Game: Super Mario Galaxy
Publisher: Nintendo
On the outset
Super Mario Galaxy seems relatively familiar. As Mario, the player collects stars, coins and other wacky objects, risking every one of his myriad lives to rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser. We're familiar with this linear old plot, but like some of its predecessors, Galaxy is a genre-leading platform game.
Its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto and his team must have been overdosing on some very strong cough syrup when they imagined 3D, miniature spheroid worlds with exaggerated gravity, multi-coloured star bits that rain down throughout the game and a cute Mario honey bee who has to crawl around the body of the queen bee, searching for a star.
Galaxy's real power lies in its truly innovative control system. The player holds the wiimote with their dominant hand and the nunchuk with the other. The nunchuk joystick controls Mario's movement, whilst the wiimote's attacks and jumps make full use of the Wii's motion sensing capability. The controls change depending on which galaxy Mario is in, which makes for varied gameplay.
Super Mario Galaxy is an immersive wonderland of audiovisual delight that has an excellent blend of intuitive controls, attractive graphics and engaging gameplay. Both the long time Nintendo fan and the casual gamer will enjoy this game which is hidden beneath an assuringly thin plot.
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Review by The Topless Executive for The Vine.