Alright! I haven't done a review in awhile (just kidding), so I'll be doing a review of this game, Super Malleo Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii! I hope you enjoy my review. Welp, here goes!

Graphics - 9

Let's start us off with the graphics. The graphics of this game are very good for the Wii. It keeps Mario's "cartoonish" look, but adds more detail. Everything is detailed nicely, all the graphics are smooth looking, the colors of everything fit perfectly, even the names of sprites fit their models (such as Choppas and Magmaws). They almost perfected the textures of everything. The shading is exceptionally good as well. Super Mario Galaxy 2 truly has very good graphics, which is why I give the graphics rating of this game an amazing 9!

Sound - 9

I believe the sound of this game is very well done. Pretty much all of the tunes are catchy, all of the sounds fit what they are coming from, and all of the music tracks fit the area they are placed in. You can tell that lots of the songs are performed by an actual orchestra, rather than a synthesizer or a keyboard or something. The spacey sounds (for the Galaxy theme) sound really cool too. One of my personal favorite tracks of this game is the Space Storm Galaxy theme (link). It sounds mysterious and epic at the same time to me. You can find the full soundtrack here (link). I give the sound another great rating of 9!

Gameplay/Addictiveness - 9

Onto the gameplay now. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a game where you, yes, collect stars. But the main idea behind this game is that everything is space-themed (hence the word 'Galaxy' in the title), so things are a bit different. Instead of having stuff like "Level 1 - Bob-Omb Battlefield" or "World 2-4," or maybe "Noki Bay Episode 1," everything is rather "planet-based." From the main hub world (named Starship Mario, modeled after you-know-who's head), if you step on the platform in front of the steering wheel, it will take you to the overworld. You can then choose from World 1 to World 6 and the secret World S, which have Galaxies (more like planets) inside. Within each Galaxy, there will be either 2 or 3 stars in the world, each having its own journey and Galaxy changes (so you will explore a whole new section of the Galaxy for each star, resulting in a different experience). Each Galaxy is different than the rest, so the entertainment never ends.

Here is the actual gameplay: You play as Mario (of course), platforming (of course) to get stars (of course). Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D open world Mario platformer, so it's (in my opinion) better than games like in the New Super Mario Bros. series, where you do 2D platforming to grab flags.

One of the main mechanics of this game is the star bit feature. Star bits are small chunks of stars that fall off, falling like rain. You can collect them by either running into them or pointing the Wii Remote at the star bits. Once collected, they can be used to bribe Lumas (cute little baby stars), who eat star bits to transform into new Galaxies or planets and planetoids. These can be used to get secret stars (usually the 3rd star in a Galaxy) to help you continue your journey. You can also shoot star bits at enemies to stun them.

Sorry for rambling on and making the gameplay section kinda, erm, cruddy.

I thoroughly enjoy playing Super Mario Galaxy 2, so it is very addictive. It is one of my top 3 favorite Mario platformers, the other 2 being Super Mario World and Super Mario Sunshine. This game is extremely long (which we'll talk about later in the depth), so you keep coming back for more. I can play this on hours on end, having fun the whole time. I give the Gameplay/Addictiveness section yet another incredible 9!

Story - 6

The story is better than most Mario games, but it's still pretty lame. Princess "Peach" Toadstool invites Mario to the Star Festival to eat some cake (yet another cake story plot). The Star Festival is a very rare event that occurs once every 1000 years (or 100 years, I can't quite remember) where hundreds of star bits fall from the skies onto the kingdom. Bowser, on the other hand, has been stealing the power of Grand Stars, and therefore has grown massive. Now here's a surprise: Bowser kidnaps Peach. Bowser then goes to the center of the Universe and creates a massive empire. Bowser's master plan is not to do unknown things to Princess Peach, but rather to gain control of the universe. Mario then sets out on a journey to, you guessed it, defeat Bowser for like the 50th time. As I explained in the Gameplay section, Mario has to travel across Galaxies collecting stars to move onto the next World (worlds happen to be larger than galaxies). I give the story a 6, seeing as it's better than most Mario games but it's still pretty boring.

Depth - 10

This game is HUUUUUGE. The original Super Mario Galaxy was pretty big, maybe an 8, and it had 121 stars including the final secret one. This game has 121 stars including the World S stars, giving it a rating of about 8, but then after you get all of them, 120 GREEN stars appear, one for each normal star. These stars aren't actual "journey" stars, but rather hidden stars that you have to find. It could be hidden inside a box, hidden in a useless corner, hidden high in the sky. After you have collected each of the green stars, you will have an incredible 240 stars. But then, the Grandmaster Galaxy appears. There are then 2 very hard regular stars to get, adding up to a total of 242 stars to collect. That's right, 242. I give the depth a perfect 10!

Difficulty - 7

We're nearing the end of the review, with this being the last section before Overall. This game isn't exceptionally hard, nor is it easy. There are some stars that are easy to get, and there are some stars that are hard to get. There are a few really hard stars and a few really easy stars. Sorry for not doing much detail, but there is a large variety. I give the difficulty a 7.

Overall - 9

Overall, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is definitely a game worth buying. Whether or not you're a fan of Mario games, you should definitely try this game out. It has amazing graphics, sound and music, and the gameplay itself is incredibly fun, even for a Mario game. The story is inferior to what most people would want, but what can you expect from a Mario game? Super Mario Galaxy 2 is also extremely long and medium in difficulty. I give this game an incredible 9!

Thank you for reading my review. I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to criticize.
~TFW~