Super Mario Galaxy is the latest installment of the world renowned Super Mario Bros series. Since the world’s favorite Italian plumber made his debut in Donkey Kong in 1981, Mario appeared in over 200 games. But Super Mario Galaxy promises to be a huge hit since it’s the first version of Super Mario Bros to hit Nintendo’s new WII platform.

The first thing I noticed about Super Mario Galaxy was the Super Mario 3 feeling. While Super Mario 64 was reminiscent of the original Super Mario Bros and that Super Mario Sunshine had a Super Mario 2 feel to it, Super Mario Galaxy’s environment couldn’t help but bring back memories of the third, and my personal favorite, version of Super Mario Bros. But when it comes to the characters and locales, there are a lot of parallels with the Nintendo 64 version.

Even though Mario soars over planets and between stars in this version, some locations he visits are seemingly ripped directly from previous outings. Unlike Super Mario Sunshine for Game Cube, you will recognize familiar characters levels and characters. While Super Mario Galaxy sometimes has a Super Mario Bros 3 throwback quality to it, it still plays and feels like the Nintendo 64 version.

Mario's new platformer romp was created by Nintendo's EAD Tokyo studio, whose first project was DK Jungle Beat. You can already tell by the game’s cinematics that the developers of Super Mario Galaxy have a great sense of detail. Unlike the previous version of Super Mario Bros, the opening animation actually uses the game’s engine and is much more dazzling. Super Mario Galaxy truly uses the WII’s full power. The lighting and reflexion effects are simply amazing. The visual effects of SMG are complimented by some truly outstanding art and choreography that will leave you speechless.

Unlike other WII games, Super Mario Galaxy hasn’t been dumbed down to make it compatible with the WII remote. You can use both the analog controller and WII remote. The control configuration offers great control over Mario’s movements and allows the player to easily go from point A to B while at the same time interacting with the surrounding enemies and items. Another great thing about Super Mario Galaxy is the auto-camera system. In previous versions of Super Mario, namely Super Mario Sunshine, it was sometimes difficult to have a clear view of the action; but the auto-camera system makes it easy to navigate without fear of the view being obstructed, and partly because Mario can walk in any direction, be it left, right, or upside-down, and the camera will always follow.

All in all, Super Mario Galaxy is a great game for the whole family and arguably one of the best games of 2007. So if you still haven’t played Super Mario Galaxy; you should go right now to your local video store and give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.

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Last update: 16-04-2008 21:48