Mario has returned to the Wii in a brand new galactic adventure. With a few new friends joining our favourite plumber on his new adventure. Is this iteration the Plumber’s finest hour or should he return to his day job?
Mario is once again trying to save Princess Peach from the evil clutches of Bowser. Bowser this time though, has managed to use the power stars to make himself into a Godzilla clone. Wading into the Mushroom Kingdom causing havoc, the new huge, Bowser once more kidnaps Princess Peach and so Mario’s journey begins. Once again the Luma, who help him to search the Galaxies, for the power stars needed to allow him to travel further in the Universe, aids our favourite Italian. Along the way you’ll be joined by a faithful old friend … Yoshi returns, in great style.
The stage is set for Mario’s biggest adventure yet, with new Galaxies to explore and new powers to boot. Mario Galaxy 2 gives us one of the most pleasing, inventive 2D/3D platformers for years. With sublime mouth watering level designs and a difficulty, which gradually deepens the further you play, making this one of the most fun games I’ve played in a very very long time.
The levels are brilliantly designed proving once again why Nintendo’s main character has always been so successful. From water levels – which then you turn into an ice level to the glorious puzzle box levels; the levels all show brilliant originality and beg to be played again and again. As for the return of Yoshi, Yoshi has never looked so good. He’s back as we all remember him in 3D goodness. Easy to control and back with his ever long tongue, ready to eat pretty much anything. However this time Yoshi gets a few power ups to use along the way.
First up is the speed dash, when Yoshi eats a special red chilli – Yoshi becomes a speed demon, rivalling Sonic in the speed stakes. This makes for some crazy fast levels requiring precision turning and fast reflexes. The second power up you come across is the Blimp fruit – by eating this rare fruit, Yoshi blows up like a big balloon allowing you to reach higher platforms with a great comical style. The third and last power up for Yoshi is the bulb berry, which appears during some of the ghost levels. When Yoshi eats this special fruit he suddenly glows – like a great light bulb showing hidden paths to help you on your journey.
Mario returns with old and new power ups including Bee Mario and the Flower Fire. However there are a few new power-ups introduced which brings new elements on how to navigate the worlds. Rock Mario allows Mario to become a rock quite literally able to destroy parts of the environment and run enemies over (this proves great fun and I accidently died a few times as I attempted to kill all the enemies in one level). Cloud Mario allows Mario to create cloud platforms whilst mid-air with just a shake of the remote. However he can only make three clouds each time he uses the cloud pickup. This sounds a bit crazy but in later levels it makes you use a little more strategy, requiring perfect timing. Then you have the incredible fun driller. This power up allows Mario to control a drilling ship allowing you to drill from one side of the planet to the other.
So what else is new, well first up gone is the annoying observatory – instead the Luma have helped create your own space ship to travel from galaxy to galaxy in. Also is a new world map, which is very very similar to the world map of Super Mario World. This is a great addition and allows for a lot easier navigation to each level.
Mario looks absolutely gorgeous and is one of the best-animated characters in any Wii game I have seen. Nintendo have pulled out all the stops ensuring the visuals compete with the Xbox and PS3. The levels are brought to life with vivid bright colours, worlds all with their own signatures.
The music has to be said is one of the best sound tracks I have had the pleasure of listening to on any console game for ages, with nice little tunes, which stick with you. Again there’s also a nod to the original games on the NES and SNES. With certain power ups the music cuts in and instantly you’re transported to the early nineties.
Mario Galaxy 2 has everything the first offered but with added sparkle – if it were a washing powder it would be the one to get out the toughest stains. Everything is so refreshing and good. Platformers are back and back with a vengeance, ignore at your peril. The only thing I found wrong with the whole package – Yoshi wasn’t in the mix enough for my liking. Welcome back Mario!
[review pros="Great visuals; awesome power-ups; good challenge." cons="Not enough Yoshi." score="95"]
