Review:
Super Mario Galaxy (or Plumbers in Space)

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is coming by the end of the summer, and I thought it would be good to welcome it by playing and reviewing the first game. Mario fans will have likely already played this game a long time ago, as well as fans of the Wii in general. It’s said to be one of the best games on the console after all. Well, I’m not necessarily a Mario fan, and the Wii is my least favourite of the consoles, so I let this game pass me by for a long time. I did play New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii and I’ll admit right here and now that it was a better and more enjoyable game. There, now you don’t have to read this review.

But I’ll write it anyway. You take control of Mario, the most diversely talented plumber ever. This time the love of his life, Princess Peach, has been taken by the evil dragon/turtle thing, Bowser, into space where he plans to build his own galactic empire. You team up with fuzzy little star things and their princess to get Peach back.

I’ve never understood why Nintendo always felt like they had to dumb the stories of their games down to the level of a 3 year old. There were times I felt like I’d get a more cohesive, and mature, tale from watching Teletubbies or Barney the Purple Dinosaur. I was ready to write the plot off as a complete failure, but the conclusion to the story, after you rescue Peach, actually was pretty cool. It has a pretty powerful message for kids about everything including you and me being made out of star stuff. Atheists can feel proud to let their kids play this game. Devout Catholics, not so much.

Speaking of rescuing Peach, you go about the task by travelling to different galaxies and making your way through gravity defying planets and other neat gameplay shticks that might feel fresh to a lot of people. While it’s a lot stuff we might not have seen before, you’ll likely get quite bored of it all before the end. It’s sad when a game can take an idea so novel, and turn it into a bland grind for stars before the conclusion.