I've been playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 for a few weeks now, and I've tried to hold off on reviewing it until I actually completed the game. I don't think it would have been fair to judge a game before I know how it ends. That being said, I guess I knew that *Spoiler Alert* Mario would save Princess Peach from Bowser and it would all be very happy. What I mean when I say "before it ends," is that, even though I played this game for many, many hours, I would not feel as if I was doing the game justice if I only earned 50, 70, or even 110 stars. I could have loved every star but hated getting the final stars after you beat Bowser for the last time - unlike the previous Galaxy, this one actually has something worth doing after the final Bowser fight. So now that I've completed the game, I feel it's appropriate to write my long-awaited review.
Sequels are difficult to look at and review fairly. One always wants to judge a game based on it's own merits, but cannot help but to compare it to the first iteration. After all, a sequel is supposed to be a bigger, better version of the original. What makes Galaxy 2 specifically difficult is that it's not really a sequel, but can still qualify as one, despite the fact that this game is a bunch of ideas that weren't put in the first one. Miyamoto himself I believe referred to Galaxy 2 as "Galaxy 1.5." That being said, I can't just overlook the original in order to review the "sequel". Super Mario Galaxy was a fantastic game; the first real successor to Super Mario 64 (which came out in 1996). The flaws of the first Galaxy were few and far between and every level was a crazy new implementation of a wacky idea. Why would a Queen Bee exist if all she does is ask you to scratch her back? Why would the fire and ice worlds be in one galaxy? Why did Luigi even try to get stars at all? All of these combined just makes for a truly fun and enjoyable experience that, I'm sad to say, the second Galaxy does not match.
What's new in Super Mario Galaxy 2? Yoshi, who was always fun to ride, is the obvious one, which includes the 3 power-ups Yoshi can eat, and the various things his tongue can do. Then we get Cloud Mario, Rock Mario, and Drill Mario, each with worlds designed to fit these new suits. Are these suits used often enough to make a unique experience that separates it from the first game? Not to me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed climbing onto clouds and bowling over enemies; though I must be honest, I didn't really enjoy the drill, it just made me impatient. Are the previous suits used often enough to make them worth keeping around? Not really. Bee Mario seemed to get much more screen time than the Fire, spring, or Ghost outfits (I think each was used only once or twice?) and the Ice flower isn't even in the game. Which is a shame since that was one of my favorites from the first Galaxy. Hell, even Yoshi's power-ups aren't used as much as I would like. The light bulb is only present in two levels and the other two are used a few more times, and I would have liked to see more Yoshi in general, which I don't think is unreasonable since he now shares the cover of the game with Mario. The best "new" implementation was the way the comets were done. I thought making the purple coins show up less was a great idea and I loved the new short-time speed runs, where you have to keep getting clocks to add ten seconds to the time limit. I also really enjoyed the new way to move between galaxies and universes since it made the game feel much more streamlined, but also much more like a classic Mario game (all of which I love, but I have been getting a little bored with the same old routine). I appreciated the slightly improved two-player mode, which still falls flat but is an improvement nonetheless.
In comparative difficulty, Galaxy 2 is harder, which is a good thing, since there were only a couple levels in the first that killed me so many times that I lost count. For this one, there were easily ten or so levels that I had to do over and over again. Let me just say, Thank God the ray surfing didn't make it back, but damn you Mario creators for adding Fluzzard; there is nothing worse than having to depend on the wiimote tilting in order to navigate through small tunnels or under thwomps, especially when it's a race. Bosses, I found, were also much more difficult. That snake/worm guy who tunnels through the planet was pretty hard at first and the Bowser fights were all harder than any of the Bowser battles in the first Galaxy. And even though, like the first one, every brawl with Bowser was the same, I was happy with them on the whole. What I have the most disdain for in this game, however, is Baby Bowser, who comes off as an annoying kid rather than a formidable foe. Although, his boss fights were much more creative than anything with Bowser, so I guess it's give/take.
I can't think of any other faults. Galaxy 2 was orchestrated beautifully, both of them were, the controls are exactly like the first (smooth and easy), and the game itself looks bright, colorful, and really just amazing for any console. If I were to have played this game before the first Galaxy, then I probably would have enjoyed this version much more, on account of Yoshi, the new way of doing the purple coins, and post-final-Bowser reward. But that's not how it is and I can't ignore that what's in this game is largely more of the same - not just of Galaxy but perhaps of all Mario games. Galaxy 2 of course still stands out among Wii games and deserves to be played by any Mario/Nintendo fan, but if you've already completed the first one, then just rent it for a couple weeks and go at it because it won't seem like a different game, but rather more like an expansion of the first. That means the game is a lot of fun, excels with what it was trying to do, and holds up among the best Wii titles, but doesn't make as much of an impact as the original, which I would have given a 4.5/5, but only because of low difficulty and the purple coins.
4/5 Near Perfect Score! Super Good!
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