Super Mario Galaxy

I've kinda been down on the Wii for awhile now -- and that's probably because every time I walk into a Wal-mart or a Target and look at their game selection, I'm bombarded with tons of licensed crap. The Wii became more of a disappointment when my sword-wielding and gun-toting ideas for the remote were shot down and Nintendo started releasing anything and everything that absolutely did not interest me. To add to this, the games that have been released (Super Mario Galaxy, Smash Brothers, Metroid Prime 3) all haven't been as good as their predecessors; or at least, I believed that until I began to replay Super Mario Galaxy last night.


Maybe I was down on the game because Tim Rogers was down on the game. I think his one main complaint was the fact that every character in Mario Galaxy blatantly tells you what to do and how to do it (for example, when you're swimming and already know how to swim, a penguin glides up to you and squawks, "Press A to swim." No kidding!). But the game is good and amazingly creative. I just can't believe it took me so long to realize it.

You've probably heard all the praise and criticisms from the press, so I'm not going to bore you with mine here (too late!). The only real complaint from the wonderful message-board flunkies that I have to disagree with is about the game's lack of challenge -- seriously, the later levels are hard. Sure, they're not "lose-all-your-lives-forcing-you-to-continue" hard, but I guarantee that everyone who played Mario Galaxy through to its completion will have died many times on, say, "Luigi's Purple Coins". When you begin to curse at a game, you know it either has to be difficult or frustrating (and yes, the later levels are a mix of both).

Still, the game is one of the best I've played, and it actually lifts my spirits in regards to the Wii's future lineup. Here's hoping this, this, and this all live up to expectations...