Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wishlist
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the 7 greatest things they could add to this game are as follows;
Larry
Morton Jr.
Ludwig Von
Wendy O'
Roy
Iggy
Lemmy
the game will fail without the addition of those characters
Get rid of the lives system,and let me die as many times as I want/need to.I don't need to see a Game Over screen to have fun.Other than that,as long as Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues in the same vein and quality,I'll be happy,since the first one was golden.
I totally agree with #1 and #1.5
The game is waaay to easy and straightforward. I liked mario 64, when you had no clue what to do next. Also i totally agree with the hub world being crappy. Mario 64 had an amazing castle, and outside castle, and sunshine had the delfino island (in which you can swim, wear sunglasses, find coins, do extra stars). The space is so boring, as the only real thing you can do is fly around.
... maybe you're doing it wrong... Super Mario Galaxy almost literally THROWS lives at youGet rid of the lives system,and let me die as many times as I want/need to.I don't need to see a Game Over screen to have fun.Other than that,as long as Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues in the same vein and quality,I'll be happy,since the first one was golden.
VGobbsesser
damn, I totally forgot about this topic, and made mine...
oh well
I want the ability to do this!
#1.5. ACTUAL hub-world - The galaxy hub was VERY disappointing. The hidden stars and challenges of the open-world hubs of the two previous 3D Mario's stomp this absolute joke of a galaxy hub world. Delfino Island was a vibrant hub world with relative character and many hidden secrets. Now the argument could be made that since Galaxy has o fewer stars, the player is not necessarily missing out on anything but that those hidden hub-world stars just become additional challenges. I much prefer discovering secret stars on an open hub world to having to do another straightforward gimmicky challenge that appears in plain sight. This is why Super Mario Galaxy feels more like a collection of mini-games and challenges than an adventure game to me. MetallicaItalia
THANK YOU! Half of the fun of Mario 64 was exploring all of the hidden nooks and crannies. The castle was practically a level on its own. Galaxy's spaceship was completely boring. I really think they should work on making entrances to other levels more interesting rather than just giving us a pull star or a launch star to access ever level. In Mario 64, you could discover levels by jumping in a fish tank for God's sake! It was just plain cool!
#2. BRING BACK THE 8 RED COINS - Searching for 8 difficult to reach coins consecutively without dying was a fun challenge and exercise in exploration as opposed to the mindless task of running around getting 100 purple coins 3 of which are slightly hidden. #3. Yoshi - Check. MetallicaItalia
Absolutely! The 100 coin levels were a drag. In fact, they need to scrap ALL of those boring comet levels.
#4. Power-ups: My issue with power ups in this game is that they are very specific and sort of spoon fed to you. For example, in galaxy a task that would require the bee suit will provide the power-up directly in front of it provoking little thought from the player. This makes the time limit the only real challenge. I also have an issue with the power-up time limits. It makes them feel cheap, gimmicky and forced. YAY! You can be fire Mario, but only in a specific area where it is absolutely necessary for a very limited amount of time. I'd like to see the time limits increase and their purposes bit more ambiguous. MetallicaItalia
The power-ups in Galaxy were pretty cool, but you're right. They were just too forced. I really liked the system in Mario 64 (and Super Mario World for that matter) where you could go to a certain level to gain access to power-ups in earlier levels. These power ups were rarely necessary to find any stars, but they were fun to mess with and they were a great reward for exploring hidden parts of the castle. I'd also like to be specific and say that the Wing Cap needs a comeback. No, I'm not talking about some stupid power-up that you can only use in a boring hub world. I want something that will give me absolute freedom to explore large environments (assuming they were incorporated).
#1 LESS LINEAR - People hailing SMG as the "true SN64 successor are apparently unable to get past anything than a stronger superficial similarity relative to SMS's look. In terms of gameplay this is a straightforward linear platformer. Small worlds that confine you almost exclusively to one star. The level could be a completely different small and linear map depending on which star you choose for the same galaxy. MetallicaItalia
I don't think that linearity necessarily hurt gameplay – it just made it different. Open-world design would definitely help replayability, but I think that forcing the player down a specific path did allow for better pacing and some great scripted events. I definitely agree that this should be considered a completely different series than Super Mario 64. If I were Nintendo, I would include a good mix linear and non-linear level design. I loved Mario 64's gameplay to death, but many of the best levels in Galaxy were the most linear ones.
I agree wholeheartedly with TC. SMG just got boring after the novelty all the space stuff (e.g. running upside down, pull stars, jumping between planets etc)wore off. If SMG2 is going to be like SMG in all respects of which TC speaks then I will be giving it a miss.
What would we do with the green mushrooms, then? What would a Mario game be without its 1-ups?Get rid of the lives system,and let me die as many times as I want/need to.I don't need to see a Game Over screen to have fun.Other than that,as long as Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues in the same vein and quality,I'll be happy,since the first one was golden.
VGobbsesser
I disagree only with the next two points
#1 (LESS LINEAR) I liked the linear aspect of the game 'cause it helps you know what to do, SM64 levels aren't as confusing/complex as SMG levels in terms of design. If I wouldn't get any direction of where to go, make it sure I would had quit the game and started playing another thing. SMG levels are insane (design) so linearity really helps in my opinion. If I want to explore by myself I better play other thing like Zelda.
#2 (8 Red Coins): Damn I always hated those stars, I don't want them to return, prefer the 100 purple coins challenge than that.
The only one that i could remotely agree with is 2 because the 8 red coins made for a better platforming challenging than the purple coins. 1 makes little sense because Mario 64 was no less linear then SMG, you could bounce around stages as long as you had enough stars. Two the hub world secrets in Mario 64 were laid out in front of you, and obvious, not to mention the bulk of them took you to these so called gimmicky mini challenges that you claim is a fault of Galaxy. I would rather those gimmicky many challenges than having Toad standing there giving me stars. So 1 and 1.5 are both a no go. 4 makes no sense, if you require a power up to complete a challenge, where do you expect it to be at the end of the said challenge? To only have it at the very beginning of the stage and require you to keep it through out? And fire Mario instead of being his useless jump around turn everything to toast, they cleverly used it in more of a puzzle capacity, which I have no problem with. Mario had more than enough tools to to defeat enemies with, he doesn't need to run around with the uber flame power as well. Not to mention its a 3D game that power is not even as useful as it is in 2D. So 4 is a no go. Your ideas are not very good I must say. SepewrathThey didn't seem obvious when we initially played it. I'm sure now, 13 years later they do. It sure beats the heck out of "Oh boy! A pulI star just appeared here in plain sight!" I had no problem with the gimmicky challenges that you may have been led to from SM64's hub word. My problem is that 2/3 of the stars from the main stages in SMG feel like gimmicky hub world stars. I don't expect these power-ups to be at the end of the challenge. I just don't like the fact that they are literally spoon-fed to us. The way they are implemented makes them brief and forced. Yes I'd like the freedom to use these power-ups more liberally not because I want to toast everything on screen. Emenite7 says it better than could: "I really liked the system in Mario 64 (and Super Mario World for that matter) where you could go to a certain level to gain access to power-ups in earlier levels. These power ups were rarely necessary to find any stars, but they were fun to mess with and they were a great reward for exploring hidden parts of the castle. I'd also like to be specific and say that the Wing Cap needs a comeback. No, I'm not talking about some stupid power-up that you can only use in a boring hub world. I want something that will give me absolute freedom to explore large environments (assuming they were incorporated)." If they're worried about a level being to easy because of more freedom with a fire cap, then throw more enemies in/make them stronger. Don't insult me by "appeasing" me with a gimmicky forced power up. Don't even get me started on Twilight Princess. Unoriginal Ocarina of Time 1.5 without many brilliant things that made it so awesome. Doesn't even give you a back story on races like the Gorons and Zora's it jus assumes you're already acquainted with them. ughghghghghg
A simple 'easy', 'normal', 'hard' would be great. where depending on the difficulty level will make the 1up mushrooms harder to find or get, provide you with more things to accomplish in each level etc... That is my biggest desire in a sequel, a game "I" can play and not get bored because of lack of challenge. I won't bother buying another SMG unless my kids want it unless they add in this fix. Now, on to the list of just small wishlist items. You know stuff, that doesn't actually matter but would make it more enjoyable for me. 1. Voice acting. - There were the story parts and two talking parts in the original SMG yet they didn't bother making them into VOICE ACTING parts?! Really, the story parts were so blatantly aimed for preschoolers, yet they can't read... put it together Nintendo. Pitiful...
2. Less Bowser Jr. more Koopa Kids. Really, the whole Mini-me fad is over... and has been over for a long time.
3. Keep in the 2 player co-op... but also add in two player turns switching...
This sounds more like a fan boy complaining about why they cant get out of the 64 era. Yea, Mario(Zelda, metriod) has set his bar pretty high over the years, and as much as i love playin the Marios of old, I can accept that the newer ones(ie SMG, NSMB DS/Wii) are great games, and IMO, are easily better then marios of old. I dont know why people to look to Mario 64, OOT, Goldeneye even and compare new games to these. These new ones are as good if not better, maybe not in ever catagory, but overall. 64 era games made big leaps in the genres they in, but it is dumb to think that games are not better now then back then. Even Zelda TP is better in every way then OOT except in the story. but OOT is a rip off of Link to the past story. This can go on all day too. So enjoy the game for what is it, instead of lookin for every flaw it might have, becasue even Mario 64 had flaws.da_chubI happen to think both SM64 and SMS are better than SMG. That's probably because I happen t like adventure games more than straight up platformers. I had MUCH more fun playing Majora's Mask and Wind Waker than I did with Twilight Princess. TP, to me felt like half-assed fan service. The story was incredibly weak. The mask collection, transformations, and shear humanity of MM was awesome. There were fewer dungeons and t hat was a bummer but the town quests were so involved. Almost every NPC had a life, schedule and story of their own. A lot of interesting back story about other races was learned while acquiring the transformation masks as well. Wind Waker was really tight too. The story was incredibly fresh, and it was a pleasure to look at. Some people hated the sailing but there are a lot of great things about this game if you can get past it.
I think a big part of the apeal of Galaxy was that it was linear enough for casuals. My dad even beat Galaxy, but with Sunshine or Super Mario 64 he'd get lost and lose patience same goes for a few other casual gamers I know.
That said I would LOVE a more open banjo-tooie esq hub world, and less linear levels.
Also you should know that you have more negative fellings towards galaxy than most people, so even if Nintendo doesn't address your complaintsMOST of us will still love Galaxy 2.
I know Nintendo's new marketing strategy is "your dad can beat this game!" and I understand it is working very well. The developers are being naive when they say "their game aims to appeal to casuals/your dad, and the hardcore crowd. A core aspect, the size and scope of these worlds has been changed to accommodate a larger audience. So even if they make these linear maps, super challenging platformers for the "veteran" gamer there is no compromise on the style (linear vs. nonlinear/more open). Some really miss the point when people complain about this game being too easy. There were several stars that were fairly difficult but I never once wondered HOW to get them. The how was spoon-fed to be in a linear fashion and the only challenge left was in timing jumps correctly etc.I think a big part of the apeal of Galaxy was that it was linear enough for casuals. My dad even beat Galaxy, but with Sunshine or Super Mario 64 he'd get lost and lose patience same goes for a few other casual gamers I know.
That said I would LOVE a more open banjo-tooie esq hub world, and less linear levels.
Also you should know that you have more negative fellings towards galaxy than most people, so even if Nintendo doesn't address your complaintsMOST of us will still love Galaxy 2.
alphamale1989
Sadly, purple coiuns are in for at least another game.Nintendo should do this in order:
Get rid of the purple coins missions
Don't listen to any other suggestion by fans
JuarN18
[QUOTE="da_chub"]This sounds more like a fan boy complaining about why they cant get out of the 64 era. Yea, Mario(Zelda, metriod) has set his bar pretty high over the years, and as much as i love playin the Marios of old, I can accept that the newer ones(ie SMG, NSMB DS/Wii) are great games, and IMO, are easily better then marios of old. I dont know why people to look to Mario 64, OOT, Goldeneye even and compare new games to these. These new ones are as good if not better, maybe not in ever catagory, but overall. 64 era games made big leaps in the genres they in, but it is dumb to think that games are not better now then back then. Even Zelda TP is better in every way then OOT except in the story. but OOT is a rip off of Link to the past story. This can go on all day too. So enjoy the game for what is it, instead of lookin for every flaw it might have, becasue even Mario 64 had flaws.MetallicaItaliaI happen to think both SM64 and SMS are better than SMG. That's probably because I happen t like adventure games more than straight up platformers. I had MUCH more fun playing Majora's Mask and Wind Waker than I did with Twilight Princess. TP, to me felt like half-assed fan service. The story was incredibly weak. The mask collection, transformations, and shear humanity of MM was awesome. There were fewer dungeons and t hat was a bummer but the town quests were so involved. Almost every NPC had a life, schedule and story of their own. A lot of interesting back story about other races was learned while acquiring the transformation masks as well. Wind Waker was really tight too. The story was incredibly fresh, and it was a pleasure to look at. Some people hated the sailing but there are a lot of great things about this game if you can get past it.
If you like non-linear games better than linear ones, your argument is extremely valid. However, other people (including myself on occasion) prefer linear games, and enjoy being told where to go. ;)
Personally, I think Twilight Princess was a much better than game than Ocarina of Time because it took every loose end and problem from OoT and refined it. TP is the epitome of the Zelda formula, which is either good or bad depending on how you view it. You mentioned Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, and those stray very far from the formula, and are extremely non-linear. I thought Majora's Mask was great except for the 3-day time system; yes I understand, that was the central theme of the game, but I got very frantic and nervous at some points in that game because I couldn't save. For example, I had very little time at the end of the Stone Tower Temple to reset the clock. MM is a very good game, but it's a weaker formula than what TP presents, imo. Also, Wind Waker had plenty of issues, the sailing being the most obvious. And no, I never did get over it. Or rather, I was almost over it until Tingle made me cross the entire world map to find all those charts. That being said, Link's Awakening is my favorite Zelda.
Back to the SMG vs. SM64 debate: I loved SMG because it was linear, and got frustrated with SM64 because it was not. Super Mario Galaxy is one of those rare games that I've completed, full 242 stars. Super Mario 64 I never completed, simply because I didn't have the patience to find all those hard-to-get stars in the endgame. Don't get me wrong, SMG has its difficult moments (Lava Spire Daredevil Run comes to mind), but not the "bang-your-head-against-the-wall" type situations of searching every nook and cranny that 64 has. Both are good games, but Super Mario Galaxy wins in my opinion.
Finally, SMG2's hub world should definitely be more along the lines of Sunshine's. It should be a real, vibrant place with people and things moving around it, as well as some more devious hidden goodies mixed in.
If you reply to this with "tl;dr" I can't blame you, lol.
I happen to think both SM64 and SMS are better than SMG. That's probably because I happen t like adventure games more than straight up platformers. I had MUCH more fun playing Majora's Mask and Wind Waker than I did with Twilight Princess. TP, to me felt like half-assed fan service. The story was incredibly weak. The mask collection, transformations, and shear humanity of MM was awesome. There were fewer dungeons and t hat was a bummer but the town quests were so involved. Almost every NPC had a life, schedule and story of their own. A lot of interesting back story about other races was learned while acquiring the transformation masks as well. Wind Waker was really tight too. The story was incredibly fresh, and it was a pleasure to look at. Some people hated the sailing but there are a lot of great things about this game if you can get past it.[QUOTE="MetallicaItalia"][QUOTE="da_chub"]This sounds more like a fan boy complaining about why they cant get out of the 64 era. Yea, Mario(Zelda, metriod) has set his bar pretty high over the years, and as much as i love playin the Marios of old, I can accept that the newer ones(ie SMG, NSMB DS/Wii) are great games, and IMO, are easily better then marios of old. I dont know why people to look to Mario 64, OOT, Goldeneye even and compare new games to these. These new ones are as good if not better, maybe not in ever catagory, but overall. 64 era games made big leaps in the genres they in, but it is dumb to think that games are not better now then back then. Even Zelda TP is better in every way then OOT except in the story. but OOT is a rip off of Link to the past story. This can go on all day too. So enjoy the game for what is it, instead of lookin for every flaw it might have, becasue even Mario 64 had flaws.dmil1991
If you like non-linear games better than linear ones, your argument is extremely valid. However, other people (including myself on occasion) prefer linear games, and enjoy being told where to go. ;)
Personally, I think Twilight Princess was a much better than game than Ocarina of Time because it took every loose end and problem from OoT and refined it. TP is the epitome of the Zelda formula, which is either good or bad depending on how you view it. You mentioned Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, and those stray very far from the formula, and are extremely non-linear. I thought Majora's Mask was great except for the 3-day time system; yes I understand, that was the central theme of the game, but I got very frantic and nervous at some points in that game because I couldn't save. For example, I had very little time at the end of the Stone Tower Temple to reset the clock. MM is a very good game, but it's a weaker formula than what TP presents, imo. Also, Wind Waker had plenty of issues, the sailing being the most obvious. And no, I never did get over it. Or rather, I was almost over it until Tingle made me cross the entire world map to find all those charts. That being said, Link's Awakening is my favorite Zelda.
Back to the SMG vs. SM64 debate: I loved SMG because it was linear, and got frustrated with SM64 because it was not. Super Mario Galaxy is one of those rare games that I've completed, full 242 stars. Super Mario 64 I never completed, simply because I didn't have the patience to find all those hard-to-get stars in the endgame. Don't get me wrong, SMG has its difficult moments (Lava Spire Daredevil Run comes to mind), but not the "bang-your-head-against-the-wall" type situations of searching every nook and cranny that 64 has. Both are good games, but Super Mario Galaxy wins in my opinion.
Finally, SMG2's hub world should definitely be more along the lines of Sunshine's. It should be a real, vibrant place with people and things moving around it, as well as some more devious hidden goodies mixed in.
If you reply to this with "tl;dr" I can't blame you, lol.
Well, despite may people's attraction toward the more linear game style, it's very nice to know that most agree on a more elaborate hub world. Of course Super Mario Galaxy had difficult parts. They felt cheap to me however. The difficulty was in not getting hit, or completing an exceptionally hard platforming task. ANYBODY can develop a game with a difficult series of jumps or say, hey, run straight... but this time you only succeed if you take zero damage. The nook and cranny searching is what gives me a greater sense of accomplishment. I happen to believe it's a much less"bang your head against the wall" experience as well. It's immersive exploration as opposed to playing the same challenge over and over again because of a hard jump or one damage point too many. That, kind of difficulty just seems cheaper to me. We are past the 2D platformer games. Though I welcome any modern platformer and throwbacks, to make those things the only real aspects of difficulty seems incredibly lazy to me. Majora's Mask I found to be so much more innovative and that made it more immersive and made me keep playing. The NPC schedules and subplots were just crazy. Wind Waker did have its issues and it disappointed me in a lot of respects after OoT and MM. However, it was a beauty to look at, the story was FRESH and the combat was fun. Combat is really the only thing I think TP gets right. Otherwise all I could think of while I was playing it was how familiar and stale it felt. I don't even have an issue with linearity per say as it is very similar to OoT. There are plenty of opportunities to venture off the beaten path for some heart pieces and the dungeons themselves aren't necessarily linear. To me it was just a weak story, with more of the same, nothing new enough to be incredibly exciting and lacking in some of the magic that made the other games brilliant (story, ocarina, etc...). Majora's Mask will always be my favorite and I do realize this makes me odd.What I don't really like of SMG2 is that Nintendo probably would just copy-paste the first one, with different levels and some of the olds a bit changed. I love SMG and for me it's the best of all Mario games, but I think Nintendo should better look for another formula, a different and innovative game just as SM64 and SMG were at their times, in other words I want a completely new game, not a SMG sequel.
Since I really don't have anything at the moment that I would personally like to see added to Super Mario Galaxy 2 that the first game didn't touch on, I'll just examine the points the original TC made and go from there.
1. Honestly, I though the smaller, more linear levels worked great in SMG and really did justice to the game's theme and took advantage of the planetary aspect of it. It also managed to display the brillance of the game's overall level design the a few massive levels probably wouldn't be able to duplicate. Did I miss the ability to hop around the larger worlds at my leisure? A tad, but Galaxy felt more "Mario" because I knew I had a point A and point B to deal with. I actually preferred to having the chance to take completely different routes to stars I couldn't get otherwise. Plus, it's not like the game didn't throw some non-linear moments in with the secret stars to keep that aspect a bit more interesting.
1.5. Once again, with the tiny feeling of not being able to explore and hop around a bit, I didn't mind that Galaxy focused less on the hub area this time around. Give me levels with actual things to do in them than big hubs in a game like this any day of the week. My biggest with Super Mario Sunshine is that even though it had its share of interesting spots, the game didn't focus enough on the main levels, which left a feeling of emptyness at times. Because Galaxy didn't have to rely on hub stars and (most importantly) things like Blue Coins to stretch the game, the gameplay itself always felt fresh and enjoyable, as you were never in one area too long, but still got enough of a feel for most levels to have favorites and the like. I'll take that over a game that has to rely on its main overworld to fill in a significant portion of the game.
2. Eh... 6 on one end and a half-dozen on the other. I don't care about either the 8 red coin or the 100 purple coin challenge that much more to prefer one over the other. I did find the purple coin stars more challenging, though, which helps. However, I didn't like the fact that you have to beat Bowser for the last time in order for them to finally show. As long as it isn't blue coins again (from Super Mario Sunshine), I'm good. :P
3. Where's 3? *looks* Oh... A non-topic, seeing as how Yoshi is in the game. I just hope that Yoshi isn't 'afraid' of water this time around, though...
4. Actually, I like this method of power-up usage, especially in the 3D Mario games. I thought Galaxy did the best job with using power-ups since Super Mario Bros. 3 in the sense that they actually do something other than give you additional offensive power and provide an extra hit from damage. Not that those things are bad, but I love the puzzle aspect of using powerups a lot. The only thing Galaxy could have done better in this regard was provide hidden areas that were accessible ONLY through certain items, but I don't see it as an issue, really, as they were used well to begin with. Heck, I even had fun with the spring powerup and what it brought to the table. I'm glad that Galaxy 2 appears to be bringing the original game's powerups back, as I want to see how far they can go this time.
5. "Inexcusable?" More like "minor," if you ask me, but that's just my take. Unlike Sunshine, Galaxy wasn't exactly a water-heavy game, so I can understand if Nintendo didn't focus on reflections as much. I also hadn't even noticed the shadow details, but I do think that Galaxy's lighting effects are great (especially when you get a star and has it circle around you). Anyways, I'm glad you agree that Galaxy is a great looking game. I wouldn't call it it's 'strongest point,' seeing as how I think it does everything superbly, but when I compare it to most games on the Wii, it's still at least a notch above most games that are even coming out now from a combined technical and artistic perspective.
Call me a bit biased with my assessments, if you will. Afterall, I'd be the first to admit that SMG is the best game I've played in years by a pretty wide margin. It's probably the closest thing I've played in the 3D era to Super Mario Bros. 3, which is the cream of the crop for this gamer. I suppose I could nitpick, but seeing as how Nintendo didn't develop the game from strickly my tastes in gaming, I have no desire to do so, especially with something this well made. Any game that has been enjoyable enough for me to be working on completing it for the sixth time in less than two years is something pretty special in my book. And yet, we're getting a sequel to this game that could very well top it somehow. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about that. :P
Another one not bothered by the linearity aspect. You raise some good points and I definitely get where you're coming from with the Super Mario Bros. 3 feel. It's just not the kind of 3D Mario I've come to love. Of course the lighting is superb. This is by far the tightest looking game on the Wii. Minus the few issues I listed this could easily pass for a 360 game if it were capable of a higher resolution . The water effects are wonderful but it's difficult for me to get past omitting real time reflections that were included a generation ago. I am by no means a graphics whore but I do care about the full package. SMG delivers very strongly in the graphics department but I can't help but get frustrated when I see a game so beautiful with circle NPC faux-shadws afer Gamecube hosted games with true shadows on at least several important characters. Don't be so quick to call those blue coins cheap extender. I loved searching for them. They encouraged exploration and it definitely beats the hell out of "DO SOMETHING OU'VE ALREADY COMPLETED WITHOUT GETTING HIT THIS TIME" daredevil crap from galaxy.Since I really don't have anything at the moment that I would personally like to see added to Super Mario Galaxy 2 that the first game didn't touch on, I'll just examine the points the original TC made and go from there.
1. Honestly, I though the smaller, more linear levels worked great in SMG and really did justice to the game's theme and took advantage of the planetary aspect of it. It also managed to display the brillance of the game's overall level design the a few massive levels probably wouldn't be able to duplicate. Did I miss the ability to hop around the larger worlds at my leisure? A tad, but Galaxy felt more "Mario" because I knew I had a point A and point B to deal with. I actually preferred to having the chance to take completely different routes to stars I couldn't get otherwise. Plus, it's not like the game didn't throw some non-linear moments in with the secret stars to keep that aspect a bit more interesting.
1.5. Once again, with the tiny feeling of not being able to explore and hop around a bit, I didn't mind that Galaxy focused less on the hub area this time around. Give me levels with actual things to do in them than big hubs in a game like this any day of the week. My biggest with Super Mario Sunshine is that even though it had its share of interesting spots, the game didn't focus enough on the main levels, which left a feeling of emptyness at times. Because Galaxy didn't have to rely on hub stars and (most importantly) things like Blue Coins to stretch the game, the gameplay itself always felt fresh and enjoyable, as you were never in one area too long, but still got enough of a feel for most levels to have favorites and the like. I'll take that over a game that has to rely on its main overworld to fill in a significant portion of the game.
2. Eh... 6 on one end and a half-dozen on the other. I don't care about either the 8 red coin or the 100 purple coin challenge that much more to prefer one over the other. I did find the purple coin stars more challenging, though, which helps. However, I didn't like the fact that you have to beat Bowser for the last time in order for them to finally show. As long as it isn't blue coins again (from Super Mario Sunshine), I'm good. :P
3. Where's 3? *looks* Oh... A non-topic, seeing as how Yoshi is in the game. I just hope that Yoshi isn't 'afraid' of water this time around, though...
4. Actually, I like this method of power-up usage, especially in the 3D Mario games. I thought Galaxy did the best job with using power-ups since Super Mario Bros. 3 in the sense that they actually do something other than give you additional offensive power and provide an extra hit from damage. Not that those things are bad, but I love the puzzle aspect of using powerups a lot. The only thing Galaxy could have done better in this regard was provide hidden areas that were accessible ONLY through certain items, but I don't see it as an issue, really, as they were used well to begin with. Heck, I even had fun with the spring powerup and what it brought to the table. I'm glad that Galaxy 2 appears to be bringing the original game's powerups back, as I want to see how far they can go this time.
5. "Inexcusable?" More like "minor," if you ask me, but that's just my take. Unlike Sunshine, Galaxy wasn't exactly a water-heavy game, so I can understand if Nintendo didn't focus on reflections as much. I also hadn't even noticed the shadow details, but I do think that Galaxy's lighting effects are great (especially when you get a star and has it circle around you). Anyways, I'm glad you agree that Galaxy is a great looking game. I wouldn't call it it's 'strongest point,' seeing as how I think it does everything superbly, but when I compare it to most games on the Wii, it's still at least a notch above most games that are even coming out now from a combined technical and artistic perspective.
Call me a bit biased with my assessments, if you will. Afterall, I'd be the first to admit that SMG is the best game I've played in years by a pretty wide margin. It's probably the closest thing I've played in the 3D era to Super Mario Bros. 3, which is the cream of the crop for this gamer. I suppose I could nitpick, but seeing as how Nintendo didn't develop the game from strickly my tastes in gaming, I have no desire to do so, especially with something this well made. Any game that has been enjoyable enough for me to be working on completing it for the sixth time in less than two years is something pretty special in my book. And yet, we're getting a sequel to this game that could very well top it somehow. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about that. :P
Madmangamer364
I think a big part of the apeal of Galaxy was that it was linear enough for casuals. My dad even beat Galaxy, but with Sunshine or Super Mario 64 he'd get lost and lose patience same goes for a few other casual gamers I know.
That said I would LOVE a more open banjo-tooie esq hub world, and less linear levels.
Also you should know that you have more negative fellings towards galaxy than most people, so even if Nintendo doesn't address your complaintsMOST of us will still love Galaxy 2.
I know Nintendo's new marketing strategy is "your dad can beat this game!" and I understand it is working very well. The developers are being naive when they say "their game aims to appeal to casuals/your dad, and the hardcore crowd. A core aspect, the size and scope of these worlds has been changed to accommodate a larger audience. So even if they make these linear maps, super challenging platformers for the "veteran" gamer there is no compromise on the style (linear vs. nonlinear/more open). Some really miss the point when people complain about this game being too easy. There were several stars that were fairly difficult but I never once wondered HOW to get them. The how was spoon-fed to be in a linear fashion and the only challenge left was in timing jumps correctly etc. And yet Galaxy did appeal to both the Hardcore and Casual crowds, look at the reivews - one of the highest rated games of all time. And in many ways Galaxy was a throwback to Super Mario Bros 3 - they used some old tunes, brought back the floating ships, and made the game more linear - like most Mario games are. Mario is formost about the platforming, trying to figure out how to do things is more for Zelda games. For me Galaxy translated the magic of the old Mario Bros games into 3D better than Sunshine and SM64 in this way. But while I'll stand by my opinion that Galaxy did what it did to near perfection, and was the most "Mario" of the 3D games, I do miss the old "Open World" "Collect-a-thon" games like DK64 and Banjo Tooie.
I agree with about 2 of those. I would like to see more challenging bosses and maybe make it so you can go back in case you missed something like star bits early in the level.
I loved SMG, thought it was extremely entertaining. I liked it more than Sunshine, which may not be the case for most people. But it wasn't as great as SM64, which is in my top 5 best games ever.
As for your recommendations TC, I was expecting another random pointless rant about a widely popular game (read Halo, MGS4, Fallout and such) with poor arguments.
I was quite wrong. I agree mostly with you about points 1 to 4. I don't know about 5 since I don't recall any graphic glitches. But while the game wasn't that "linear", it was much more straightforward and easier than SM64 or SMS. I also loved the "hub-worlds" from these two games.
That was a pretty accurate analysis overall. I liked it.
none of that stupid purple coin junk. i loved th game till i beat it and they tell me to get the coins on EVERY STAGE, just to unlock luigi. Luigi is awsome, but he isnt worth it that much.
When was the last time you replayed SMG64 ? Stages like the very first one or the maze were an exception, most of the other stages weren't too big either and the objectives were very easy to find. SMG stages like that snow-theme mountain ( and more ) are at least as big and have some exploration elements too. SM64 also had many straightforward stages, especially special ones ( Castles, Caps, ... ).
It really isn't too farfetched to say that both games are very similar. Mario Sunshine was rather like Banjo Kazooie and that stuff.
I agree that the SMG HUB was pathetic. Overall SMG had more of the straight forward gameplay, but together with the art style, it was the reason it finally gave me the Super Mario Bros 3/Super Mario World (2) feeling again, after even New Mario Bros. failed IMO - so I myself appreciate it.
But I would also love to see something like Banjo Kazooie / Tooie / Donkey Kong 64 again though, so I hope that 'Epic Mickey'-platformer turns out to be something similiar to that.
And tat people saying, they'll just copy and paste the first game : In the first trailer and screenshots one could already see Yoshi, different forms of it, time manipulating, drilling through planets, big/small-theme like in Mario 64...
I agree
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