Interesting #1 and #6... not long before sales talk begins I guess... also, lol @ the fourth top game, oh and #8 item is Mario Kart Wii.
Penguin said:
I know this is a minor complaint and could be wrong.
But I wish they kept it like Galaxy one, where the Star Launch streaks were created after you used it for the first time. All of them seem to have their paths laid out already,
Or get rid of them entirely? I don't want to know I've already been somewhere, but I guess having all the paths created already hides the fact whether you've rode them or not.
I've only gotten to the second world but here's my impressions so far:
- I like the new overworld map. It's simplistic but it gets you right into the action. I love starship Mario hub world as it looks nice and is also more practical than the first game's hub world.
- Flip-Swap galaxy - Pretty clever trick here with using the spin attack to rotate the platforms. I can only wonder what other devious ideas Nintendo has sprinkled throughout the rest of the game.
- Yoshi surprised me by how intuitive his controls are. Gotta love the flutter jump and his tongue move is as useful as ever.
- Boss battles rock! The Lakitu, Dragon , Armadillo, Mega- Leg (or whatever it is) have been really fun.
- Puzzle Plank galaxy - Good lord, the music! Probably the first real catchy tune I've heard so far.
- I smiled when I saw Lakitu for the first time. Looking at his little nerdy face brings back memories of all the times he's caused me a game over screen in past 2D Mario games. It was satisfying to knock him/gobble up his cloud and watch him helplessly squirm around on his back. Of course, he always gets the last laugh since he eventually returns.
- At one point, I was in complete fear when I got to that level where the robot npc is. I assumed he was going to make me go through the same painful garbage bomb toss mini game as in the original Galaxy game but I was relieved when it turned out not to be the case.
- The Drill power-up is cool, Boulder Suit rocks (pun intended), but the Cloud Suit is king.
- I haven't gotten to the blimp fruit yet, but the dash pepper sure is fun to use.
Forgive me if this has been posted, but GameStop is offering a awesome online store only deal that expires on May 31st. Buy Mario Galaxy 2 for $39 (save $10) plus you get $20 credit.
The super fun: the stages where you get 100 points for each enemy you kill and each coin you get. I could almost play an entire game made of stages like this. Why didn't Nintendo put this functionality in every stage? It was in every single stage of the 2D Mario games.
The bad: having to talk to that stupid fucking monkey every time I want to restart this stage. What the fuck is wrong with you, Nintendo? Every time you do something cool, you fuck it up somehow.
The ugly: here we are near the end of the game, and there's still stupid "news" when getting almost every single star.
yeah that's one solution but it's also possible to make it there with the cloud suit and get it that way. Still the yoshicide option is much more nostalgic.
The super fun: the stages where you get 100 points for each enemy you kill and each coin you get. I could almost play an entire game made of stages like this. Why didn't Nintendo put this functionality in every stage? It was in every single stage of the 2D Mario games.
The bad: having to talk to that stupid fucking monkey every time I want to restart this stage. What the fuck is wrong with you, Nintendo? Every time you do something cool, you fuck it up somehow.
The ugly: here we are near the end of the game, and there's still stupid "news" when getting almost every single star.
yeah that's one solution but it's also possible to make it there with the cloud suit and get it that way. Still the yoshicide option is much more nostalgic.
not even sure what to say. i'm only forty stars deep, and i already get that very rare feeling that i'm playing an instant classic. it's something very special. i won't waste time trying to compare it to something like OOT that marked so many changes and innovations in gaming, but suffice to say that comparing the two i can certainly see how SMG2 is a paragon of platforming in much the same way that OOT is held up as a paragon of adventuring.
i only wish games like this were less rare. this is definitely the most impressive thing since the last MARIO GALAXY that i've played, and prior to that the closest thing to even touch that level was the collective stuff in THE ORANGE BOX.
i think if you dug up the old SMG thread and read through, i probably said something like this then, but i'll say it again: even if SMG and SMG2 are peerless, it is a wonderful time to be a fan of platformers. these two games are like ten different games rolled up into one.
The bad: having to talk to that stupid fucking monkey every time I want to restart this stage. What the fuck is wrong with you, Nintendo? Every time you do something cool, you fuck it up somehow.
Now I've got worlds 1-4 fully completed, I'm closing in on 100 stars, and am just as close to finishing world 6. Having an enjoyable time with the Purple Coin Adventure in the Clockwork Ruins galaxy.
Just got the one. In the first star scenario, get to the area with those giant spinning clockworks that you have to slip underneath in order to progress. Once you clear that spot, immediately turn around and jump on TOP of of those clockworks. It's pretty high up around halfway through that clockwork area, high above where the 1up alcove is, IIRC.
112 stars in, none of them are remote-throwingly frustrating yet .I managed the Beat Block galaxy Comet in like ten tries, which I don't consider frustrating. The
Galaxy 1 repeat with the stone paths around the vortex
came close though, as I insisted on nabbing the comet coin my first time through.
I remembered that part, but I didn't recall the "Dang it." That's why I laughed!
Not even close to my favorite classic stage, but I won't lie. It was damn nice to see it again in such fashion.
I remembered that part, but I didn't recall the "Dang it." That's why I laughed!
Not even close to my favorite classic stage, but I won't lie. It was damn nice to see it again in such fashion.
27 stars in (going really really slow I know) and God damn, what a blast of a game this is. I had the stupidest 8 year old moment ever when
I played Tall Trunk Galaxy's slide and the theme from The Princess' Secret Slide kicked in
.
Also,
I am in love with the first bonus Chimp Challenge.
As a seasoned Mario gamer, that made my night when I played it. Without going too in depth, are there more challenges exactly like this one in the future?
Final note: Cosmic Marios are bastards. Lovable bastards, but bastards nonetheless. :lol
This particular 33-year-old adult proclaims this game has been totally awesome.
AzureJericho said:
Also,
I am in love with the first bonus Chimp Challenge.
As a seasoned Mario gamer, that made my night when I played it. Without going too in depth, are there more challenges exactly like this one in the future?
A random thought. What is the significance of 120 stars and why does that seem to be the "BIG NUMBER" before the flip to the lesser stars or bonus?
I was just wondering. Not a negative thought or anything, it's just when I hit 120 I was thinking "boy, I would have loved 150 stars with more unique galaxies!"
A random thought. What is the significance of 120 stars and why does that seem to be the "BIG NUMBER" before the flip to the lesser stars or bonus?
I was just wondering. Not a negative thought or anything, it's just when I hit 120 I was thinking "boy, I would have loved 150 stars with more unique galaxies!"
managed to capture the exact feelings that I have towards the source material from SMB3. One big gimmick. Probably my least favorite Wold in SMB3, though the homage really elevates the theme for me.
I took a nap with the world 3 music in the background, and when I woke up I had the Puzzle Plank music in my head. Needless to say I couldn't be happier.
"In astrology, when two planets in a person's chart are 120 degrees apart from each other, this is called a trine. This is supposed to bring good luck in the person's life."
Which is relevant to Galaxy mostly.
The others, not so much(unless you consider collecting stars part of the astrology theme).
As I played through this, I wasn't wowed like I was like with Galaxy, but once I had ~70 stars and was flying from world to world picking and choosing challenges, it hit me just how damn PLAYABLE this game still is. I could spend a long time just running around collecting coins and shit. It was only once I'd finished the game and was revisiting old galaxies, for reasons I won't spoil, that it started to hit me how much I took the attention to detail and care put into each level for granted.
This game didn't wow me like Galaxy 1, but it also didn't have a single dud star in it, whereas Galaxy had the occasional 'swim around on Beachbowl with a shell for a minute and the get a star' thrown in there.
Galaxy 2 will be the game I will return to, I reckon. But they're two sides of the same coin. They're interchangeable, to me. 'Mario Galaxy', the series, is one of the best games, separating them is pointless, because they don't actually exist in separate spaces in my head.
Zing said:
Goddamn you have to push the A button a lot after each level.
Here is an example of what I had to go through several times today after finishing a level:
"Ok I got a star, push A
I got the comet coin, push A
Here are my starbits, push A
And my coins, push A
I unlocked a ghost, push A
New prankster comet has appeared, push A
For fuck's sake, Luigi is explaining how he works... again! push A
And he says two balloons of dialog, push A
My game is saved, push A"
and you get so many awesome sound effects as a result. Seriously, just listen to the sound design before, after and as you pick up a star. It's the best in the business. It makes it all worthwhile. =p
The obvious answer is that 2x120 = 240 which provides a nice easily divisible number under 2^8.
edit: Would be cool to find out the real reason though. There were 15 stages in SM64, each with 7 stars, plus the other ones around the Castle, and I guess that number just stuck.
Nnnngghh, I just wasted around 40 minutes searching in the wrong places for this godforsaken
second green star at Hightail Falls
(and what's with the penguing giving a red herring). I was on such a good streak, randomly going from easy to hard galaxies and getting them all so quickly.
Kard8p3 said:
yeah that's one solution but it's also possible to make it there with the cloud suit and get it that way. Still the yoshicide option is much more nostalgic.
Got home around 5-ish. Started playing shortly thereafter. Didn't stop until approximately 20 minutes ago.
This game is good. Like, real good. They fixed nearly every issue I had with SMG1. Movement is better. Camera is better. Navigating around each planetoid has been refined to all hell. The pacing is incredible. I love, love, love the world map screen. When I want to play, I can play. It's glorious.
Absolutely wonderful how much they trimmed the fat. There are far fewer lame menus to slog through. There's a small amount of summary text after each star. Automatic saving without a prompt goes a loooooooong way in dramatically improving the experience.
And the introduction was absolutely perfect. No bullshit story. No bullshit tutorial. Just me, Mario, and Goombas. Absolutely perfect. This is classic Nintendo right here. It's NES Zelda and Mario all over again. Teaching without teaching. Where the player learns through simple motions and the game builds from there.
So far I'm halfway through World 2 and there's been no disappointment at all. SMG2 is precisely what I want in a 3D Mario game. In fact, I'd go as far as to say SMG2 is what SMG1 should have been.
If there's only one criticism I have, it's that I really miss classically-styled levels. There are all of these gorgeous new designs but they're all so esoteric that the individual style kind of gets lost in the shuffle. I don't necessarily want Fire World, Water World, Desert World, etc., but something akin to SMB1 would be fantastic. Where even though it may just be a cosmetic change, there's something immensely interesting about running through classic NES Mario levels remixed into planetoid form.
Basically...SMG does SMB1 without launch stars?
That'd be insanely cool.
Last but not least, I'm stupidly happy that SMG2 is hitting the experimental genius of SMB1, something that SMG1 largely ignored, I think. There's a galaxy in World 1 called Flipdown or something? It's almost immediately after the Drill level.
Well there's a part in Flipdown where
you're running on green walkways with a few Goombas strolling around
. When you get near the end, you can see
the large wooden barrier/enclosure of the final gravity portions before the star
. I decided to screw around and long-jumped instead of following the green walkway around/in. Turns out
you can jump ON that wooden enclosure and BYPASS the ENTIRE gravity/Thwomp section
. At first I thought I broke the game, then I discovered
1-Up Mushrooms in each of the far corners of this "building." The developers expected you to long-jump+spin-jump.
That blew my mind just like running across the top of the screen did in SMB1.
That reminds me, can someone list all of them? I have:
THE THREAD Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2 THE THREAD
Super Mario Galaxy 2 Official Thread of "That's a Big Woo-hoo!"
Super Mario Galaxy 2 |OT| "The best game ever made."
Super Mario Galaxy 2 |OT| "Can't possibly be good enough for adults, can it?"
MORGAN: This is the only game out there for people who like action platformers. I mean, I guess Mario Galaxy, but Mario Galaxy feels like its aimed so much for kids.
GUY: It is. And it is because that's the Wii.
MORGAN: Whereas this (Ratchet and Clank...) is, like, for everyone.
GUY: Right.
MORGAN: But you feel like you're not being insulted when you're watching it, you know, you're playing it as an adult.
Am I the only critic who thinks pointing-at-collectible-stars-all-the-time is off-putting and makes my right hand go numb after a few hours? I think I might be.
Am I the only reader imagining this guy holding his right hand straight out in front of his body, with arm fully extended, for the entire time he was playing SMG2? I think I might not be.
Got them for free at Best Buy!! One left if anybody cares. They are at the Westwood Best Buy (located right outside the UCLA campus) right underneath the SMG2 demo kiosk.
Of course other Best Buys could be doing this as well so get your asses on the phone with your local BB.
Just realizing I'm probably the only one that cares.
It's always fun to me to see which challenges some people struggle with compared to others. In SMG1, all the complaints I read related to Luigi's Purple Coins, which I absolutely breezed through. Meanwhile, Dreadnought's purple coins pissed me off to no end thanks to it being so long and having literally no room for error.
I guess in this game, the popular punching bags are the box-burning and that spiny challenge early in the game. The latter I think I finished on my first try, I didn't find it that tough to dash around the obstacles and avoid the mud. I haven't yet found that maddeningly-difficult star yet, but I still have a ways to go and I haven't tried the infamous slide yet.
It's also fun to see some people feeling so amazed going through less than thirty stars, compared to my initial reaction being somewhat tepid. In my case, I guess the excitement has been more of a slow burn, gradually building up the more I play. I think I will ultimately enjoy this more than Galaxy 1, though I have yet to see how much more.
A random thought. What is the significance of 120 stars and why does that seem to be the "BIG NUMBER" before the flip to the lesser stars or bonus?
I was just wondering. Not a negative thought or anything, it's just when I hit 120 I was thinking "boy, I would have loved 150 stars with more unique galaxies!"
