Mario! Mario! Mario! The most iconic video game character in history makes his Wii debut, and as we play catch up for the start of our Wii coverage Mario Galaxy leaves us excited, joyful and happy to be gamers.

We shouldn’t be doing this. We’re meant to be working on yet another dreary First Person Shooter for the 360/PS3, not covering a game that came out months before we even started our Wii coverage. But we just can’t help ourselves, because when we play Mario Galaxy, we feel like we did years ago, when we first started playing Mario games on the humble Nintendo NES. (Oh god, here comes the nostalgia train, all aboard!-Ed) We’re excited, challenged and full of that sense of gaming wonder we’ve been missing for a long time.

There’s a reason Super Mario is the iconic video game heavy weight he is, and it isn’t just because he’s been around for donkey’s years. (Or Donkey Kong years for that matter!-Ed) Just about every new Mario game has lifted the platforming genre, and arguably gaming in general, to a whole new level, setting the standard for others to follow. Classics like Super Mario Bros, Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World virtually defined the 2D platforming genre and Mario 64 did it once again in 3D. Even the odd Mario titles that aren’t as well loved are worlds above any of their non-Mario peers. (Yes Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Bros 2, that’s you he’s talking about, now back in the corner!-Ed) While we’ll admit some of the countless spin off games featuring Nintendo’s famous mascot don’t quite scale these lofty heights, (Mario Party or Pinball anyone?-Ed) even there you’ll find gold. Mario Kart for example, created an entirely new genre on the back of Mario and his chums taking a day off to go racing.

The little mustachioed plumber seems happily touched by the gods of gaming, so there are always ridiculously high expectations attached to a new Mario platform game.

We were happy to find that Mario Galaxy continues the series trend of excellence, being the genre defining game of this generation, and just a stellar example of a video game overall. While it doesn’t make as revolutionary a shift as Mario 64 did from 2D to 3D, Mario Galaxy subtly refines the 3D platformer, ironically by bringing it closer to the classic 2D game play of the past, in one of the most beautiful games we’ve ever played. The cynical old gamer sneer we’ve been wearing for years has fallen off our jaded faces, because Mario Galaxy, with it’s near perfect game design, intuitive game play, nods to Mario history and sheer creativity is the most fun we’ve had in years. 

The story of this Mario game is much like any other, Bowser has once again decided to kidnap Princess Peach and Mario sets of to rescue her, but this time the ever bickering trio is headed for the one place left for Mario to explore- outer space and the stars up above. In order to save his lady love this time, the intrepid plumber will have to quest through a variety of galaxies and gather 120 power stars. These stars are used to power up the Observatory, the spaceship of Mario’s new friends, star-shaped beings called Lumas and their ‘Mama’, the beautiful Rosalina. As more Power Stars are collected, more galaxies become available for the player to explore through the Observatory, eventually allowing Mario to confront Bowser and save Peach at the centre of the universe.

It’s all just another clever iteration of the familiar ‘hub’ of worlds design that we’ve seen in previous Mario games, but it means that once you start unlocking groups of worlds you’ll always have somewhere new to go and explore. Some stars have their own galaxies, while others are one shots based on a clever theme or game play concept-and there’s a huge amount of variety with some very quirky and fun ideas to get to grips with. The beauty of Mario Galaxy is that being in space has allowed the games creators to expand massively on traditional level design, while bringing back the best of reflex and twitch based platforming.

Most of Mario's abilities are easily recognizable from Super Mario 64, like his famous whooping long jump, butt stomp and wall jumps but the Wii remote has given him a couple more tricks. (It’s often a complaint with the Wii games that the Wii mote is shoehorned into games that don’t need it, but Super Mario Galaxy has the most effective Wii remote we’ve seen in a game-Ed )The nun chuck is used to control Mario’s basic movement, while shaking the Wii mote makes him do a ‘super spin’ that stuns enemies, shatters crystals or activates launch stars that hurtle Mario through space. It’s also used to point at and collect ‘Star bits’, which are gathered up for extra lives, or in a nice twist can be fired at enemies using the Wii mote. When the Wii mote motion sensor is used it’s done intelligently, like the delightful tilt control you have to use over a ball Mario walks on or when you ride a mantra ray on a watery race track. All the control set ups are extremely easy to get to grips with and you’ll quickly be making Mario run, jump , swim underwater and fly through the galaxy with total freedom.

What makes it all such great fun is that you’re using these abilities in environments that range from the comfortingly familiar- making lighting quick platform jumps as the camera pans to a 2D view- to the totally crazy- jumping in 3D from planet to planet on the many planetoids that make up levels. Each of these celestial bodies has its own gravitational force, allowing you to completely circumnavigate rounded or irregular surfaces, walking sideways or even upside down. The mix of game styles opens up a whole different kind of game play, as various sections are often strung together. The combination is totally exhilarating and absorbing. One moment you’re running upside down on small world, dodging Goombas, then watching yourself fall up onto another sphere, before coming to a sheer wall that forces you to jump like crazy from platform to platform in 2D as it crumbles around you, or disappears at a touch. You’ll hardly notice that what you’re doing is often so totally different from anything you’ve played before, because it all flows so well. You also take it for granted in many ways because all of these ‘worlds’ are so classically ‘Mario looking’, in fact the whole game acts as something as an homage to Mario games of the past, from the environment to the down to familiar enemies. There are plenty of interesting boss fights too, most taking advantage of the new environments to create fun challenges, through they’re often a little too easy.  

Graphically Mario Galaxy is far and away the most beautiful version of the Mario universe so far, and a great show of what the Wii is capable of when pushed. Just the way Mario soars into each new level, as the camera pans over the galaxy, gives you an incredible sense of freedom. Mario himself looks amazingly detailed, as do all the enemies and environments, and the animation of characters, coupled with their models, makes them come to life in a way we’ve never seen before.

We have to confess that much as some of us here in the office at UKMusic.com loved Mario 64, up until this game we were never truly comfortable with 3D platforming. Other franchises took the 3D game play from Mario 64, and cluttered it with complex controls, terrible cameras and endless collecting of trinkets. No wonder we retreated grumbling to the wonderful, tight and tough 2D game play of New Super Mario Brothers on the DS. But Super Mario Galaxy is a natural evolution or rethinking of the 3D platformer with all of those elements back in place.

The true beauty of Mario Galaxy’s design is that in many ways it really feels like a 2D platformer presented in 3 dimensions. Like the best of the old Mario games you’ll rely on excellent reactions, logic and intuition to make your way through the myriad worlds of Mario Galaxy. That’s largely because the control over Mario is so spot on and the camera is totally out of your hands. It dictates how you’ll approach each challenge, rather than forcing you to fumble with view points and for the most part it works fantastically. That change and tightening of control needed to be made to accommodate the crazy, ever changing rules of the various galaxies Mario traverses. So whether you’re jumping from one world to another, literally falling off it to run up side down the new sphere or guiding Mario as he soars through space dodging obstacles, your level of control is up to the task. Even within the freedom of 3D movement, every step you take, every jump you need to make has been carefully designed without being confined, so that it works. So while you’re dashing to avoid being squished by a Thwomp, while leaping over a spinning black hole, before being flung off a planetoid by a reversal in gravity, you can still dodge that waiting enemy or make it to that collapsing platform. You just feel totally in control. When you make a mistake and die, it’s not because of controls or camera, but because you needed to think or move faster, as it should be. As mentioned, you’ll very often find yourself moving back and forth from 2D like prospectives to 3D ones in Mario Galaxy, without a hitch as the action continues. The camera may occasionally make a misstep and slightly obscure your view of Mario or the action, but it happens so rarely and the controls are so fluid you’ll hardly notice.

The result is that the twitch reflexes many gamers honed so well in the past work perfectly here. This game is the true successor to Mario 64 and the 3D equivalent those 2D pinnacles of platforming Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World.

It’s all topped off by a mind bending final level that’s just the way we like it, old school good and hard, but ever so rewarding when beaten. The increase in difficulty isn’t arbitrary either, as the rest of the game has been slowly ramping your skills to the required level. To those players weaned on this generation of easier game play, with your Nintendogs and your Brain Age we say this is how it’s meant to be! If anything we’d have liked Galaxy to have been a little harder, and savoured playing it that little bit longer. (I so need some younger reviewers, honestly I’m looking to hire, anyone?-Ed) You can beat Mario Galaxy by collecting about 30 of the 60 stars, but for a greater challenge, it’s worth trying to unlock the secret ending by getting all 60. Some might complain that towards the end of the game a few of the concepts and level styles get repeated,but again there's such a wealth of variety here you'll hardly notice.

A large part of the atmosphere in Mario Galaxy stems from its music, which is a beautiful orchestral soundtrack, and a huge part of the appeal of the game. Nintendo used a real orchestra to create the games music, and it really paid off. There are some amazing re-workings of classic Mario tunes, as well as many new ones, some of which, when combined with the feel good factor of Mario Galaxy’s colourful graphics, can’t help but put a smile on your face.

If we were asked to fill up a time capsule and chose one example of what a ‘great or classic’ gaming experience in our time was, the denizens of the far flung future would be greeted upon opening it, not by a copy of Halo or even GTA IV, but by a white box with a picture of a grinning, red suited Italian plumber flying through space. Of course Mario Galaxy will eventually be surpassed, but what makes this game so special is that it feels like such a link to our gaming past, as well as the direction of platform games in the future. In short, everyone who loves games should play Mario Galaxy. This game is an undeniable treasure and owning a Wii without having it is unthinkable. Playing it will reignite the passions of any real gamer, no matter how jaded. Stop reading this, and if you haven’t already done it, go spend some time with your old friend Mario. It''ll put the biggest smile on your face, we promise.

UKMusic.com rating: 5 Stars out of 5

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