Many of you are probably aware of the fact that the original Super Mario Galaxy received a 10 from me. It’s the first ever game at DigitalChumps that I’ve reviewed to receive that honor, and I hadn’t been expecting any other games to truly rival its brilliance anytime soon.
The jury’s still out on whether it sequel measures up, as it’s simply too early to say for sure. But I’m now 25 stars in, and I can tell you this much: this is one heck of an experience.
Don’t start thinking you’ve been there, done that
What’s immediately different
In comparison with its predecessor, the familiarity is comforting, but beyond the basic foundations of the design, the differences are innumerable (and refreshing).
First off, of course, there’s the world map. In the beginning, from the first time you actually see the “zoomed-out” version of the map, there are seven visible slots for worlds. Each world contains seven different galaxies, so if you do the math, that comes to forty-nine total.
In the first game, there were five and six stars per galaxy. In this game (and it’s congruent with the new math as described above), it’s more like two to four. There are some quick ones (most of those are secret stars, such as one where you have to wall jump where it at first doesn’t seem possible—it isn’t all that hard though), but for the most part, the stars take some time to collect. After around five hours of play last night, I ended up with 25. So that’s around 5 stars per hour, or a star every twelve minutes (thanks, by the way, to TheNextUser for correcting my terrible math).
Mind you, I don’t rush through these games, even when I’m reviewing them. I feel it’s better to try to enjoy it as though I’m not a game critic at all—that way, my opinion is much more authentic and balanced, as though I’m simply a fan. And I am!
Loving the world map
Diving in
Regardless, let’s get down to more specifics, without spoiling much of anything. The scenarios in Galaxy 2 are many and varied. There isn’t much downtime at all in-between star mission departures to each galaxy; the world map design and rather small hub world (Spaceship Mario) help to ensure the player gets right back into the action as opposed to wandering around the comet observatory. Truth be told, there isn’t much real difference between the two designs actually; additional small areas still appear around Spaceship Mario as you progress through the main adventure, and it’s fun to check these out. Really the biggest change is that, to jump back into the action, you aren’t forced to walk from room to room in search of the galaxy you want. Instead, you just step on a giant yellow button at the “helm” of the ship, in front of the steering wheel, and off you go to the world map to select your destination.
Progress on the world map is determined both by the completion of levels (and thus the opening of a new path forward) and the number of stars you’ve collected. It’s entirely possible to complete a level only to meet with a so-called Star Barrier ahead, which blocks your way to the next galaxy until you’ve collected the requisite number of stars. Don’t worry; revisiting places you’ve already been is nothing monotonous at all. Each star in the existing galaxies feels completely different from the previous ones, and it’s all so much fun you won’t mind a single bit.
Secret branching paths still exist, too, of course, and so far these have been the result of the all-too-familiar Hungry Lumas, which occupy particular spots on the world map which you can select to feed the Luma at will. It’s a cool design which feels like a fusion of the New Super Mario Bros. and Galaxy approaches. And personally, I love a world map anyway.
The galaxies themselves all feel nothing alike, each of which is heavily themed in some way and seemingly even more varied than those in the original. So far, I have seen two new power-ups already (Cloud Mario and Rock Mario — thanks to Bloshi22 for the correction), along with the new drill item and some other surprises. There’s plenty of Yoshi as well. Really, it isn’t fair to even categorize these “power-ups” in this way, however, as each new galaxy presents a wholly unique concept to those before it (whether central to a particular item or not), such as drilling straight through the cores of planets or hanging off the feet of a bird and gliding through gates toward a goal.
This guy was actually somewhat of a challenge
Control is as good as ever as well. Yoshi is lots of fun to play, and he’s there just often enough to where it doesn’t get old. Not to mention the fact that the mechanics even with Yoshi are, as you might expect, just as varied as those with Mario. If you aren’t running along and eating enemies, you’re floating blimp-style upward between obstacles or running along the sides of inverted platforms, avoiding deadly walls. It’s challenging and never boring.
As for difficulty, so far, it’s just right. But I’m pretty hardcore when it comes to platforming, and I love tough Mario. I fully expect the game to get much harder, and a few of the stars I’ve done already allude to that eventual spike in challenge. One in particular required me to jump from enemy to enemy (combo-style) and collect coins to reach a high score (10,000). It wasn’t all that tough, but it did take me a few tries. Still, it’s getting to where I like it. The game clearly is not afraid to put you in tough situations, but as always, it never feels cheap at all. It’s early on though, so I’ll revisit this subject in much more detail later.
Galaxy 2 seems to take delight in playing with your expectations as to what the sequel will be. For starters, even at the very beginning, you’ll hear the Star Festival theme music from Galaxy 1 playing, and you’ll think to yourself “Oh, this is familiar. It’s the song from the first game.” That’s partially true, yes; but it isn’t long before it’s obvious that this is actually an entirely different orchestrated rendition of that song—and it actually transitions into the now-famous Gusty Garden Galaxy/Super Mario Galaxy sub-theme that we all know and love. This is smart game design that will be enticing both to newcomers and, even moreso, to those who are already well-acquainted with Mario Galaxy.
Flying high with Fluzzard
Speaking a bit more on the soundtrack… wow. Not that I was personally concerned on this point, as Yokota clearly knows what the heck he’s doing, but this is just a wonderful extension of the first game, and it’s even more colorful in terms of genre transcendence than Galaxy 1’s OST so far. I’ve heard plenty of the obligatory orchestra, along with piano, some tasteful MIDI, and even live country-style violin in the Puzzle Plank galaxy. Overall, however, the sense of majesty and complexity which permeated the soundtrack of the original is fully alive here. I’m quite sure that the proportion of orchestral to MIDI has also been tipped further in favor of the former, too; even some of the jingles (such has the star collection theme) have now been given the orchestral treatment.
While it’s still early, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely in love with Super Mario Galaxy 2 already, just 25 stars in. If the game continues along its current trajectory, it’s certainly destined for greatness, following perfectly in the footsteps of its predecessor (and in some cases, even eclipsing them altogether). Nintendo certainly hasn’t skimped here in any way. How about scoring, however? Well, of course, you’ll just have to wait until I finish the game and the review to know that. It won’t be long—my goal is Friday. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!
