Mario may be short and round but that hasn’t stopped this iconic phenomenon from producing some of the greatest platforming games in our time, games including Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., (My Favorite) Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. The long awaited sequel, Super Mario Galaxy is finally here, and Mario’s newest adventure is about to take us where no plumber has gone before.

Story: 9/10
If you have played Mario games before, the story isn’t much different as Bowser once again kidnaps Princess Peach and Mario must pursue Bowser in order to save her. But hey, why change something that isn’t broken? Eventually the game starts Mario at a central space hub. A Peach look-a-like named Rosalina greets Mario and tells that she is the head of the space station. She explains that Bowser has drained the stars from the galaxy, and Mario must go retrieve the stars to repower her space station to be able to take Mario to where Princess Peach is being held prisoner.

Gameplay: 10/10
Galaxy’s gameplay plays a lot like Super Mario 64, because this is basically is Super Mario 64 in space. Yet, this is not a bad thing at all. Super Mario Galaxy is an evolution to the Mario platforming series. You will not find a better Mario platformer in this galaxy or any other one far far away. As Mario, you will explore 40 plus a unique galaxies, each containing different variety of challenges, all rewarding you with your main goal, the star. As Mario you will jump, glide across black holes, soar through space in sling shots in shape of stars, battle bosses, and explore plants with different environments. One of my favorite gameplay mechanics was with the gravity on the planets. Jumping off the side of a planet, and doing a whole 360 orbit around the planet is ridiculously fun.

Messing with the gravity in Super Mario Galaxy is quite entertaining. The game provides Mario with power ups; some are classic ones, like the fireflower, 1-up, and the star. Then some new ones like Bee Mario, Ice Mario, and Boo Mario. Galaxy also introduces a co-op mode with your buddy if you have an additional Wii remote. The co-op mode has your buddy plays as your back up; he/she can stun enemies, collect starbits, and shoot at your enemies. It is nothing big, but it enhances the gameplay making it fun with a friend. Overall the gameplay is superb, getting the 60 stars is a bit easy, and the final boss is disappointingly easy, but the real challenge was achieving all 120 stars. Despite the easy mode approach at the end, you will not find a better platformer on any other console.

Controls: 9.5/10
When first seeing Super Mario Galaxy, I was worried if the controls would be a total failure. Thankfully, Nintendo didn’t fail with the controls. In Galaxy, you control Mario with nunchuck’s analog stick. Shaking the wiimote causes Mario to perform a spin attack that is also used as an extra jump. Pointing the Wii remote at objects like the starbits picks them up without having to have you run toward them. From the start of the game the controls are easy to adjust to, and are quite comfortable. Galaxy introduces new-old game play mechanics, soon after you will be long jumping planet to planet, out running giant boulders, and wall jumping large towers with ease. The only problem Galaxy had with the controls was a similar one from Mario 64, the swimming still sucks, but atleast there aren’t that many water levels. Galaxy also provides some other uses of the motion control, and it’s also quite fun. For example, there is a manta ray water race, where you hold the Wii remote and twist it either left or right to turn. Mario also hops on top of a glass ball and you maneuver the ball by hold the Wii remote as flight stick, pushing forward to go forward, or pulling back to backtrack. Though with the swimming problems, the controls are fantastic, and are easy to pick up.

Graphics & Sound: 10
The graphics for Galaxy, hands down one of the best looking games on the Wii. Mario himself looks well detailed, along with the characters in the game, especially Bowser with his hair waving in the wind. The environments in Galaxy are incredibly detailed, floating debris in Space Junk Galaxy, the waving grass in Good Egg Galaxy. The worlds look flawless, lava worlds, ice worlds, and mechanized factories will amaze you with the diversity in the levels, and their designs. The levels do not look repeated and bland. The game does support 16:9 ratios, something Wii owners have been wanting. The sound in Galaxy is also perfected, with the music of each stage fitting right in. Galaxy also brings back some old school tunes, like music from the sky levels in Super Mario Bros 3, and the underground level theme. Even though there is no voice overs in the game, except for the beginning, I personally didn’t feel it effected the game, and wasn’t a major concern for me.

Replayability: 9
The core game itself last about 20 hours for the 60 stars, and 30 plus if you are going for the 120 stars. Once beating the game, playing it again is just as fun due to its unique gameplay. I liked to replay the Bowser levels in the game, they to me were best levels and most challenging. Replaying the game with a friend in co-op mode will refresh the game’s replayabiltiy. Galaxy has enough to have you come back and play it again to experience its uniqueness, or just to hop around planet to planet for kicks.

Overall: 9.5
Super Mario Galaxy is one of the greatest platformers that I have played; an absolute must have for Wii owners. Galaxy gave me the game play that I wanted that Super Mario Sunshine didn’t fully offer, this game feels like the true sequel to Super Mario 64. Get ready to be blown away by the near flawless controls, the ridiculously fun gravity effects, and the beautiful graphics. Overall Super Mario Galaxy is fantastic game, and a great addition to your Wii library.