Super Mario Galaxy is everything you could want in a platformer
Super Mario Galaxy opens much as you would expect: Bowser enters, kidnaps the Princess, and flies off (this time into space), leaving Mario in his wake. Adrift in space, Mario is picked up by a mysterious character named "Rosalina," who implores Mario to help find stars to power her Observatory and - hopefully - find his Princess in the process. The entire sequence is hammy, slightly awkward, and wonderful both for and despite its foibles. Small sentient stars called Lumas populate the Observatory, which is initially largely inaccessible and dark due to lack of power, and provide guidance to Mario as he acquires Power Stars, which provide energy to the Observatory and all its platforms. As you obtain more stars power is restored and more of the Observatory opens up.
The controls are immediately familiar to anyone having played a Mario or Zelda title since the Nintendo 64, and should be easily accessible to novice gamers with movement controlled by the analog stick and actions by the trigger buttons. Along with certain motions explained early in the game, combinations of buttons and actions allow for larger jumps, long jumps, spinning moves, and an assortment of acrobatics that would embarrass Mary Lou Retton. Each action is accompanied by key sounds that let you know you are executing the move properly, be it a grunt from Mario or sound effect, and it makes excellent use of the controller-based speaker. More advanced controls particular to certain power-up suits, swimming, flying, etc. are explained on-the-fly in their respective galaxies but, like all platform titles, timing and practice make perfect.
You'll need all those fancy moves. Each galaxy has its own unique challenges in navigating their respective hostile environments and residents. Whether it's navigating moving, free-floating platforms, spin-punching plants, or performing a traditional jump-stomp combination, each enemy has its own counter-move, and sometimes two. Stomping a Pirahna Plant yields a gold coin, which replenishes Mario's life bar (three bars, by default, temporarily expanded to six in certain galaxies). Spin-punching a plant gives "Star Bits," which can be used for stunning enemies, feeding hungry lumas, and unlocking power-ups. Mario can lose a life by falling to zero health of succumbing to certain pitfalls, such as black holes inside planets or endless drops into a bottomless chasm. More lives are gained via power-ups, every 50 star bits, and key in-game events.
Each galaxy is breathtakingly themed in a wide array of styIes. One galaxy will be filled with resident bees buzzing about their daily business, another cold and filled with space junk, and another a tropical paradise. You'll have a ton of fun simply exploring new areas and figuring out what wild location you're off to next. Most galaxies will reuse the same maps in a novel way. In one instance you might take Path A, while in the following Power Star mission you take Path B. The planet models are the same, but the challenges, characters populating the environment, and power-ups might shift. Galaxies typically run from three to four missions each, which gives you ample opportunity to explore without rehashing a concept ad-nauseum. The pacing, in this regard, is perfect.
And to underscore the pacing is the score, which reproduces many cIassic themes of prior Mario titles to great effect. Players will recognize the sounds that play while inside a pipe subzone, boss battle themes from Super Mario World, and the whimsical melodies from the forced-scrolling zones of Super Mario Brothers 3 in key galaxies. The soundtrack borrows most heavily from its 8-bit ancestors, though there is plenty of original music and sound effects as well. Much as you can recognize John Williams from Star Wars to Indiana Jones, you'll recognize the songs across the many Marios of the past.
It's worth noting that the underlying game physics for each galaxy are nothing short of amazing. Mario is his typical bouncy self, and he'll be springing all over various asteroids, planets large and small, latching onto "pull-stars," and getting sucked into black holes. Everything feels as if it has weight and substance, and it can often be dizzying to run to the edge of a small planet and appear on its underside, with appropriately "reversed" controls.
If this sounds nauseating, that's because sometimes, it is. The wild camera angles have defaults throughout each galaxy to generally point Mario in the right direction. Sometimes, however, you'll want to swivel the camera in a particular way and, frustratingly, it locks you into its required angle. This can be trying when you believe there is a power-up in a particular location and you might be able to reach it if you could figure out just the right place to angle Mario. It can get downright frustrating when a change in camera angle dictates the direction of Mario's travel. If you hold the analog stick right to run to the right on the inside of a 2D circle (planet interior), for example, as you approach the top of that circle the controls will reverse. In certain circumstances you can run to the other side of a planet and literally run in circles in place without changing the angle of the joystick at all.
The only other small issue is that certain galaxies have more the feel of a minigame than being part of the overall game. Surfing on Manta Rays, for example, can be an exercise in frustration when learning a new control scheme that may not be as responsive or intuitive as the player would like. These galaxies tend to be optional, however, so the point is minor.
Finally, worth noting is that there is an option for a second player to participate in the game, though it could hardly be called a two-player game. This is neither good nor bad, it just sort of "is." A second player can help collect star bits by pointing their Wiimote at the screen, can briefly stun enemies, and cause Mario to jump, though whether the latter of which will be of any help to the main player is questionable. Player B forcing Player A to perform action X is just asking for trouble (or hilarity, depending on your point of view). Still, if someone else happens to be watching it gives them something to do, but the functionality feels more like an afterthought in an otherwise polished title.
Minor quibbles aside, Super Mario Galaxy is a beautiful game with excellent pacing and challenging puzzles that makes for a rewarding, memorable gaming experience. Any gamer with even a remote interest in platformers should be sure to add it to their collection.