Mario was always staple of my youth. Even before I became an avid sports-gamer, a NES was one of the first gaming systems I ever had and you better believe I played the ever living shit out of Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 3. All of them, I loved those games to death, each of them brought forth some interesting and perplexing challenges to your hand-eye coordination and to your reaction times.
If I were an adult then, I can only imagine the steady stream of expletives that would have flown from my mouth dying time and again playing Super Mario Bros 2, but didn't that game have the most kick ass music?
Maybe it's just putting our childhoods on a pedestal or maybe it's fact but Mario just hasn't seemed all that relevant lately, at least to me. My girlfriend loves him, she has half of her arm tattooed in a collage of Mario love that grew from a spontaneous tattoo of Yoshi one day. She is the reason I'm even talking about this because if I showed half of the excitement for games lately that she showed in anticipation for Super Mario Galaxy 2, then I would have a lot more video games to talk about.
I think Mario's had it pretty rough since the Nintendo 64, say what you will about the original Super Mario Galaxy game, I wasn't feeling it. It had some cool ideas but it felt well, very alien. I appreciate that they were trying to shake up the Mario formula to a certain degree they even initially succeeded but it wasn't until Super Mario Galaxy 2 did everything come together.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 does absolutely everything I would want from a modern Mario game. It continues to push Mario in the direction that they started with the original Galaxy game. Lets take another step back to the SNES days, and Super Mario World. When they first debuted the dinosaur Yoshi to help Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach, it added a completely new dynamic to Mario that the game desperately needed, in that same respect. Yoshi has helped bring that something extra to Super Mario Galaxy 2, to put it in to perspective. Yoshi is that third heat (A 30 Rock reference, for those of you who are scratching your heads at this statement).
Galaxy 2 does everything I expected from New Super Mario Bros: Wii and New Super Mario Bros before it. It brings back fond memories of the past by subtle cues in the game. Be it; a theme song from Super Mario World or a simple sound effect when you hop on Yoshi. Super Mario Galaxy 2 brings back great memories of Mario's past while establishing a beautiful and polished status quo for the now.
With excellent level design, and solid camera work (the game's camera was a noted flaw in the first one) Galaxy 2 takes off where the first one left off but it really surpasses it in pretty much every way. It's a completely superior game and I feel comfortable game saying that not only is Super Mario Galaxy 2 the best Mario game since Super Mario 64, but the best Mario game that Nintendo has ever produced it. There, I said it.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the best Mario game.
Give it a go for yourself, if you own a Wii, this is a game you simply MUST own. The game offers plenty of complexities and challenges but it doesn't overbear you with frustration. The game's very good with strategic checkpoints that keep you from trudging through difficult points after dying over and over again (though, that doesn't mean it never happens) and the game elicits nostalgia left right and center which adds to the atmosphere and tone of the game.
Not to mention, Mario has a PIMP spaceship!
(Comes off a bit narcissistic, doesn't it?)
Last, but certainly not least. Added second player responsibility ensures that the second player will have to keep their eyes peeled for more than just star bits this time around. With the ability to stun and kill some enemies, player two has the potential to really help, or at times hinder Mario's progress in a stage. The added mechanics give a second player purpose that they didn't really have in the first game and give the game an additional level of co-operation which makes playing in groups fun.
Overall, Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't just a home run, to push the baseball metaphor, it's a grand slam. I think Galaxy 2 will set the bar for all future Mario games, and once again I am excited to see where Nintendo will take this character in the future. If the next game choses to be Galaxy 3, I don't really know what more they can do to take this formula to the next level. I just hope we get something a little more in tune with what Galaxy was jumping to the Wii as opposed to what Super Mario Sunshine was jumping from the Nintendo 64.
