58. Close enough for now. I want to keep playing but I am actually starting to get a headache since I've been upside down, shot around the universe and ice skating on a doughnut shaped planet so much!
I'm not going to bother with spoiler tags as there isn't really much of a story and anything I describe is stuff I wouldn't mind reading so yeah. If you want to go in completely fresh then avoid but I'm only talking about the first few galaxies.
Fuck me what a game basically. My first thoughts were basically how damn good it looks. The palace shining on the water, all the stars shooting down, the cute little toad houses lit up...best looking Wii game by far. Makes you wonder why other developers have been so damn lazy. I've always had the attitude of 'Well, it's good for the Wii' but fuck that now. This game proves that that little fella can push out some outstanding graphics and I'm not going to accept mediocrity any longer.
Second thought: Bowser is bad ass again. So good to see. After being such a pussy in Sunshine I got hard when he let out that first roar in the boat before speaking to Peach. He's just so much more bad ass without a voice actor it's insane. Not to mention that first boss fight with him...one of the coolest Mario moments ever? Loved how they were standing off and the camera spun around. Very Martixy. I loved how Bowser's hair was blowing in the wind the most, something about that which was just awesome.
Speaking of the boss fights that's probably one of the biggest surprises for me. Mario has never really done bosses very well, it's always Zelda that got the cool ones, but they're one of the many highlights this time around. They're all easy but it doesn't really matter, getting to them is the challenge and the battles themselves are really imaginitive and just fun to do. I've never been a fan of dying 15 times on a boss, to be honest.
The difficulty balance has been very good too I think. With Miyamoto saying that games should be 'enjoyable but not very challenging' or whatever that quote was a few months back I was afraid that it would be too dumbed down. Totally not the case. I've died on various galaxies a half dozen times on a few of the challenges. I've got a feeling that now I've the first half of the stars out of the way the rest are going to be fairly tough.
I'm really liking the structures of the galaxies too. It's better having a few dozen small ones rather than a dozen big ones like in 64/Sunshine. Much more variation in your surroundings. I'm also a fan of the unique challenges that are inbetween each galaxy. The ones that only have one star on offer. Turning all the blue boxes yellow etc. They feel a lot like the FLUDD-less levels from Sunshine and that's always a good thing. Really, though, things like that are just scattered all over the levels. Ingenius little moments and puzzles that just make you smile and feel fresh. On one of the earlier levels at the end you had those blocks that kept moving and you had to collect 5 of those silver stars. Utterly fantastic that was. I figured it out with ease, obviously, but it was still cracking fun.
Also, big shout-out to whoever came up with the caterpillar in those apples idea on a certain Galaxy. The first time I butt-stomped that piece of wood and it shot out it made me jump and I actually started laughing. It was that random and fantastic. I felt bad for the poor little fella on the last one though when he really thumped his head
Level design on the whole though...just crazy. After playing Portal it was hard to imagine a game blowing me away so soon in regards to game design but this manages it. I was extremely skeptical of the worlds in the galaxies being so small at first I'll happily admit but it works so fucking well. It's just fantastic figuring out how to activate one of those stars that boost you, hopping it it and seeing Mario swirl around space before landing on the next small planet. It actually makes the whole environment seem way bigger like that. The camera work as Mario flies is phenomenal.
It always seems to me to be just the right mix of brand new spacey moments before plonking you down somewhere for some classic Mario platforming. It's nice that some galaxies have planets that aren't too flying/gravity orientated and just gives you a bit of time to notice how goddamn well Mario still controls.
Not much I can say here except for the fact it feels just like Mario 64 near enough. Why improve on perfection? It took me less than a minute to realise I knew every move Mario could do (that wasn't unique to a certain situation/level) and it just felt right. The greatest thing about Mario 64 is the fact you could just amazing things if you knew how to control Mario right and that's exactly how it is here. My only slight complaint would be that sometimes when I'm picking up those sparkling star..things by pointing the Wiimote I move it a bit too fast and it registers as a spin. No biggy, though.
Going back to the gravity for a second, I really do love those mechanics so much. The sections where you have to switch which way the gravity is pushing, judging how far away from another planet you have to be before the gravitational pull sucks you in... it just does feel like Mario actually is still in space.
The items are pretty cool but rare I've found. Turning into the Bee has been my most favourite so far. Partly because the bee world was so cute and I loved exploring it as a bee myself. Does it enhance the gameplay that much? Not really, but it's a fun novelty and I don't see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.
Being a Boo was a bit more underwhelming I though. Funny seeing Mario as a Boo but other than that it didn't really do anything too exciting with it. Oh, and I obviously have to mention MASSIVE love for Luigi playing a part in that level and now the game in different ways. :heart: Maybe it was common knowledge but I honestly missed or simply forgot he was going to be involved in this game. I haven't actually tried to look for him yet from the picture but I'm sure that will be fun.
Story wise it's decent enough. It hardly plays a big role but who cares? It's the furthest away from Sunshine's awful story it could possibly be and that alone is enough. I was kinda hoping the new princess would do more than she is but eh. She looks equally as hot as in the promo pics so I'm good just dribbling over her.
Voice acting all top notch. Mario sounds the youngest he ever has I think, but that's not strange for me. It just makes me smile to hear his cheers.
Music has stood out quite a lot. Love the new remixes of the old classic tunes and the new music really fiits space perfectly. It's all very trippy whizzing around a galaxy with some of the songs they have on there.
I have two complaints and two complaints only. Neither of which are that big and take away my enjoyment but I have to even it out a LITTLE
1) That FUCKING BEEPING WHEN I HAVE ONE BIT OF HEALTH. It's annoying in Zelda and always has been but fuck me the tone of that sound clip just grates my ears. Whenever I get down to 1 piece I'm just desperately looking for a coin to shut it up - not for the reason that I want to live and make it easier on myself.
2) The hub is really dull. Doesn't have any amazing visuals and running around it for 10 minutes earlier I didn't find any hidden gems. I mean the levels are so greatly crafted that maybe I'm expecting too much but the castle in 64 had MANY beautiful secrets to uncover and the town in Sunshine was the same. Just sorta disappointed there's not much for Mario to do outside of the Galaxies.
Oh, also, I can't be arsed to go back up and edit this in but I love the way that the levels you've done have comets come and do those different challenges. Nothing massive but it's fun to play a certain piece of the game in a new way.
Mario 64 eat your heart out, basically.
Game of the year without a shadow of a doubt.
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