When I had the original Nintendo Entertainment System growing up, the two games I remember playing the most were Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout.  I wasn't a hardcore gamer by any means, mostly casual until the Nintendo 64 came out and I started playing a lot more games.  I've always been a big fan of Mario.  My grandparents had an N64 and Super Mario 64 before I even got the system, and I remember being over there several times a week playing with some of my cousins.  We never got very far, but it was incredibly fun until I finally got my own system.  I even enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine on Gamecube, though it's been 9 years since I've played it, which makes me realize how frickin' old I'm getting, but also how timeless Mario has become.

Nintendo released the Wii in 2006, but I wasn't sold on all of the motion capability, and now here I am five years later with a Wii and Super Mario Galaxy, the first successor to Mario Sunshine.  Nintendo has always been pretty mysterious and they continue this trend with SMG; you have to play it to believe it.  Storylines in Mario games have always been simple - to the point and nearly non-existent.  Here, Peach has invited Mario to the castle during the rare Star Festival, an event celebrated only once a century as shooting stars fill the sky.  In true Mario fashion, Bowser shows up with his kids in the sky with a machine that pulls the entire castle off the ground, and flies away with peach into space.

After Mario wakes up, there's a short little hand holding tutorial so that you can get use to the controls, and from there you meet Rosalina, the "mother" of the star bits.  Her character is shrouded in mystery, though you can unlock storybook chapters during the game that kind of explain who she is and about the star bits.  It's completely optional, and is there for the curious (as I was).  The "overworld" in SMG is Rosalina's spaceship that is powered by Grand Stars, which Bowser's kids have happened to steal.  Rosalina offers to take you to the center of the universe to get Peach back if you save all of the grand stars.  The levels are broken up into different galaxies, which consist of multiple planets and multiple tasks to complete.  Returning to the star collecting from Mario 64, you visit each galaxy several times to complete the star challenges.  The more stars recovered, the more galaxies that open up.  Certain observatories give you access to different galaxies, and observatories that can view galaxies further away are unlocked as you recover each grand star by completing a mini-boss challenge.  There's not really much to explore on the spaceship like Peach's castle, but it gets the job done. 

Simply put, I loved the game play and challenges in SMG.  It really is out of this world, as you'll travel to different galaxies and planets with different kinds of themes.  Each world or galaxy is made up of different planets that you can run around collecting coins and star bits, spinning into and stomping enemies, and fighting gravity to jump around onto different platforms.  The physics are incredible and you can run around the different planets, and even walk upside down on certain platforms and debris that adds a twist to the controls (and hectic challenges).  There are 120 stars to recover and the ways to collect them range from simply swimming through rings around a circle in an aquatic themed galaxy, to much harder, spastic, platforming challenges.  There are several boss battles; some obvious, and others not so much.  Mario's never been known for difficult bosses, and after figuring out the weakness there's really not much more of a challenge.  Thankfully, most of them are fun and entertaining and what they lack in major difficulty they make up for with creativity.  Unfortunately, the game can be beaten way before collecting all 120 stars, which means that many levels can be skipped before challenging Bowser and saving the princess.  For those wanting a challenge, they're not really going to find it in the first half of the game.  I beat Bowser at 60 stars, but kept playing until I found all 120 and the last half of game completion is where the more challenging tasks are found.  They're not impossible, but some are downright dirty, frustrating, and exhilarating:  smart move on Nintendo's part by having wrist straps for the Wii remote.

Speaking of the Wii remote, you use it and the nunchuck combination to move around in SMG.  There's a spin move that's done by flicking the remote, or if you're more comfortable left-handed the nunchuck.  While the joystick controls movement and you jump with A on the remote, you can use the Wii remote to collect star bits throughout the levels by pointing at the screen and controlling a cursor.  Along with coins, star bits are collected for extra lives, and they can also be used to shoot at enemies to stun them among other things throughout the game.  Mario controls and responds accurately, and the automatic camera works pretty well.  It gets caught up from time to time and sometimes while running around the other side of the platform will freak out and spin around, which caused me to jump somewhere I wasn't suppose to or run into an enemy or environmental hazard.  You can sometimes control the camera by rotating it with the directional pad on the remote, but most of the time it works surprisingly well.

While the adventures in SMS are 3-D, the camera would pan out during parts of certain challenges and become a traditional sideways view.  They start and end smoothly and I was excited and all giddy inside while playing these parts.  It's been quite awhile since I played Mario Sunshine and even longer since Mario 64, but I don't remember quite having to use every single one of Mario's arsenal of moves in order to reach new places and get out of different situations.  There were a couple I could use every time, but in SMG there are moments where I had to string several moves together.  The wall jump is used much more, and with the spin move you can reach places you normally couldn't.  Unfortunately, my favorite move the belly dive didn't make it into SMG.  Power-ups also return in SMG, including the famous fire suit that you can don and shoot fireballs.  The ice suit is probably my favorite new suit.  It allows you to walk on water as ice sheets form underneath you, and allows for some interesting platforming in certain areas.  The Boo suit is interesting but isn't really able to be used very much which is disappointing, but at least it's not Spring Mario.  With this suit, Mario turns into a spring that allows you to reach high places not usually reachable without it, and has my vote for Worst Power-Up Ever.  Its controls are awkward and the parts of the game that require it are frustrating.

It's no secret that the Wii is inferior to the Xbox and Playstation 3 as far as tech specs go.  It's also no secret that incredibly realistic graphics have always taken second place behind incredible gameplay on Nintendo systems.  Super Mario Galaxy doesn't disappoint.  The different themed worlds are vibrant, full of life, and detailed with little Nintendo touches.  Though the galaxies aren't very big and some "planets" and debris are barely bigger than Mario, being able to see other planets around you and the stars in space has a satisfying effect. 

I was pleasantly surprised with the way SMS sounds.  Nintendo went all out with the soundtrack for this one by using a full orchestra.  A lot of the new songs are decidedly Mario, and many classic tunes appear from time to time like the Bowser castle music.  My personal favorite track is the overworld tune full of violins and the thumping bass line.

Overall
Super Mario Galaxy is another great platformer that takes some chances with the space theme and ultimately succeeds.  Galaxy was released back in 2007, so I'm a little late getting into the Wii phenomenon.  If you still haven't played it, you need to.  It's challenging and frustrating platforming from the geniuses at Nintendo.

Recommended: Yes