Super Mario Galaxy

Aug 26, 2007

In our previous previews, we've discussed how Galaxy controls in some detail, so we're not going to spend any real time getting into that here. Instead, we're going to focus on our time with the four playable galaxies on the Leipzig show floor: the Gateway galaxy, the Egg Planet galaxy, the Honey Bee Galaxy, and the Star Dust galaxy.

Everybody Loves Plumbers

The Gateway Galaxy is an introductory stage, with a single globe to navigate and three adorable rabbit monsters who want to play hide and seek. The level features a few of the mechanics that will be basic survival skills in later levels, such as jumping into craters to see if they take you to the other side of a planetoid, learning to pick up stones by pointing with the Wii Remote, and taking green pipes to places you couldn't ordinarily reach. There isn't too much to say, post Gateway Galaxy, other than the fact that the controls feel very, very good. This may sound like heresy, but they're honestly better than Mario 64's.

Next up is Egg Planet galaxy, which begins with a split world. On one side of the globe is an upbeat, brightly colored world. Cross over to the other side and a dark castle dominates the sullen colors of the other half. As you fight through, butt-slamming and spin-attacking to your heart's delight, you're eventually shot off to another planetoid to fight a giant... egg?

Partially cracked open by your impact, a long tail with a sharp, mace-like end protrudes from the bottom, as does a set of monstrous feet. If you hit the tail's nub just right, the tail bungee cords out and smashes back into the egg. The shell crumbles to reveal a giant mawed monster, intent on devouring you whole! Careful footwork got us back to the tail, which we successfully managed to swing at the monster's head using the same technique we used to break its shell. Monster defeated, the demo build thanked us for playing and we moved onto our next level.

Honey Bee Galaxy will be known, from here until the end of time, as the cutest thing ever. A warmly lit and adorable set of planetoids, Honey Bee is full of Mario-sized bees who offer helpful hints and ask you to go help their queen. Of course, getting to her requires using the bee suit, which grants Mario the ability to look absolutely adorable. Oh, and fly.

This Also Gives You Wings

Holding down A gives Mario wings, although he burns through a "flight" gauge in the air. Landing for even a moment will refresh the flight gauge, but landing in any water at all will wash the bee suit right off Mario. Would it surprise you to find out that the Bee Galaxy is full of waterfalls and lakes?

After some misadventures, we finally landed on the center planetoid of the Bee Galaxy, a giant bee's nest. Using a combination of flying and clinging to exposed, sticky honeycomb, we managed to ascend the nest's rim. On the top, a pool of water dominated the ground, with a few monster-ridden shelters here and there and a simply huge Queen Bee hovering in the center. Her fur, she told us, itched terribly, so we bravely crawled across her and removed the problem -- the five pieces of a star. Using that, we fired off to our next demo level.

The last of the levels available at Leipzig, Star Dust galaxy is definitely the furthest from a traditional Mario level. Most of the planetoids are little more then floating debris, so you spend a great deal of time "grabbing" glowing points in space with the Wii Remote and "pulling" Mario towards them by holding A, then throwing him to the next point by releasing A. There's no penalty for failure on these long chains but falling to the last planetoid, but it's a kind of platforming that you simply can't do on any system but the Wii. It was a really invigorating change. Beyond that, we spent our time in the Star Dust galaxy smashing friends and coins out of crystal prisons, reassembling stars out of their five broken pieces, and finally getting thrown off the Wii to let some other people play.

After what is really one of our longest pieces of play time with Galaxy, our enthusiasm is at a fever pitch. For fans of Mario, this is a great update with some truly new, truly innovative changes. In most of the ways that matter, Galaxy feels very much like Mario 64.