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PreviousSuper Mario Galaxy First Impressions
Wii First Impressions by Oli Welsh
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"In one sense, this is the first worthy successor to Mario 64," bellowed a typically belligerent Reggie Fils-Aime at E3. We all knew what he meant. "We know you thought Mario Sunshine was a bit crap. We hope this one sells better," he might as well have said. Fine: we hope he's right. But in one sense, Reggie's remark does Super Mario Galaxy a disservice.
Many people have taken it to mean that Galaxy is a footstep-following sequel to the N64 classic. It's not. After a lengthy hands-on with the E3 demo (plus a couple of extra levels), it becomes clear that Super Mario Galaxy is its own game: a blend of some of the best bits from both 3D and 2D Mario tradition, with a number of very distinctive twists. It's far more New than New Super Mario Bros ever was.
It's no coincidence that Galaxy is the first major Mario title ever to be made outside of Nintendo's Kyoto HQ. It's being developed by the team in Tokyo that made the brilliant, bongo-controlled Donkey Kong's Jungle Beat. Letting go was a brave move on Miyamoto's part, but it looks like it's paying off, because the six stages of Galaxy we played were pure bliss.
It's drop-dead gorgeous, for starters. This is not just the best-looking Wii title by miles, it's one of the best-looking games in the world full stop, HD or no HD. It's as smooth and shiny as silk, the colours are unbelievably vibrant, it's smothered in lustrous effects, and you feel like you can reach out and touch its chunky, cute and tactile designs. Super Mario Galaxy makes most hi-def games look about as solid and convincing as photographs pasted onto empty cereal packets. The sound is superb too: a riot of bright tinkles, radiophonic zings and zaps, and electro-funk remixes of vintage Mario tunes.
One level had bee Mario crawling through the giant queen bee's fur while she squealed with pleasure. It was a bit disturbing, frankly.
The controls are based very closely on Mario 64's. The double and triple jumps, long jump, wall kick, backflip, ground pound and side somersault are all present and correct, and executed with the same combinations of stick moves, A and Z. They're as fluid and versatile as ever, and a little easier to use - in particular, you can pull back on long jumps in mid-air if it looks like you're going to overshoot. The dive is gone, but in its place is a hugely useful Super Mario World-style spin attack, pulled off by shaking the remote. This upends and stuns enemies, who can then marvelously be booted into space, Mario Bros style.
Bizarrely, you can also stun enemies by shooting them with the remote. Coloured blobs are collected by Mario, or just by passing the remote cursor over them, and then aimed and shot, or saved for a 1up. We didn't find a use for this beyond giving Goombas concussion, and it feels rather tacked-on, although it is a novel and way to interact with Mario's world. A second player with a second remote can help with all this, as well as with certain obstacles (for example, holding a rolling boulder out of the way). The remote cursor is also used to lock onto sequences of 'beam stars', which haul Mario across gaps in space with a kind of elasticated tractor-beam.
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Domstercool
17/08/07 @ 10:48
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I was in a panic then, thought it was coming out early or something and I'd not noticed!
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Danbojones
[staff]
17/08/07 @ 10:48
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Calm down dear, it's only a preview.
Damn your swift little fingers.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 17/08/07 @ 11:49
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Uncle_Fishboy
17/08/07 @ 10:50
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Who gives a toss. It's only a silly game featuring an italian bell end
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afghan_jones
17/08/07 @ 10:57
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Sounds (and looks) pretty good doesnt it.
How is it controlled? Is it old school with the added pointer shooting thing or is it more wii-ified than that? |
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richardiox
17/08/07 @ 10:59
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Control Mario with the analogue stick, interact with the environment using the remote pointer. Looks incredible, can't wait.
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Eighthours
17/08/07 @ 11:04
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"We know you thought Mario Sunshine was a bit crap."
Tom gave it a 9 back in the day. "It does more than just compete (with the past titles)," he assured us... Wasn't the only one suckered in by the hype. I thoroughly enjoyed my first playthrough, but going back to it without the excitement revealed SMS to be a pale experience when compared to Mario 64. |
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Stupid_Fat_Hobbit
17/08/07 @ 11:08
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Super Mario Sunshine was far from a bit crap, except when compared to all the other Mario games.
Anyway, can't wait for this. Want! |
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The12thMonkey
17/08/07 @ 11:16
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"Who gives a toss. It's only a silly game featuring an italian bell end"
Hi, Sonic. |
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Der_tolle_Emil
17/08/07 @ 11:22
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MMMM, looks like this is going to be mega awesome, clearly the best bits by a mile in Sunshine were the secret levels, and this just looks like loads of them stuck together.
That's true. I enjoyed the absurd level design of the bonus missions without FLUDD. Mario and 'realistic' environments don't mix imho. FLUDD wasn't too much of a problem actually but the level design was dull compared to the surrealistic level designs usually found in Mario games. |
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GingerNathan
17/08/07 @ 11:37
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I preferred the non-Fludd bits to. It was still an excellent game through, just let down by repeating game play (how many times did I fight that giant Blooper?) and artificial game extension by forcing the player to collect needless amounts of blue coins in order to get all Shine Sprites.
Galaxy is looking rather special though. |
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Machiavellian
17/08/07 @ 11:43
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Personally, I just cannot generate anymore excitement for Mario anymore. I am hoping SMG will bring me back but right now Mario is low on my list. To bad Nintendo doesn't do demos. Anyway Mario sells way to good for Nintendo to do a demo for it anyway.
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SniperWolf
17/08/07 @ 12:00
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Mario's cool, but he's no Bioshock, that's the only game that matters from now on. Unless a game is as good as Bioshock it should automatically be docked 2 points in the review.
Developers need to know that they can't get away with mediocre games anymore, it's Bioshock or bust from now on |
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Eighthours
17/08/07 @ 12:02
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Never having played Mario 64, this preview told me absolutely nothing.
C'mon Oliver, some of us had PlayStations instead... Frankly, the percentage of EG'ers who haven't played Mario 64 is probably around the same who don't know how to turn a PC monitor on. You're genuinely the first videogamer I've ever encountered who hasn't. |
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rhinoxious
17/08/07 @ 12:12
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I love the idea of a second controller being used, will help keep the missus entertained while she coos at the pretty visuals.
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manic_mouse
17/08/07 @ 12:14
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Miyamoto is a figure head, you'll find he has very little to do with most Nintendo games these days (aside from his pet projects like Pikmin).
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