Reviews

A serious lack of major titles in recent months has led to a lot of Wii's across our great isles serve merely ornamental purposes (NMH 2? ~ Ed.). That is all about to change now however with one of 2010's most anticipated releases falling right on the doorstep of Nintendo in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Shockingly it was the best part of three years ago that Mario first took his intergalactic journey and now he is geared up and ready to do it all over again. The only question mark over the sequel is whether or not the daddies of innovation and variety can make this different enough from the original to keep it in good stead. No, we didn't doubt them either.

The game begins with our red-clad chum being invited to Princess Peach's castle, the Star Festival has just begun and all is looking rosy for our hero. That is until he arrives at the castle to find an enormous Bowser helping himself to Peach and pretty much whatever else he fancies (you wouldn't fancy messing with a creature that size!). What you then discover sets the purpose of the game when the villain escorts Mario's beloved to the centre of the universe - to a place more suited to the beasts bustling frame. All of this is played out partly in cinematics but mostly by you, in a 2D format. It is this introduction that acts as a basic tutorial for those new to the series.

During all this hullabaloo, a young Master Luma was thrown overboard his ship and now finds refuge in Mario's hat, granting him the power of the stars. Now as we all know, a kidnapped Princess, plus a miffed Mario, plus Lumas equals bad news for Bowser. As Mario you will be launched into space to meet the rest of the Lumas on board their vessel created from a lonesome planet. They are stuck because that evil Bowser stole all the stars which they need to use as fuel to travel. Without them, they are merely sitting ducks.

After agreeing to help them recover the stars they pimp their ship to make it look more Mario-like and it is this craft which acts as your 'home' in between levels, similar to the palace in Super Mario 64. The game takes the shape of a map with various galaxies. Only earning stars will allow your ship to move to new galaxies and progress in the game - as is standard in most Mario-based adventures. This layout is far less confusing than what became a shambolic observatory at the back end of Galaxy 1.

Fear not if you haven't played the original. This game can be treated as an entirely new chapter in the life of our little Italian plumber. So much so that if you didn't experience the unusual game play first time round, Galaxy 2 comes with a DVD detailing just how to cope with the icon's anti-gravity setting. There are also various points throughout the game where hints and tips are delivered for you inexperienced Mario-goers. Not only are these helpful hints detailed by the location's locals, there are also televisions which actually show you how to perform certain acts should you wish to see before you do, as it were.

One of the first things that will become very apparent very quickly is just how much harder Galaxy has been made this time around. While this does have its downsides for newbs, it is brilliant, yet at the same time frustrating as hell for those who thought they had mastered living life in orbit. You'll need to be mentally prepared for using up a lot of lives and working extremely hard for your stars.

With another AAA Mario title going with the space theme, worries began to creep in amongst fans over whether or not this game would seem as fresh and new as the original did. Well, as predicted, it does. Nintendo and Shiggsy have done a brilliant job of adding just enough new features to stop this game becoming an entirely new game, yet have kept enough of the core qualities so the two do interlink. There are some stand out additions too, the first of which you will become aware of early on. It is the involvement of a familiar face - Yoshi.

Effectively, Yoshi can be used as a power up with some levels requiring his help in order to complete it. Not only can you ride the little fellow, he can also devour enemies by simply aiming at them with the Wii remote and pressing B. Up to three enemies can be gobbled up in one attack if they are close enough together. Later on in the game, our prehistoric pal will himself gain new abilities such as Dash Yoshi - which will allow you to steam up paths too steep to walk, on eating a fiery pepper. There is also Blimp Yoshi who will elevate you to new heights on eating a Blimp Fruit. Finally we have Light Yoshi who will illuminate dark areas on the downing of a Bulb Berry.

Yoshi isn't the only one to have a few transformations up his sleeve. Mario himself has a few new power ups to add to his ever growing menu. The majority of the power ups we saw in Galaxy 1 still exist but we have some new introductions - the best of which is Cloud Mario. After eating the puffy power up, you will transform into white attire and gain ability to spawn up to three clouds. By simply jumping and shaking the Wii Remote whilst in mid-air you will create a cloud, which can be used as a platform. Don't hang around though as they do not last forever.

Another addition is Rock Mario which transforms our star into a solid boulder capable of smashing most of which lies in its way. This is again triggered by simply shaking the Wii Remote. Another new power up is the drill which turns Mario into a human drill, taking him through solid planets in some cases, from one end to the other.

As in the original, Galaxy 2 has hidden stars throughout the levels meaning that fulfilling the main criteria won't necessarily mean you have completed a galaxy. In all there are 120 stars to collect and we all know who paid us a visit on the completion of that feat in the last game. Yes, Luigi is back in this adventure too, only this time he has a far larger part to play than his cameo appearance in the first game.

In terms of looks, you won't get any better on the Wii than in Galaxy 2. What is most pleasing is that Nintendo understand their console is not technically the most capable machine and so try to something a bit different to compensate. In this case that something is switching between 2D and 3D almost seamlessly. There are various examples throughout the game whereby the action will switch to traditional 2D side scrolling action, only for you to get to the end of the area and climb on top of it, switching to a top down 3D view. Sheer genius.

Another feature that makes a return is Co-Star Mode which allows you and a friend to battle your way through the main story mode together. Player 1 will control Mario while Player 2 gets the pleasure of controlling a Luma rather than just the pointer as in the first adventure. This time Player 2 will be able to kill enemies and collect power ups for Mario etc.

Mario Galaxy 2 also introduces the Super Guide feature to the Mario solo adventure, it is known as the Cosmic Guide here though. For those of you who are unaware of the feature, accessing it will complete levels for you whenever you get stuck. It was introduced in New Super Mario Bros. Wii but you will not be rewarded fully if you utilise the function in this title. Instead of earning gold stars, you will only get a bronze star if you complete a level using it. It is made available to you after using multiple lives on the same level. At this point a Rosalina shaped figure appears who will give you the option of having the level you are on completed.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has impressively managed to keep the Galaxy franchise fresh, despite the same concept being applied. There are enough new additions to keep those with experience happy but it has not lost any of what made it great in the first place. There is so much mission variety it is almost hard to believe and this adventure will not get boring any time soon. With a helpful DVD and tips throughout, it offers Mario newbies easy access to the immense galaxy and serves as a reminder for those who enjoyed the first galaxy adventure. Simply brilliant stuff from Nintendo. Will Mario be propelled to intergalactic heights in his next adventure? Wherever it is set we're confident it'll happen.