This is Mario at his finest. All Wii owners should have this game.
The Good: Gorgeous visuals, probably the best on Wii; excellent orchestrated music; great traditional Super Mario gameplay, but changed a lot so it still seems fresh and new; creative atmospheres/environments
The Bad: Occasional control issues
The story in Super Mario Galaxy (SMG) is won't get a gold medal for best story. Bowser has once again captured Princess Peach, but this time you'll have to travel all across the universe to different galaxies in order to save her. The stories in Mario games have never been too complicated, but it works.
There is an observatory in space that will serve as your hub-world through which you will travel to the different galaxies in the game. Each galaxy has multiple levels where you will try to obtain the star at the end. There are 120 stars in all to collect.
If it sounds familiar, it is. The gameplay format is the same, but the actual in-game experience is way different, and quite possibly the best yet. Every single one of the Galaxies in Mario's universe are different, and full of creative and enjoyable challenges. You will have a blast controlling Mario through the levels to get the star at the end, and the controls work well.
The controls are mapped to the Wii remote and Nunchuck. You move Mario with the Joy stic on the nunchuck. Press the A button on the Wii remote to jump. Shake the Wii-mote to make Mario to a spin attack. Also, by pointing the remote at the screen, you can collect star bits from a distance (star bits are little pieces of stars and are used for different things, and can be shot at enemies).
The controls work very well. Some problems arise, however, when you are running and you switch from running on top of the planet to the bottom or if you are running on a sideways wall, and you may not be expecting the quick changes, sometimes resulting in fatal errors.
In some levels you obtain special abilities like Bee Mario, Ice Mario, or Boo Mario. When these abilities are used in levels, it brings a welcomed slight change in gameplay that is very enjoyable. However, some abilities are hard to control, like the Springy Mario power-up.
Nintendo has finally introduced fully orchestrated music into their games, and in SMG it is absolutely excellent. There is a musical theme for every galaxy and all sound great. The music, in my opinion, really does add to the overall game experience, and you will find yourself humming many of the tunes shortly into the game.
The graphics are probably the best graphics yet on the Wii. Every environment was given close attention to detail. You can look for the occasional blurry texture, but I guarantee you will find very few, if any.
Super Mario Galaxy has all of the elements of a great game, a great Mario game, and more. Now, some people may think it is too similar to past Mario games, others may not like the controls or what have you, but in this reviewer's opinion, this game has very little wrong with it, and every Wii owner should have it.