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Super Mario Galaxy 2 |OT| with >NEW< hat!

AniHawk

Member
MvmntInGrn said:
Wait, so did you beat it?

I got three clouds more often once I started using Luigi (started the whole thing as Mario).

nope, just staring them down. they're no threat right now. at least, not until i start jumping again. taking a small break before i jump back in.

...okay, here it goes.
 
AniHawk said:
nope, just staring them down. they're no threat right now. at least, not until i start jumping again. taking a small break before i jump back in.

...okay, here it goes.
:lol Good Luck!

Are you taking them all out as you go? I ended up watching a youtube video trying to figure out something I might be missing and saw that most just go for the boomerang guys (at the time I hadn't even gotten to the final area even once). Not sure if its the best way or not but I ended up doing the same thing. It can be a hammer/boomerang bullet hell on that final platform though.
AniHawk said:
:lol
EDIT: Ignore my laughing, its 5am and everything is a little more funny than it should be.
 

AniHawk

Member
i butt-stomped two, but the last guy shot something right at me 'cause i was right in front of him. i should have jumped on one then the other and kicked them both off because the three guys firing
hammers
weren't doing their jobs well.

edit: it's okay, i thought it would be funny to someone.
 

AniHawk

Member
Jive Turkey said:
Anybody else digging the
green stars more than the first half of the game?
Just pure exploration and platforming.
yeah pretty much. they're like mirror's edges time trials. they make you learn the levels.
 
AniHawk said:
Jive Turkey said:
Anybody else digging the
green stars more than the first half of the game?
Just pure exploration and platforming.
yeah pretty much. they're like mirror's edges time trials. they make you learn the levels.
I'm glad to have a reason to go back and noodle around because the mechanics are endlessly entertaining, but the
green stars
actually underscores how straightforwardly utilitarian the level design generally is. It's a double edged sword in that it keeps the gameplay highly focused but removes a bit of the depth that a more layered open ended approach affords. There isn't really a whole lot of exploration off the beaten path to speak of, so the
green stars are just soft of placed in areas based around some objective you've already completed but slightly off camera.
Like I said though, they're a fun excuse to keep playing and occasionally push the limits of your move set.
They also poop on the end game rewards from SM64 and SMS from a great height. 120 find and seek stars >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 100 1ups or shitty pair of sunglasses, lol.
 

Haunted

Member
I LOVE YOU NAMELESS DELIVERY MAN

delivery_man_artis.jpg



287ezki.gif
287ezki.gif
287ezki.gif



brb playing through in one go.
 

The_Dude

Member
241 stars done. Got all the way to the end of the last star on my fourth attempt and died. I'll probably just pop the game in every now and then and have a go, because I really don't feel like playing this over and over and over when I have other things to do.
 

Haunted

Member
Yeah ok, it's brilliant.


Don't know if I like the changes to the hub world (map menu), though. It's a mix of both traditions, but I think I like a classic hub more. Just feels right for a 3D Mario. But that's nitpicky stuff.
 

AniHawk

Member
So here are my final thoughts on the game, now that I've completed it 100%.

UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR THE GAME. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT THE GAME SPOILED IN ANY WAY FOR YOU
ALSO, WORD VOMIT lol

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of 3D Mario. At least, not anymore. I was amazed, as were a lot of people, by SM64 back when it came out partly because 3D was new. Sunshine hit, but it by being a buddy platformer like Banjo-Kazooie, Ratchet & Clank, or Jak and Daxter, it didn't feel like a "real" Mario game. Galaxy got it right for the most part. I say for the most part because it still had its problems. The game was pretty easy, especially at the start, the hub world might've been interesting, but it was a pain to just go from level to level, and it seemed to me like the developers were more amazed at showing us that there were shifts in perspective and gravity than doing anything amazing with them. I still enjoyed the game. It wouldn't have been my choice for game of the year 2007, but it was probably the runner-up.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 feels like a do-over. It's like everyone acknowledged what went wrong with SMG and decided to do their best to fix it. And everything is better. The hub world is smaller, but you still have a lot to do. The pacing is better thanks to the game adopting the classic 2D world progression system. The levels are more varied and exciting than before. There's one level where you have to avoid being pushed off an edge by a wall. Then when you get all the way to the right side of the screen, you have to jump on top of that wall before it recedes into the background. That would have been enough in any normally great game, but there's another twist where you flip a switch, and the gravity changes so you are standing on the background, and that wall that was once pushing you outside the level is now a rising platform. It's amazing. And that's nothing to say of the flip levels. There were unfortunately only two or three instances of it, when there could have been twice as many while still being fresh.

The controller shake motion stuff is really good, and they make you use it this time. The cloud suit might be my favorite Mario suit ever now, just because how helpful it can be, but how vulnerable it can make you. There's a green star in Shiverburn that does this very well. You basically have to travel in the suit, across two checkpoints to get the star. In that time, you can't use the shake/spin unless you really need it, and it also means you can't get hit or damaged on your way there. Once you reach the destination, it's gratifying to be able to longjump over the lava puddles onto a cloud platform you created, and finally get that star.

And this is nothing to say of Yoshi, who doesn't even need to be in this game for it to be better than its predecessor, but he is and it's better for it. Like with the flip levels, I wish there were more fire-running Yoshi or glimmer bulb Yoshi.

SMG2 messes with 3D space the way NSMBW messes with 2D space. There are so many things just thrown at you and so much clever level design in almost every thing you see, it's astounding. However, there were still a lot of distractions. Most notably, Fluzzard and some of the Chimp. Fluzzard shouldn't have been in the game, and the Chimp's role should have been scaled back to just the platforming jump challenges, and not anything else. If it means the game "only" has 100-110 stars instead of 120 because some fat needed trimming, then go ahead and do it. I also think the weakest levels were the throwback ones. Whomp's Fortress, Starshine Beach, and Throwback Throwdown just felt like they looked. Old.

Another problem I had with this game were the fact that whenever a prankster comet showed up, you had to watch the "prankster comet!!!" thing for a sec before you could choose a level. And I also didn't like being shown the level every single time without the option of skipping the cutscene, especially for the post-game stuff. 9999 starbits was a stupid requirement for the last star, too, but more on that later.

Still, my complaints for this game are few. It's been a day or two of playing for green stars that I've forgotten a bit about the main game. The final Bowser level was pretty damn awesome. I am definitely not one for stories in a Mario game, but I loved the little detail like the Lumas rooting for you and especially Yoshi waving good luck up to Mario as he climbs the flagpole at the end. It's a small moment, but it made an impression, and I have a hunch that it might've been something Koizumi tossed in there.

Comet medals unlocking prankster comets was a great idea. I never liked them randomly appearing in SMG, so this at least made sense. There's a lot of that in SMG2. It really is a do-over. Even the post-game stuff is great. I never got the appeal of playing SMG again with just a different character and slightly increased difficulty, but doing so to hunt down sometimes cleverly-hidden stars was a much better idea. Those stars actually locking a true final galaxy was an even better idea. Needing 9999 starbits to unlock the very final challenge was a dumb idea. Okay, I had 8200 starbits just because I had been playing the game for that long, but really Nintendo? Grinding in a platformer? I didn't mind so much because the levels are great to just play through again, but it seems like something straight out of Gamecube Era "oh crap rush it to the release date" EAD instead of EAD Tokyo.

So I have 242 stars. That's all of them, including The Ultimate Test and The Perfect Run. The latter is probably the most brutal level I have ever played in a video game. It's even "worse" than NSMBW's 9-7. I wasted over 100 Mario and Luigi lives to finally get there.

Last year, I was pretty doubtful that NSMBW would be beaten as my favorite 2D platformer, and favorite Mario game. I didn't expect SMG2 to blow me away like it did (although nearing release, looking at those videos, I had my suspicions). It's not just better than NSMBW, it's the best platformer ever.
 

zigg

Member
thefil said:
I'm at 117 stars, but I'm 1100 star bits short of unlocking the last level. :( Looks like I might not be finishing this, I don't want to grind and I was going to stop at 120 anyway.

You don't need Star Bits to unlock star 120; just 242.

(I think)
 

Jive Turkey

Unconfirmed Member
Haunted said:
brb playing through in one go.
I know it's tempting but don't do that to yourself! Savor it!!!

EDIT:
Is star 242 the result of having 9999 star bits? Luba has been babbling about "something good happening" for collecting 9999 bits for the past 100 stars.
 

eXistor

Member
AniHawk said:
So here are my final thoughts on the game, now that I've completed it 100%.
Nice, I'm not even close to completing the game (fucking work keeps getting in the way). I'm up to 50-ish stars now, but I think I might share your opinion. So far my main problem is that the game is way too easy,, but I fully expect to be challenged later on in the game.
 
Jive Turkey said:
I know it's tempting but don't do that to yourself! Savor it!!!
The bite sized nature of the objectives make it so easy to keep playing "just one more..."

Last time I checked I think I had clocked 21+ hours over the course of 6 play sessions. :lol

eXistor said:
Nice, I'm not even close to completing the game (fucking work keeps getting in the way). I'm up to 50-ish stars now, but I think I might share your opinion. So far my main problem is that the game is way too easy,, but I fully expect to be challenged later on in the game.
There are some decent challenges. Just like the original SMG my main issue with the difficulty is that it relies heavily on having you redo levels you've already completed with additional restrictions or obstacles. The most trying challenges aren't really integrated into the normal level design, which is a slight bummer. At least the comets are generally better in this game than SMG though.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
The_Dude said:
241 stars done. Got all the way to the end of the last star on my fourth attempt and died. I'll probably just pop the game in every now and then and have a go, because I really don't feel like playing this over and over and over when I have other things to do.
Same way I felt. Had to force myself to finish it otherwise I wouldn't have bothered anymore but it would leave a sour taste in my mouth.
Having 1 HP is fun and dying a lot at one of those sections is nice but going all the way back to the start of a stage that was made around the use of checkpoints
is just plain annoying and boring. All I could think about was "fuck, I should have this damn star already and be playing RDR right now". :lol Easily the only part of the game I wasn't enjoying myself,
having to replay the boring initial parts over and over again because of a few missteps
. Rest of the game is brilliant and I already feel like replaying it but I'm not sure how inclined I'll be to redo that last one in the future unless I don't have anything better to do.

Jive Turkey said:
I know it's tempting but don't do that to yourself! Savor it!!!

EDIT:
Is star 242 the result of having 9999 star bits? Luba has been babbling about "something good happening" for collecting 9999 bits for the past 100 stars.
That and all the
coconuts turning into watermelons
! :lol
 

Jive Turkey

Unconfirmed Member
GrotesqueBeauty said:
The bite sized nature of the objectives make it so easy to keep playing "just one more..."

Last time I checked I think I had clocked 21+ hours over the course of 6 play sessions. :lol
I hear you. I try to limit myself to 15-20 stars each time I play but it almost never works out.
 

Haunted

Member
Jive Turkey said:
I hear you. I try to limit myself to 15-20 stars each time I play but it almost never works out.
I'm lucky I was forced to take a break after 20 stars or so. :lol Love love love it.
 

Raw64life

Member
Beat the game with 120 stars and started collecting green stars right away. Sitting at 141 currently. Not really crazy about the 9999 star bit thing. I only have 2000 right now and at the rate I'm going I'll have maybe 6000 or 7000 by the time I'm done. Not looking forward to having to endlessly replay levels to get the other 3000.
 

BowieZ

Banned
AniHawk said:
So here are my final thoughts on the game, now that I've completed it 100%.

[...essentially a professional quality review that rivals most gaming journalists...]

Last year, I was pretty doubtful that NSMBW would be beaten as my favorite 2D platformer, and favorite Mario game. I didn't expect SMG2 to blow me away like it did (although nearing release, looking at those videos, I had my suspicions). It's not just better than NSMBW, it's the best platformer ever.
Thanks for your thoughts! I really can't wait to play it.

What do you think about NSMBW's advantage of multi-player?
 

AniHawk

Member
BowieZ said:
Thanks for your thoughts! I really can't wait to play it.

What do you think about NSMBW's advantage of multi-player?

NSMBW's multiplayer is the reason I can see myself returning to that game more than SMG2, despite liking SMG2 more.
 

BowieZ

Banned
AniHawk said:
NSMBW's multiplayer is the reason I can see myself returning to that game more than SMG2, despite liking SMG2 more.
And what are your thoughts on multi-player being potentially incorporated into a future 3D Mario title?
 

AniHawk

Member
BowieZ said:
And what are your thoughts on multi-player being potentially incorporated into a future 3D Mario title?

I don't think I'd like it, especially if it meant co-op in the way you see it in NSMBW. It would actually have to happen first, but I think there would be too much going on the screen at the same time for there to be a good, fast-paced 3D platformer. At the very least, it couldn't be done in a SMG3 scenario. It would have to be in a big, open space, where progression is naturally slower.

The way it's done in SMG2 is nice though.
 
Great write up Anihawk, though I avoided sections I thought would contain spoilers. You pretty much captured how I feel for a good amount of this game.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
it's worth noting that co-star mode in this game is actually really awesome. little things like now being able to send a luma after coins, 1ups and powerups, attacking enemies by clicking on them (which moves the luma to them and hold the enemy in place) and then shaking the remote (which makes the luma spin and attack) and actually being able to KO the enemy feels so freaking great. And this is in addition to all the previous Galaxy functionality, such as the star bit collecting.

Oh yeah, and the ability to send applause, gasps, coin/star noises and the comical horn and sproing sound through P1's remote speaker is about the most hilarious thing in a video game this year.

It makes me think that 3D Mario co-op could work, in a somewhat limited way if needed. The limited bit of control you get over the luma (clicking on things for movement and then attacking) really felt great, but it would have been even more awesome if I could have used a nunchuck and used it more like Tails or something.
 

The_Dude

Member
Fuu said:
Same way I felt. Had to force myself to finish it otherwise I wouldn't have bothered anymore but it would leave a sour taste in my mouth.
Having 1 HP is fun and dying a lot at one of those sections is nice but going all the way back to the start of a stage that was made around the use of checkpoints
is just plain annoying and boring. All I could think about was "fuck, I should have this damn star already and be playing RDR right now". :lol Easily the only part of the game I wasn't enjoying myself,
having to replay the boring initial parts over and over again because of a few missteps
. Rest of the game is brilliant and I already feel like replaying it but I'm not sure how inclined I'll be to redo that last one in the future unless I don't have anything better to do.
Glad I'm not alone! Although it looks like I might be alone in being the only person to get to it and not manage it! Even if there was just
one checkpoint
, I'd be more inclined to keep trying, but
bits like the button pressing and cloud parts are easy and get tedious quickly when I just want to try the last parts again.
I feel the same about not beating it leaving a sour taste in my mouth, other games have had similar moments where I've ended up going back and beating them but this time I might just put up with it!
 

BowieZ

Banned
So what would be so impractical about there being one Mario (1P) and one Luigi (2P) both in the same level? And the camera zoomed out to accommodate both players, like NSMBW?

Of course, this is under the assumption that it would be employed in a new game where the stretches of platforming are a bit less "blue pull star / star sling every 10 seconds".

Just curious.
 
BowieZ said:
So what would be so impractical about there being one Mario (1P) and one Luigi (2P) both in the same level? And the camera zoomed out to accommodate both players, like NSMBW?

Of course, this is under the assumption that it would be employed in a new game where the stretches of platforming are a bit less "blue pull star / star sling every 10 seconds".

Just curious.
Personally I think that the camera would be the biggest issue. Galaxy 1 had some camera issues that made it tough for one player, and though 2 addressed a lot of those problems I think trying to accommodate one more player would cause serious perspective issues.
 
BowieZ said:
So what would be so impractical about there being one Mario (1P) and one Luigi (2P) both in the same level? And the camera zoomed out to accommodate both players, like NSMBW?

Of course, this is under the assumption that it would be employed in a new game where the stretches of platforming are a bit less "blue pull star / star sling every 10 seconds".

Just curious.

You simply can't do it on a spherical world. If the two players stand on opposite sides of a sphere, where does the camera look to give the players the information they need to keep moving?
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
BowieZ said:
So what would be so impractical about there being one Mario (1P) and one Luigi (2P) both in the same level? And the camera zoomed out to accommodate both players, like NSMBW?

Of course, this is under the assumption that it would be employed in a new game where the stretches of platforming are a bit less "blue pull star / star sling every 10 seconds".

Just curious.
*shrug*

the 3D version of the bubble could be kind of cool, but I feel like they would need to align the camera primarily on just the one character, rather than the NSMBW way of just making it move along when a character moves forward.

It's not that it wouldn't work, it's just that it would have to be very carefully planned (camera, level design etc) from the word 'go'. It would also prevent super huge environments, I guess, but it's not like Galaxy has many, if any. The star-launchers could just be adjusted to only work when both players are in the star or something.

Well, in any case, I'm sure the folks at EAD Tokyo are a lot smarter than me and have their reasons. When they're ready to put it in, I'll be ready to play it.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
The_Dude said:
Glad I'm not alone! Although it looks like I might be alone in being the only person to get to it and not manage it! Even if there was just
one checkpoint
, I'd be more inclined to keep trying, but
bits like the button pressing and cloud parts are easy and get tedious quickly when I just want to try the last parts again.
I feel the same about not beating it leaving a sour taste in my mouth, other games have had similar moments where I've ended up going back and beating them but this time I might just put up with it!
Yep, the three initial sections are what made me go "wtf, why am I doing this" after a few lives (I also got to the end once and died).
If there was a single checkpoint after the cloud area it wouldn't have bothered me at all since the parts after that are actually fun to go over with 1 point of HP, and the stage wouldn't be less harder, just less tedious
. Good luck and I hope you manage to get it quickly if you try again later, in the end it's satisfying to know you got it and never need to do it again.
 

EzLink

Banned
Tomorrow is the day GAF! Finally. My Wii will probably arrive back from repairs mid afternoon. Just gotta make it through the rest of the day :/

My plans:

Watch more of season 3 of the shield until I have to go to work (I watched the first 2 seasons the past three days to pass the time). Come home from work (around 11), watch more shield, take sleeping pills around 1 am, smoke a bunch, pass out until my wii arrives tomorrow

Tomorrow: Drink a bunch of mountain dew, smoke a lot of weed, have the best goddam gaming experience of my life

Gahhh tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow hurry up
 

zigg

Member
Rez said:
attacking enemies by clicking on them (which moves the luma to them and hold the enemy in place)

My daughter found out you can hold lava jets too.

Pretty fantastic stuff :D
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
zigg said:
Did you notice
the coconuts turned to watermelons?
:eek:

(ever since I noticed that in SMG I've been obsessed with it, sorry)

How many coconuts are actually in SMG2? They're fairly rare, aren't they?
 

Haunted

Member
Beat Bowser Jr. a second time and called it a day with 30 stars collected.


Fantastic. Utterly fantastic. I wouldn't rank it above Mario Galaxy just yet, this is going to be decided in the later levels. :D
 
Edit: Boo they fixed the error on gameranking.

Edit: At 241 stars now, taking a break before going for the last star. Really enjoyed the game, and many of the green stars were brilliantly placed.
 

Cygnus X-1

Member
Negatives? We struggled to even stop smiling long enough to think critically. Sure there are re-used assets, but the manner in which they are re-used is like recycling a plastic bottle to make a jumbo jet. Make no mistake, this is the greatest platformer of our time, the greatest Wii title ever created and the greatest journey through space since NASA decided to put man on the moon. It is perhaps in this definition then that, ultimately, SMG2 proves to be one small step for gaming yet one giant leap for platformers. Astounding.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I had to quote this part. Too funny!

Score=10
 
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