Super Mario Galaxy is the SMB3 of 3D platforming

[schild]

Does SMB3 have multiplayer?

Yes?

(ok, i thought it was pretty funny)

[Jain Zar]

Hey, don't be dragging Ratchet & Clank into this.

No multiplayer :( :(

No multiplayer means nobody calling you various racist, antisemitic, or homophobic slurs!

Local multiplayer is just a pointless waste when one could be playing a good boardgame with people.

And if Wii being for everyone is responsible for putting in the THANK YOU SWEET JESUS in battle savegame into Fire Emblem, then HELL YEAH FUCK THE HARDCORE!  NOOB GAMES FOR EVERYONE!  GO FOR THE WAGGLE CONTROLS BOO!

[Yegolev]

Oh, yes, co-op.  Personally I would not call that multiplayer, but whatever.  Semantics, keke.  R&C does have online deathmatch in Deadlocked, but no co-op within the singleplayer storyline.  It's interesting to note that R&CF has a form of waggle.  In the case of the Tornado Launcher, it kinda sucks (good idea, execution is meh... or really I'm probably just not coordinated enough to pilot a tornado while also doing strafe-flips and firing rockets), but with the flying it works great.

I just talked to my wife and I think Galaxy is going under the tree, so my opinion will have to wait.

[geldonyetich2]

I've seen some gameplay videos of Super Mario Galaxies and it looks good enough that I'm anxious for GameFly to get a copy to me.  However, it's kind of a weird take for a Mario game.  In execution, I could see my nunchuk hand is almost doing the classic Mario game except I'm running around on the outside of spheres all the time.  It seems a flat plane of play isn't good enough for Mairo anymore for some reason.  Then my right hand is constantly pointing an gesturing - Mario's never had to do that before.  Still, once one gets over the absolute tooth-rotting cuteness of the game, it looks like it could be fun enough.  Hey, if we never wanted something different, how could we be the ones asking for innovation?

[Yegolev]

I'd like to point out that Ratchet & Clank already did spheres in Up Your Arsenal.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Schild: actually this all came up from your "really good isn't good enough for Mario comment."
de-railer. Habitual de-railer. You de-rail things habitually. 

[Jain Zar]

I'd like to point out that Ratchet & Clank already did spheres in Up Your Arsenal.

And Sonic did sphere worlds (if that is the spheres you mean) on the Genesis as bonus levels.

[schild]

"really good isn't good enough for Mario comment."

That's pretty topical. Thread is about Mario. And Mario used to be about Masterpieces. Even more than Mario 3, Mario World was a revelation. AND it had a shitload of stuff for the hardcore type. If someone tells me there's a starworld type place in Galaxy where you have to use the classic controller, I'll buy it and play the shit out of it. Doesn't count if it's one level during the end sequence. Katamari already did that and it was attached to a pile of awesome.

[schild]

Oh, and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne did sphere world also. They called it a bottle world.

[Velorath]

"really good isn't good enough for Mario comment."

That's pretty topical. Thread is about Mario. And Mario used to be about Masterpieces. Even more than Mario 3, Mario World was a revelation. AND it had a shitload of stuff for the hardcore type. If someone tells me there's a starworld type place in Galaxy where you have to use the classic controller, I'll buy it and play the shit out of it. Doesn't count if it's one level during the end sequence. Katamari already did that and it was attached to a pile of awesome.

I've heard there's a number of difficult areas towards the end, but that none of them are necessary to go through to beat the game.

[schild]

I've heard there's a number of difficult areas towards the end, but that none of them are necessary to go through to beat the game.

Are the 8 to 12 of those areas? Tell me more.

[geldonyetich2]

Sadly, when it came to Mario's running around little planets, this was the first thing that came to mind.

"Sacre Bleu, who ruined mi mushroom garden?  It was probably those saucy Italians again."

[Velorath]

I've heard there's a number of difficult areas towards the end, but that none of them are necessary to go through to beat the game.

Are the 8 to 12 of those areas? Tell me more.

Not entirely sure.  Basically from the sound of it you only need to collect so many stars to get to the end of the game, so you can get just about all the ones you need by going through the easier levels, which makes the game beatable for the more casual gamers.  For the completist/hardcore gamers though, some of the levels that open up towards the end are supposed to be pretty challenging.  Mind you this is just what I've heard, and obviously what's challenging for some people might not be challenging for you.

[OcellotJenkins]

My hands are much more relaxed playing this game than with a standard controller.

I think it's great you find that thing comfortable.

With my wife picking up star bits with the second controller, my hands rest naturally on the sides of my lap.  I don't even have to move the right hand around.  It removes the rigidness of a traditional controller by breaking it into two pieces.  In the context of this game, I fail to see how anyone could honestly say a regularly controller (like the 360's for example) would be more comfortable.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

The game is like Mario 64, in that you only need like 60 to win but there are 120 stars to collect. I have heard that the difficulty in collecting the stars range from moderate hard to fucking retarded. SO Schild you could get it and beat it silly so you can get to that harder section of the game. But to be honest even just the running and platforming in the game is really damn fun.

[schild]

the game is really damn fun.

You should swing by tonight. We're playing Uncharted. This fucking game burst from God's Tit itself. And the fucking writing is fantastic!

[Yegolev]

Hello.  Super Mario Galaxy is like a koala that crapped a rainbow into my brain.  The platforming is fun, very disorienting at times, and it uses the wiimote-chuck properly.  The control scheme is not tacked onto a traditional game.  I was playing last night with my arm around the boy, and it was like we were both three (only I have vastly superior motor skills).  Also, it's a lot better than Sunshine just in the first area.

I don't care for arguing on opinion, but I can say that Galaxy is a very solid, AAA game from a technical aspect.  I also weep small tears to think that some people are not going to play it.  There's probably cake at the end.

[Yegolev]

And Sonic did sphere worlds (if that is the spheres you mean)

Probably yes.  I never got into Sonic, mostly due to not having a Genesis at the time.

Schild, man, it's hard enough to avoid booting up Nocturne already.  I want to finish at least DDS before I do.

[voodoolily]

Hello.  Super Mario Galaxy is like a koala that crapped a rainbow into my brain.  The platforming is fun, very disorienting at times, and it uses the wiimote-chuck properly.  The control scheme is not tacked onto a traditional game.  I was playing last night with my arm around the boy, and it was like we were both three (only I have vastly superior motor skills).  Also, it's a lot better than Sunshine just in the first area.

I don't care for arguing on opinion, but I can say that Galaxy is a very solid, AAA game from a technical aspect.  I also weep small tears to think that some people are not going to play it.  There's probably cake at the end.

Yes. I finally got to open it last night, and my initial assessment was that it's at least as good as SM64 was at the time (or is, for that matter), and is better than Sunshine. The extreme 3D is fun - unlike in other 3D Mario games, you actually move through each of the x, y and z coordinates (in a more literal way than just being able to jump toward the viewer), instead of just having the aesthetic of 3D gameplay.

[geldonyetich2]

Apparently the reviewers like it too.

[Litigator]

I've heard there's a number of difficult areas towards the end, but that none of them are necessary to go through to beat the game.

Are the 8 to 12 of those areas? Tell me more.

Not entirely sure.  Basically from the sound of it you only need to collect so many stars to get to the end of the game, so you can get just about all the ones you need by going through the easier levels, which makes the game beatable for the more casual gamers.  For the completist/hardcore gamers though, some of the levels that open up towards the end are supposed to be pretty challenging.  Mind you this is just what I've heard, and obviously what's challenging for some people might not be challenging for you.

There are 120 stars in the game. You only need 60, so you don't actually have to go to every galaxy to complete the game. Every major galaxy has three main levels that are each a star, one or two hidden stars, and a "comet." The hidden stars tend to revolve around finding a warp star to a hidden part of the level, and they tend to be much harder than the main stars. The comet shows up and opens up either a foot race with shadow mario, or some kind of hard mode version of a story star. For example, one level made you re-do a very difficult (and inventive platforming section involving a bunch of thwomps, where the movement speed of the thwomps and the moving platforms was doubled. Several boss levels send you back in to beat the boss again with only one hit point. The bosses and platforming are difficult to begin with, so the hardmode comets really make for challenges.

Additionally, there are a lot of single-star bonus galaxies that tend to be much more difficult than the main galaxies, and the waggle-centric mechanics tend to be more focused to these bonus galaxies.

[Yegolev]

Speaking of bonus galaxies, the way the music matched how fast you rolled the ball Mario was standing on?  Distilled awesome.

[Margalis]

It's very fun. It's the kind of thing where you don't want to put it down because it won't take that long to get just one more star.

Question on the hidden stars: how do I find them? 

Each galaxy has 3 levels, do I have to choose a certain one to find the hidden star or can I find it from any of the three?

[Yegolev]

I'm not sure of all the ins-and-outs but I found two by feeding star bits to a hungry luma.  He/she/it transforms into a new planet and you just have to clear it.  There's one in Space Junk, I think the second star, and he's hard to miss.  There's one in Battlerock too, but I can't recall where.

[RUiN 427]

I'd say it's what 3d platforming should have been one generation ago.

[voodoolily]

Your avatar is ugly.

[schild]

What about mine?

[voodoolily]

lol I JUST im'd you 10 seconds ago.

edit: so I could make fun of you.

[MrHat]

I would be done and happy w/ this game if my wife hadn't put the gamebargo on me and only lets me play when she can play.

It's 2players.  First player gets to control mario, second player gets to make sure mario doesn't die and is chock full of star bits.

It's actually kinda fun that way.  

[Rasix]

What about mine?

Better?  Ugly is a scale. Seriously, I don't want to look at rUiN 17171662's.  That's about worse than anything Signe's come up with lately.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Ho ho ho. That is what I though. I actually hate that avatar like crazy.

[schild]

At least mine has funnies behind it. Ask Cory or Phildo (He's a jewish friend).

[Yegolev]

Jokes aren't funny if they must be explained.

[RUiN 427]

apparently no Tim and Eric fans here, I'll change it to something more topical

[schild]

Jokes aren't funny if they must be explained.

Do new members know what your top hats are about?

Oh, oh, Yea, I'll explain my joke to you and then it'll be funny.