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SUPER MARIO GALAXY
Jordan: Of all the games I tried at E3, this and Contact for the DS are probably the hardest for me to form any type of solid opinion on. Having missed Nintendo's press conference, I really didn't know what to expect from this game before I started playing. I knew Mario would be running around in space, blasting off from planet to planet, but that was it. Now, that seemed pretty "out there" to me anyway, and I was fine with. I was expecting Nintendo to do something really unconventional with this Mario game anyway, especially with the new controls.
So, I was surprised when I found out you don't move Mario with the remote, but that you just use the analog stick as in his last two 3D outings. I was even more surprised when I found out you don't use the remote to jump either. Just hit the A button. At this point I started to wonder just what you did use the remote for when the Nintendo rep told me to shake it around in order to perform a spinning attack. This was pretty cool, but I think it was the only move you could pull off with the remote. Otherwise it was used as a pointer to collect stars or interact with some "space bubbles."
I'm sure there'll be more to using the remote than just the one spin move I was able to do, but I was disappointed that the controls were more conventional than I expected. None of this is to say that the game's bad, however. It's still fun to control and I did enjoy the things the pointer was used for. I'm also extremely interested in the planet set-up, which left me with many questions and many blank stares from the lady explaining the game. The bottom line is really this: Mario Galaxy is simple but fun like most games in the series, and that‘s why I like it. Look forward to it. Questions about how revolutionary and innovative it is will just have to wait until the game's out to be answered.
Danny: OMG, MARIO 128! Yes, the next Mario is finally here. After waiting in line for almost an hour, I got my eager hands on Super Mario Galaxy. Mario starts out on an unsurprisingly lush green hill but is quickly shot onto a small planet in space where some new elements are introduced. Since the planets are small, Mario can run around them and I'm sure gravity at odd angles will play a big part of this game. The controls are standard except the Wiimote controls a pointer which allows you to do a spin attack, point to where you want Mario to go when he's floating in space, collect coins while flying between planets, and interact with out-of-reach items. The graphics were pretty, with cool new lighting effects, reflection, and the surface of a huge planet in the background while in space. This game felt pretty polished compared to the other demos, but since the Wiimote wasn't used as a main input it is not surprising.
Oh and the camera was perfect and I never felt the need to move it, something I do obsessively in most other platformers.
Nik: My favorite game of E3, and I didn't even play it for very long! Maybe it's because you actually move with the joystick, which I'm already comfortable doing. The Wii controller helps you collect mini-stars and it helps you shoot yourself to other planets. Other than that it's a standard Mario game. You can still stomp on Goombas and jump on floating platforms to get you to other places.
I didn't play the boss, but from what I saw, you simply bounce the octopus's attacks back at him... and you can do it over and over and over.
Steven: What else could I say about Super Mario Galaxy that hasn't been said/won't be covered after this? For starters, I genuinely like the game not just as a Wii title, but as a Mario title. I won't bother comparing it to previous Mario games, as the Wii is the bearer of new experiences and unrelenting joy. I say it's "unrelenting" because Super Mario Galaxy is a game that shoves our new, mysterious hardware down the player's throat. There is very little I did with the Wii remote's unique features that couldn't have been done using a traditional control scheme while playing this demo. This means that it's one of the few games where Nintendo's designers actually sat back and said "OK, we're working on enough games built around the Wii's unique control scheme, now how can we build the control scheme around this game."
The latter is what most third parties are considering when they design their games for the Wii. I think this is the more interesting take of the two. It's probably the one I agree with most for the Wii, as it will probably be the theorem that nearly all post-intro-gen Wii games will follow. So, it's no surprise that I feel Super Mario Galaxy was one of the most solid video games that Nintendo presented to us in the Wii booth. The platforming aspects are everything that you'd expect from a Mario game. the demo presented me with a world that branched off into a number of different paths, each with their own special obstacle courses and bosses. The boss I went through, and probably my favorite of all of the bosses available in the demo, consisted of a giant mech that Mario had to climb up. Once atop the mech's head, Mario had to lead Bullet Bills into a dome that was protecting a star. It was very simple and fun puzzle solving that we've come to expect in Mario games. Most importantly, I was able to immediately pick it up and get the controls down where I was able to navigate Mario smoothly. Nintendo is swinging in full-force with their Wii support, and Super Mario Galaxy looks like it will live up to the Super Mario name when it's finished.
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