest for Sunshine.

    The canon Mario series is simply not a system-selling application any more.

  • asphaltcowboy #7 5 years ago

    I think this will be a must-have on Wii! Looks fabulous!

  • Tonka #8 5 years ago

    This is the game that made me preorder a Wii.

  • UncleLou #9 5 years ago

    And it's Mario, so what's not to like?


    The clue lies within the question. ;)

  • JonFE #10 5 years ago

    Ooh, come on, stop teasing us poor souls with no access to these demo's...

    Don't rub it in our face like that; it's bad enough that we'll have to wait until 2007 to we get our dirty little hands all over Mario's latest...

    BTW, Mario 64 DS could seem dire to you, Steroyd, but for those of us who didn't get the chance to play it on the N64, it was an opportunity to taste the one title that redefined platform games - and it tasted good :)

  • Kay #11 5 years ago

    Well, I happen to love Mario. So there.

    K
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 14:35

  • kangarootoo #12 5 years ago

    "the section dedicated to obscure '90s pop trivia ("aha, so it was Deep Blue Something who wrote Breakfast At Tiffany's";)"

    That sir, is a piece of trivia that can never be quite obscure enough in my book. I hope you washed your keyboard after writing that.

  • brainbird #13 5 years ago

    Impressive video.
    For all the haters: Does it look "next-gen"? No (but who cares). Does it look like a lot of fun? Hell yes!

  • Bill_Gates_Bitch #14 5 years ago

    "Look at the 1st screen shot, remove Mario and it looks like a scene from the Teletubbies."

    I don't think you're going to see too many realistic, mature themed games on a Nintendo console.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 14:41

  • dbeamish #15 5 years ago

    only if you smoke a vast amount of crack, yellowtruck..

  • Carlo #16 5 years ago

    Holy shit!

  • Hughes. #17 5 years ago

    The video looks nice and slick. I still want to smash Mario in his cheery little face with a cricket bat whenever I see him or even hear his name, but it looks like there's fun to be had there.

    Edit: Actually, if they had a mini-game where you could use the Wiimote to smash Mario in the face until his teeth fell out, that would be an instant pre-order for me. It's the REAL NEXT GEN!
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 14:46

  • brainbird #18 5 years ago

    "This is why i am sticking with my Playstation 2 until the year 2010"

    Well, have fun with FIFA 2011.

  • Kay #19 5 years ago

    I don't think you're going to see too many realistic, mature themed games on a Nintendo console.

    Yes. Of course.

    K

  • Bill_Gates_Bitch #20 5 years ago

    Indeed.

    BGB

  • dbeamish #21 5 years ago

    @BillGAtesBitch..

    Well theres few non cartoony titles just on the launch so I'd anticipate quite a few tbh..
    Zelda, Red Steel, Need for Speed, tony Hawks, plus more just on launch day

  • lambtron #22 5 years ago

    Sometimes I feel like people like me don't exist anymore. I'm sure in the beginning people actually played games for fun. Mario isn't my gaming hero or anything but I not going to write off a game just cos he's in it.

    My take on it is:

    Is the game fun? If yes I couldn't give a flying fuck if its aimed for kids, grownups or geriatic horse-rapers (slight niche market there). Maybe that's just me.

  • brainbird #23 5 years ago

    Well, then have fun with whatever suits your interest.

  • kangarootoo #24 5 years ago

    Now that, looks f*cking awsome!!

    I too could be categorised as "not really a Mario fan", but that was stunning. Gameplay wise, there seemed to be lots of genuinely quality ways that the Wii controller was being applied. Visually, the sense of space when he was moving between planets was just brilliant.

    I would confidently (unless it all turns out to be smoke and mirrors, it is only a trailer after all, probably with one of the devs at the controls) suggest that game to be a "killer app". I.e. it will sell consoles off its back, the way Halo sold Xboxes. Very impressive.

  • jellyhead #25 5 years ago

    Nah, Lambtron you're just a gamer like most of us here.
    Couldn't really care less about the platform as long as it's a fun game, i'll probably end up having all 3 consoles again.
    2nd hand and so on as i'm not made of platinum but if a console has good enough games that i want to play. I'll buy it.

  • lambtron #26 5 years ago

    @jellyhead

    Thank god for that ^_^

  • brainbird #27 5 years ago

    And it does look like the teletubbies if you remove Mario.

    /hugs yellowtruck

  • Tiiti #28 5 years ago

    This had better be better than that god aweful Sunshine!

  • Nikanoru #29 5 years ago

    Tayl: you're depressing. I bet you feed on the joy and fun of people. :(



    yellowtruck: you'll get it by the time your balls drop, son. (same goes for brainbird)

  • brainbird #30 5 years ago

    What?
    Oh, the thread was too much to read, I guess.

  • kaleii Verified Editor-in-Chief, Country Manager, Eurogamer Sweden #31 5 years ago

    "aha, so it was Deep Blue Something who wrote Breakfast At Tiffany's"

    I wouldn't really call that obscure, to be honest. That song was played once an hour on MTV for better part of a year.

    However, I liked the article. I'm still a bit confused as to how the game will play... I hope the wiggling feels intuitive. We'll see, I guess :)
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 15:20

  • Nikanoru #32 5 years ago

    Ah, I did read it...edited my comment to add that (too quickly) in a twitch response after seeing your post appear, sorry. :(

  • chupachups #33 5 years ago

    "Don't rub it in our face like that; it's bad enough that we'll have to wait until 2007 to we get our dirty little hands all over Mario's latest... "

    You leave Princess Peach out of it!

  • brainbird #34 5 years ago

    No problem, Nikanoru. We're on the same side anyway.

  • AcidSnake #35 5 years ago

    Side?

  • brainbird #36 5 years ago

    The "gameplay" side.
    Yes, a little bit pathetic, I know.

  • kincaide #37 5 years ago

    I am up for this - good preview, thanks Eurogamer

  • Darren #38 5 years ago

    I've just watched that five minute video... the game looks AWESOME! Very inventive and lots of fun; just what you'd expect from Nintendo. Even the visuals look gorgeous. The only thing you can't tell from watchig the video is how the controller is actually used.

    Anyway... can't wait for this game.

  • DrDamn #39 5 years ago

    Is your fullstop key bust Tom?

    Looks great, but can't see it being a killer app as such. Yes it will sell lots, but killer apps sell consoles to people who weren't going to buy one anyway. I suppose you could say a lot of people are buying a Wii in the knowledge that Mario will be on it. I can't see this doing much but converting those already there.

  • Steroyd #40 5 years ago

    BTW, Mario 64 DS could seem dire to you, Steroyd, but for those of us who didn't get the chance to play it on the N64, it was an opportunity to taste the one title that redefined platform games - and it tasted good :)

    Don't get me wrong Mario 64 DS was an impprovement from Mario 64 which i think is the BEST 3D PLATFORMER EVAH!!!

    But the touchscren was so tacked on it wasn't even funny, Nintendo were the victims of their own success on that Mario 64 was solely designed for the analogue stick and the analogue stick only.

    If you bother to download the Wii back catalogue you'll understand how much the game is way better with an Analogue stick than the touchscreen.

    I'm glad Nintendo didn't decide to tack on the wiimote onto this title just to show their innovation.

    But i doubt it'll reach the level that was Mario 64.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 16:06

  • kangarootoo #41 5 years ago

    @DrDamn

    "but killer apps sell consoles to people who weren't going to buy one anyway"

    Well, we have a slightly differerent definition of a term that probably has no formal definition. My def is a game that someone will buy a console to play. Whether they had plans to perhaps buy the console anyway at some point is a bit too transcient to state as a fact.

    No-one has plans to buy a console until they have a good reason to do so. Many people might say "it needs to have 3 or 4 good games before I will buy it". So they are still thinking about a purchase, but they have a set of rules that dictate when that purchase will happen. I think some people will buy a Wii to play Mario, regardless of what other games become available. That, in my def of the term, makes it a killer app.

    I take your point too, like I said we shouldn't really disagree over a term that has not formal definition.

  • DrDamn #42 5 years ago

    @Kangarootoo
    I think we have the same definition actually. More what I'm trying to say is, why ask the question "The Wii's killer app?". Any big proper Mario title was always going to make some people buy the Wii. Therefore the question is pointless. In the raw defintion of Killer App that we agree on, yes it will make people buy the Wii. However in my opinion this was a given. Similar to Halo 3 being a killer app for the 360 and Gran Turismo for the PS3.

  • ProfessorLesser #43 5 years ago

    I've played the bloody thing, and I can make absolutely no sense of this article. Is it just me? Is it actually badly written? It all seems very convoluted and vague.

  • OnlyMe #44 5 years ago

    I'm curious to see how this game works out, but to be honest, I never found 3D marios to be good at all... ever. No, not even Mario 64. My platforming preferences has gone over to Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. On PS1 I preferred Crash Bandicoot and/or Spyro the Dragon. They might all be inspired by Mario 64, but I still thought they were better.

    So no, Mario isn't a system seller for me. However, Legend of Zelda is, as long as they keep up the high standard. Twilight Princess looks excellent, but we'll wait and see. I also love Wind Waker, and I think OOT is slightly overrated. Specifically how almost all of the dungeons were badly designed, compared to WW. But still great game.

    Strangely enough, my most wanted game for the Wii is the Wii Sports that comes with the console, I'm looking forward to trying that tennis game.

  • DrDamn #45 5 years ago

    @ProfessorLesser
    Hence my comment about fullstops higher up. The first paragraph has this little beauty all as one sentence ...

    "Having patiently explained that you were the unwitting protagonist of a preview introduction being written several months later, you might then have peeled back my scalp, levered open my skull and fingered your way past the layers of neuroses, the section dedicated to obscure '90s pop trivia ("aha, so it was Deep Blue Something who wrote Breakfast At Tiffany's";), and then arrived in whichever lobe played host to my main fear about Super Mario Galaxy: that it would, like many of the DS launch titles, struggle to feel like much more than the novel first steps of a toddler in an earthquake."

    I completely lost track a couple of times in the article.

  • JonFE #46 5 years ago

    "You leave Princess Peach out of it!"

    Oooh, just imagine the possibilities...



    ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 16:42

  • kangarootoo #47 5 years ago

    @DrDamn

    "Any big proper Mario title was always going to make some people buy the Wii."

    Well, this is true. Maybe I was being too idealistic. I suppose my first reactions are to view a game looks to be of high quality and say "that is a killer app", when of course as you say a killer app can be born out of a strong franchise and good marketing. Most of the Mario games are also of good quality, so I'm probably splitting hairs.

    I suppose what I am saying is that if that hadn't been a Mario game I might have still thrown the term "killer app" in its direction, based purely on what I saw without really thinking about the realities of product exposure and so on.

    I feel pedant bound to mention that I didn't actually raise any questions. I simply used the term to address what I thought looked like an excellent game (I don't use the term killer app very freely) :)

    @OnlyMe

    There is no accounting for taste. There are plenty of people who don't give a flying flip (doing my little Flander impression there) about Halo or GTA (both system sellers in their own right). Zelda is also a strong enough franchise which will sell Wiis all by itself. Variety is good, so we are all happy.

    @ProfessorLesser

    "Is it just me? Is it actually badly written? It all seems very convoluted and vague."

    Well the article made perfect sense to me, so I guess the ball is back in your court.

  • kangarootoo #48 5 years ago

    @DrDamn

    That is a legit sentence as far as I can tell, with perhaps the mistaken use of : instead of ;. But I'm no expert.

    Tom is a skilled wordsmith. So lets be careful about criticising sentence structure in case we just end up looking silly. Criticising a paragraph simply because you found it hard to read can backfire on you very quickly :)

  • Psi #49 5 years ago

    mario, galaxies, whats not to like!

  • JetSetWilly #50 5 years ago

    @kanagarootoo

    I agree. But it seems that Tom's skills deserted him for the final paragraph :)

  • ProfessorLesser #51 5 years ago

    kanga, it may very well have been correct, but the article read absurdly. You're right though, Tom's stuff is usually of the highest quality, but I had a very hard time following this.

  • DrDamn #52 5 years ago

    @kangarootoo
    I'm not saying it's not a legit sentence. Just too long for this sort of article. No reason not to break it up and make it more readable and cohesive.

  • DrDamn #53 5 years ago

    Also like to point out that maybe the usual high quality of Tom's work made it stick out more. I like reading Tom's stuff normally.

  • KraftWerk #54 5 years ago

    "- and on evidence like this it's helped Nintendo get off to a good star."

    Pun intended?

  • T4RG4 #55 5 years ago

    Personally I thought it looked quite boring and not much in the way of a leap in anything. Then again, I dont like Mario games and think the controller will be tiresome very quickly ;)

  • PS3lol #56 5 years ago

    The game is fun, that's all you need to know.

    People who over analize games need a kick in the teeth.

  • FooAtari #57 5 years ago

    @T4RGA
    "Personally I thought it looked quite boring and not much in the way of a leap in anything. Then again, I dont like Mario games and think the controller will be tiresome very quickly ;)"

    Yeah, just like the DS did ;) Did anyone get bored of the joypad after it first came out? Nope, so why would this be any different? Don't be so stuck in your ways :) I'm not saying this Wiimote will be better than a pad or become THE new way to play games, but it has as much chance of catching on as the joypad did after the paddle or joystick.

    Anyway, this definitly looks like a great game
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 19:05

  • smelly #58 5 years ago

    Im interested in all the people who "hate" mario games, as to whether they've actually played any?

    Oh, and whats wrong with sunshine? Sure it wasnt quite as good as mario 64, but it's still one of the best games i've played in years!

  • krenzler #59 5 years ago

    I really really liked the vibrant colourful world of Mario Sunshine!

    Very much looking forward to the unadulterated fun-ness of Galaxy. :-P

    I agree that the writing in this article seems a bit over-convoluted but as long as Nintendo keep doing their thing it's all good. :-)

    "It's-a-Wii, Mario!"


  • timpig #60 5 years ago

    see this is where eurogamer losses me. i resent having to wade
    through this turd's painfully self-indulgent first paragraph when all i
    want to do is read about a computer game. instead i just find myself
    fighting the urge to hit the close tab button.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/06 @ 22:49

  • Santino #61 5 years ago

    This is probably the game i am looking forward to most, i was wondering what the next mario game owuld have in store, what it would bring to the table, where it would be set, for the life of me i couldnt think of how a platformer would control best on the system. And by all accounts they have nailed it to the point where you dont think about the controls they just work.

    Anyway on a sour note, seems like some people are ready to disregard this simply because it has mario in it, even though every single preview of it has been positive. It looks like it is genuinely making great use of the remote for gameplay purposes and providing an original experience. But yeah it has mario in it so obviously it is a rehashed game for children no fun here for adults (even though all mario games can be as easy or hard as u want depending on how 'complete' you want to finish the game)...Get a fucking grip it makes me sick.

  • OnlyMe #62 5 years ago

    I've recently played through 90% of New Super Mario Bros, and come to the conclusion that 2D Mario is still the best. I'd love to see this new game prove otherwise. But I also discovered that I'm not really fond of the Super Mario universe at all, nor the characters. And that has nothing to do with it being childish or anything, I've played several childish games all my life. Anyway, I've played all the 2D games, but never completed them. Got further in some than in others and so on. Played Mario 64, which was supposedly the pinnacle. I played maybe 30-40% of the game before I gave up on it. Played a few levels on Super Mario Sunshine, but couldn't really stand that one. I simply hated the whole water-cannon formula. I'll probably try Galaxy too, see how that fares. But so far, my experience with mario has had its up and downs. I'm not completely sold on the franchize, like some are. I'm a lot more fond of Zelda, and is basically the sole reason for me to keep buying the Nintendos. Looking forward to Super Paper Mario too. Could be interesting.

  • krenzler #63 5 years ago

    Aw, see what you've gone and done now?

    You ruined the perfectly good 64 comments mark! :-)

    It was a sign of good fortunes to come...






    (never mind me).

  • NegativeZero #64 5 years ago

    Metroid Prime: Hunters taught them that traditional movement and pointer control can be combined rather well

    That was 'rather well'? It's pretty awful, trying to force in a control scheme that's wildly inappropriate for the platform so that they could have crappy online deathmatches. If that's an example of Nintendo getting it right, then I'll have to make sure not to touch any of their Wii games.

  • The-Bodybuilder #65 5 years ago

    "And I played, Goldeneye,
    Breakfast in Tiffany's.
    She said hi, plays wide,
    Eyebrows and hairsprays.
    And I dunno, I'm gay,
    sumthing in tiffany's"

    Atleast that's how I remember it.

  • The-Bodybuilder #66 5 years ago

    >"but it has as much chance of catching on as the joypad did after the paddle or joystick."

    It hasn't. And that's purely from a medical standpoint.

  • Meglomaniac #67 5 years ago

    I think this mario is going to be fun, it sure looks like it will be. Might be kind of tricky to get used to the controls though. The sideways and upside down and running around spheres might make it a bad game for those who get motion sickness.



    Buy Wii themed gear and help me get a Wii at:
    http://www.cafepress. com/wgear/

  • admir #68 5 years ago

    another mario game thats being overrated.

  • krenzler #69 5 years ago

    Another pointless comment.

  • Toonster #70 5 years ago

    another mario game thats being overrated.

    Reminds me of the overrated MGS and Halo games.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/06 @ 03:38

  • admir #71 5 years ago

    MGS3 snake eater is the best mgs game the other ones are overrated, dont forget GTA

    FF7 is a good game but FF8 is much better if they wanna remake a FF game then it should be 8
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/06 @ 04:32

  • Steroyd #72 5 years ago

    And the sarcastic point still stands...

  • Bennicus #73 5 years ago

    @Tayl: "The canon Mario series is simply not a system-selling application any more."

    Yeah, Mario64 DS and New Super Mario Bros did absolutely *nothing* for that system, huh! Those games were so lame I bet nintendo had to ask sony to invent new high-density cartridges for them to store all that lame. ^__^;;

    Parts of this post not entirely serious. (Like maybe the bit I quoted)

  • kangarootoo #74 5 years ago

    @Meglomaniac

    Dude, just stop that. Once was a curiosity, but now you are just hawking. I commend your business senses, but stop advertising on our threads :)

  • login_name #75 5 years ago

    "FF7 is a good game but FF8 is much better if they wanna remake a FF game then it should be 8."

    You seriously prefered FFVIII over FFVII? Why? The graphics were terrible, cut sequences aside, the music was a little off and, above all else, the story was shit. They made a move to coax more westerners and it shows. It lost all it's charm.

    FFVIII is my least favourite in the series, closely followed by X2, FFVI being my favourite.

    Of course this is all my opinion :)

  • DrDamn #76 5 years ago

    @Smelly and Mario game hate ...
    I have played Mario on the GBA, SM64 on the N64, SMS on the GC and NSMB on the DS. A kind of testament to the series that I still end up getting them, but I do hate Mario himself. The whole mushroom, princess peach, bowser thing grates with me as nothing about it is likeable and it is sickeningly childish. The gameplay underneath all that keeps me coming back - I just always wish it was in a different package.

    Yeah, yeah, you can say it should all be about the gameplay, but the package is very important too.

  • The-Bodybuilder #77 5 years ago

    maybe they should take mario to a new directiom, a darker theme (because that's what everyone is doing these days).
    Something like princess peach backstabbing him with bowser, and somehow luigi gets killed.
    Give him a bald look, a meaner face and black clothing.

  • ST.. #78 5 years ago

    I can see Tom's 10/10 review already.

  • smelly #79 5 years ago

    >maybe they should take mario to a new directiom, a darker theme

    Noooooooooooo!!!! They tried that with shadow the hedgehog.

    it was shit.

    At the end of the day, it's mainly children who cant see past the cartoony graphics.

    Where we are with games is where we were in the 80's with movies.. Endless shitty adult orientated ultra violent games staring arnie/sylvester stalone/et al.. People got bored of seeing the same thing over and over again. Role on to modern times and grown ups are more than happy to go to the cinema to watch cars or little nemo.

    Same will happen with games.. just needs people to grow up and realise the same as they did with films.. In films Lots of violence doesnt make up for lack of plot, and being a cartoon doesnt stop the plot from being good. In games, exactly the same, but replace the word "plot" with "gameplay"

  • DrDamn #80 5 years ago

    @Smelly

    The characters in a story are part of the plot and the characters in a game are part of the game. The game itself is made up of a lot of parts, sound, gameplay, game story, characters, graphics etc. The game itself is the whole. You can't simply say that

    "At the end of the day, it's mainly children who cant see past the cartoony graphics."

    The graphics are part of the game. For example imagine Ico with the main character a mouthy american kid in shorts, big trainers and a baseball cap at a jaunty angle. Now turn the castle into a loud and brash multicoloured glare fest of a maze. It wouldn't be the same game to a lot of people. Quite rightly.

    In the case of Mario to me the plumber himself, princess peach and bowser are nastiness personified. Yes I can see the game mechanics underneath are very good, but the characters do detract from my enjoyment of it.

  • Steroyd #81 5 years ago

    I thought the cartoon was called Finding Nemo.... :p

  • Tonka #82 5 years ago

    I thought the cartoon was called Finding Nemo.... :p
    Think again

    Haven't seen the game though.

  • Santino #83 5 years ago

    Ah its so cool to hate Mario these days.

  • DrDamn #84 5 years ago

    @Santino

    I never liked the little bugger. If the underlying gameplay wasn't so good I wouldn't hate him so much, because I could ignore the games quite happily.

  • krenzler #85 5 years ago

    Mario himself is just a blank canvas. Nothing more, nothing less. Borne from the very limited technology available when Donkey Kong was all the rage.

    It's all good (as intended). How can you hate a blank canvas?

  • Santino #86 5 years ago

    krenzler

    ....that was deep dude :)

  • krenzler #87 5 years ago

    Heh heh... :-P

    I'm still reeling from it myself. :-)


  • DrDamn #88 5 years ago

    He might have been created fairly blank, but todays Mario has plenty of character to hate. Woohoo, weehee, it's a mee, Mario. *smack*

  • EmiliasHorse #89 5 years ago

    Hate Mario THIS much.

    Looks really nice though.

  • EmiliasHorse #90 5 years ago

    I watched a Dominik Diamond show that had him meet the man behind the voice of Mario. I wanted to punch him repeatedly in the face all through the interview, I was pleading with Dominik to pick up on my thought waves.

  • Tonka #91 5 years ago

    My you should attend an Anger Management class?

  • EmiliasHorse #92 5 years ago

    If attending allowed me to punch Mario around the face and shoulders yes I must go.

  • MasterThief #93 5 years ago

    My principal dislike of Mario games has always stemmed from one source. The lack of plot in the games. I am a huge advocate of cinematic games. I own Halo, KotOR, Max Payne, Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider Legend, Brothers in Arms, Jade Empire, and their sequels (except for KotORII!!!). I bought all of them because I felt they were committed to mature-themed stories, deep(ish) characterisation, emotive dialogue, sweeping musical scores, and so on. I'm in no way trying to insinuate that any of them were Oscar material (although, in the case of KotOR and Jade Empire, I might be. Bioware are VERY good writers). I'm just saying that these games are making the effort to tell compelling stories.

    I cannot get on with any adventure-based game that doesn't have a compelling narrative, because then the game just seems...vacuous. Empty. Soulless. It's fun for a while. But without that "what happens next?" spur to keep driving you on, that feeling of 'epicness', it soon takes on the feeling of a large and elaborate puzzle game. And nothing more. Par example, Tetris was fun in spurts. But no way could it hold me for hours, days and weeks on end.

    That's why I don't like Mario games. No plot equals no interest on my part. They really are just elaborate puzzle games. Oh, and as has been said, I DON'T like the childish cartoony nature of the games, and I make no apologies for that. A games style, art direction and theme is a crucial part of its enjoyment, whatever the apologists would try and dictate. Would Pro Evo be half as satisfying if the game had cartoony big head characters?

    PS. Everything I said about plot in games obviously only applies to mission-based games. I also own Forza, Pro Evo 5, Top Spin, Dead or Alive Ultimate, PGR2, etc. None of these NEED a plot, so such devices are not a requirement to me enjoying them. Also, in my collection are two games where I made an exception to the 'must be cinematic and have a compelling narrative' rule. Ninja Gaiden Black, because its gameplay is SO DAMN GOOD! and Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike, because I bought it for online multiplayer, not for single player (which I haven't even looked at yet. And probably never will).
    Edited by 4 at 23/09/06 @ 08:08