Best Ever Made

The Galaxy is saved. Again.

Just the other day, I was able to collect all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy.

Let's have that sink in, properly.

Hell ya.

It wasn't easy, it wasn't insanely impossible, but it wasn't easy either. 60 stars are all that is required to fight and beat Bowser, but the game has 60 other stars for you to jones after if you just want some more of that Mario magic. And I assure you, it is magic. Dare I say it?

Super Mario Galaxy is the best game I have ever played.

It makes me think of all the great games I have enjoyed in the past, and just ever so gently and slightly, doubt them. I loved playing the first Metroid Prime. It was the such a premier first-person adventure game because it had great pacing. Puzzle elements, platforming elements, and plain old gun-a-blazing action were mixed in just the right amount. But somehow, the game felt long in hindsight. Metroid tired me out toward the end, the rewards for various key chasing tasks were obviously wearing thin and I was glad to finish the game when I did. Ninja Gaiden on XBOX, damn, that was a super fun game too. The graphics were nice, the violent sword fighting, blood spilling, decapitations and such were all very, very well done. I loved controlling Ryu and his myriad of lethal moves to silence one enemy after another. But honestly, for the most part, I really found myself sticking to just a couple of meat and potato maneuvers, the game quickly taught me that the flashy moves were ultimately inferior in terms of game play, they would leave Ryu vulnerable and rarely served any purpose except when I was faced with opponents so easy I could take my time and leisurely serve up some OVERKILL. And then there was Resident Evil 4. I beat that game twice on the Gamecube, and finished the extra Ada game. I bought it again for the Wii, beat it three more times and finished the extra Ada mission again and the two other new missions. I even played a good deal of the Mercenaries mini game, though I have not obtained the hand cannon. I LOVED playing through RE4. It had a super cheesy plot line, the best accompaniment to guns, grenades, exploding heads, and can after can of whoopass. The graphics were tight and fitting, the voice acting always amusing, and the run and gun game play SO SATISFYING between a robust range of weaponry and the fact that enemies responded accordingly to where you shot them (dropping their axe if shot in the arm, falling if shot in the legs, exploding heads of course...). Yet... I felt like the game often had to resort to various narrative tricks to convey heightened tension or immediacy. As much fun as the shooting was in RE4, the fact that you could not move while you were shooting gave the game a sort of artificial sense of claustrophobia. I kept asking myself, why don't they just let me strafe and move, and throw more enemies at me. That would be SOOO much more exciting and fun. It was a glaring omission, an obvious fault.

Don't get me wrong, Metroid Prime, Ninja Gaiden, and Resident Evil 4 are all spectacularly good games, but after I finished them, I always felt like I had just a teensy weensy bone to pick with them. Something obvious, something that if a normal player like myself would notice, a game developer would certain have thought of. But after spending two, three weeks hunting down all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy, I am amazed to say that I have not the tiniest bone to pick with this game.

The controls are perfect.

The level designs are heavenly (pun intended).

The difficulty and challenge are just enough to make one cuss or feel utterly accomplished.

The soundtrack is impeccable.

The graphics jump and leap with life like children on a playground.

Nintendo didn't say to themselves, “Well, our graphics are so good, and the controls are so spot-on, so we'll just make some more fetch quests to fill the game.

They didn't say, “Heck, the violence and blood is so cool, who cares if half of the moves we made are mechanically superfluous.”

And they didn't say, “Resident Evil is great with more action, but all this gun shooting game play is enough, let's call it a day and keep the old tanks the way they were.”

No.

Super Mario Galaxy was made with no expense spared. Every little piece seemed to be lovingly crafted and fit into its place. The jumping and platforming is superb. If given enough space to run, Mario picks up momentum just as you expect him to. The player can make do with nothing but simple jumping to get through a level, but advanced moves like spinning in the air, long jumping, crouch jumping and flip jumping allow Mario to fly through levels and make it look like a choreographed dance. All the moves are easy to execute, but difficult to master in practice, the hallmark of a good game. The level designs throw everything and the kitchen sink at you (including a planet made of a watermelon), and every little piece of the galaxy is designed to do something interesting, and do it well. I have heard many claim that the swimming in the game is a drag, and I agree, it is disorienting, and annoyingly hard to get the hang of. But after 120 stars, I really don't feel like there were too many “annoying swimming levels,” because there weren't. They were few and far in between. The learning curve might have been memorably frustrating, but I remember just as much how friggin cool some of those water planets were. I know that it takes a real gaming nerd to listen to videogame music while NOT PLAYING a videogame, and for the most part I agree, but I am also here declaring my intention to get the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack. It captures a feeling of freedom, adventure, and wonder in the same incredible way as the game, and although I'll admit I would be a little embarrassed to put it on at home, I can't imagine anything more fun to listen to on the open road, with no particular destination in mind, except for the stars.