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

nincompoop said:
No, a traditional controller is not more precise than a tilt sensor, not by a longshot. Tilting your wrist provides you with a FAR greater degree of precision and range of motion than waggling your thumb around does. How can you even dispute that? Joystick controls are fine for controlling your character in games where you can just run around at full speed with requiring much precision but anything requiring subtle, precise movements are much better served with tilt controls.

Seriously, if you think this or this or this or this or this or this would be even remotely possible with a joystick then you're fucking delusional and there's no sense even arguing with you.

Maybe you should use examples that are at least a bit more similar to the game at hand? Like Super Monkey Ball, which prove that an octagonal control stick is MUCH better suited for the kind of gameplay in question?

Sorry, but this isn't even subjective. If you push up on an octagonal control stick, you KNOW you're inputting the command to travel straight ahead because you can feel it. That's why Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 handled so wonderfully on the Gamecube.

Try travelling in a straight line with motion controls without deviating by even a SINGLE degree. It's not possible. If I want to travel at a 45-degree angle with an octagonal control stick, I can do so instantly and without fail. With the motion controls present in Galaxy, I travel at an approximation of a 45-degree angle. Could be 40-degrees. Could be 50. Maybe more. That's a pretty big margin.

Hell, just try stopping with an octagonal control stick compared to motion controls. With a stick, you just let go. Simple, and instantaneous. With motion controls, you have to actually FIND the neutral sweet spot. Every time.

Imagine if Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 had the controls of SMG2's rolling ball stages. They'd be unplayable as soon as you hit a semi-challenging level that demanded absolute precision. The octagonal control stick is such a perfect fit for gameplay like this, that it's absence completely ruined the PS2 and XBox versions of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. Not to mention that it's pretty much undisputed that Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 are much better games than the Wii SBM games. And the controls are a huge reason for that.

As Amir0x said, the controls for the rolling ball stages in SMG2 are adequate. Nothing more.
 
Ben2749 said:
Maybe you should use examples that are at least a bit more similar to the game at hand? Like Super Monkey Ball, which prove that an octagonal control stick is MUCH better suited for the kind of gameplay in question?

Sorry, but this isn't even subjective. If you push up on an octagonal control stick, you KNOW you're inputting the command to travel straight ahead because you can feel it. That's why Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 handled so wonderfully on the Gamecube.

Try travelling in a straight line with motion controls without deviating by even a SINGLE degree. It's not possible. If I want to travel at a 45-degree angle with an octagonal control stick, I can do so instantly and without fail. With the motion controls present in Galaxy, I travel at an approximation of a 45-degree angle. Could be 40-degrees. Could be 50. Maybe more. That's a pretty big margin.

Hell, just try stopping with an octagonal control stick compared to motion controls. With a stick, you just let go. Simple, and instantaneous. With motion controls, you have to actually FIND the neutral sweet spot. Every time.

Imagine if Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 had the controls of SMG2's rolling ball stages. They'd be unplayable as soon as you hit a semi-challenging level that demanded absolute precision. The octagonal control stick is such a perfect fit for gameplay like this, that it's absence completely ruined the PS2 and XBox versions of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. Not to mention that it's pretty much undisputed that Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 are much better games than the Wii efforts. And the controls are a huge reason for that.

As Amir0x said, the controls for the rolling ball stages in SMG2 are adequate. Nothing more.
Saying that you can't move in a straight line with tilt controls only proves your own inadequacy as a gamer.

Comparing Mario Galaxy to Super Monkey Ball is stupid, since the physics in Mario Galaxy's ball rolling stages aren't even remotely comparable to Super Monkey Ball's (or any other ball rolling game's for that matter). They were designed to be intentionally restrictive to simulate the experience of trying to roll a ball around while standing on top of it, and controlling them with a joystick wouldn't make them any more forgiving. The Kororinpa games are proof of tilt control's superiority over joystick control as their expert difficulty stages are far more demanding than any level from the Gamecube Monkey Ball games, and even completing them with a joystick, let alone doing it with the same display of speed and skill as shown in the videos I posted, would be completely impossible.
 

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
bridegur said:
I have one star until 120: the boss blitz speed run. It's insanely difficult.
How I managed it on my first go I'll never know. Took too long on the first two bosses due to silly errors, but managed to kill Bouldergeist rather quick with double bomb ghosts. Got to Fiery Petey with less than 20 seconds left. When the clock hit 10 seconds I still needed two more hits. Took six of them for just one hit so with the seconds counting down I just went in for the final blow and it was a success with 1 second left on the clock. Oh the joy of the moment.
 

Minamu

Member
So far, the green stars have been A LOT more fun than the regular ones. This is how the main game should've been :)

Though, WHY do I need to see the green prankster comet EVERY goddamn time I want to catch a star? o_O And the world intro is unskippable as well. Talk about going to extreme lengths to artificially lengthen your game...
 

Rindain

Banned
I just encountered my first green star that I don't know how to get...Bowser's Gravity Gauntlet 2. I've watched the youtube video which shows mario backflipping and spinning from the top of the ? box, but I just can't get high enough. I've tried doing that dozens of times.

I've also tried triple jumping off the wall and spinning, and I can't get close.

I know it would be easy with Luigi, but I'm determined to do it with Mario.

Any tips, please?
 
nincompoop said:
Saying that you can't move in a straight line with tilt controls only proves your own inadequacy as a gamer.

Comparing Mario Galaxy to Super Monkey Ball is stupid, since the physics in Mario Galaxy's ball rolling stages aren't even remotely comparable to Super Monkey Ball's (or any other ball rolling game's for that matter). They were designed to be intentionally restrictive to simulate the experience of trying to roll a ball around while standing on top of it, and controlling them with a joystick wouldn't make them any more forgiving. The Kororinpa games are proof of tilt control's superiority over joystick control as their expert difficulty stages are far more demanding than any level from the Gamecube Monkey Ball games, and even completing them with a joystick, let alone doing it with the same display of speed and skill as shown in the videos I posted, would be completely impossible.

You are wrong. I already very clearly explained why, yet you're too blinded by fanboyism over SMG2 to listen to reason. Saying that you can consistently move in a perfectly straight line with motion controls means you obviously don't know what a perfectly straight line is. Nobody has that kind of hand-eye co-ordination. It's as simple as that. You're settling for an approximation, and deluding yourself into thinking that it's better than the alternative.

Oh, and stating that SMG2's controls as "intentionally restrictive" as if it's a good thing is just laughable. The very fact that you concede that they're "restrictive" undermines your point completely.
 

robox

Member
Mike M said:
Stay close to him, shoot the rocks with starbits while they're hovering, but don't go nuts and shoot the bomb ghosts! This strategy works even with the arms present.

thanks for the tip. those last 2 turned out to be fairly anticlimactic, as both were accomplished in 1 or 2 tries. things just clicked and turned out to be less frustrating than the first times around.

not sure now if i'm gonna finish off the green stars... sin and punishment is sitting and waiting to be played. as well as monhun.
 

MYE

Member
Ben2749 said:
You are wrong. That's all you'll get from me, because I already very clearly explained why, yet you're too blinded by fanboyism over SMG2 to listen to reason. Saying that you can consistently move in a perfectly straight line with motion controls means you obviously don't know what a perfectly straight line is.

wow :lol
 
MYE said:

I honestly fail to see what's so hard to understand, especially considering I've already explained it clearly. Motion controls mean you cannot move in *exactly* the angle you wish. You will always have a few degrees margin of error. It's bigger for some than it is for others, as people have different levels of hand-eye co-ordination (which is why some people struggle with these levels so much), but even for the people that have better hand-eye co-ordination in this regard and beat all of the rolling ball levels on their first attempt (like myself), you're still going to be off at least a degree or two 99% of the time, because nobody has hand-eye co-ordination good enough to tilt something in *exactly* the right angle, and then hold it in place, both without deviating a single degree.

"Close enough" is not perfect. It is precisely what Amir0x said earlier: adequate.

I apologise if I'm coming across a bit harsh. But I just don't see how this can be disputed. Octagonal controls sticks mean that hitting those angles might as well be automated, as if you were pressing a button. There is ZERO margin for error.
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
Ben2749 said:
I honestly fail to see what's so hard to understand, especially considering I've already explained it clearly. Motion controls mean you cannot move in *exactly* the angle you wish. You will always have a few degrees margin of error. It's bigger for some than it is for others, as people have different levels of hand-eye co-ordination (which is why some people struggle with these levels so much), but even for the people that have better hand-eye co-ordination in this regard and beat all of the rolling ball levels on their first attempt (like myself), you're still going to be off at least a degree or two 99% of the time, because nobody has hand-eye co-ordination good enough to tilt something in *exactly* the right angle, and then hold it in place, both without deviating a single degree.

"Close enough" is not perfect. It is precisely what Amir0x said earlier: adequate.

all of this is true of analog stick control too, dude.
 

Wizpig

Member
I understand what Ben2749 is saying (the fact that it's hard - but not impossible imo - to go in a perfectly straight line) but I agree with nincompoop a little bit more.

Can't we just agree that motion controls are an ok thing on home consoles and Mario Galaxy DID THEM RIGHT?

Try to imagine those flying levels, or those star-in-a-ball levels with classic analog stick controls.
Again, as I said, those would have been mediocre stars, and not as fun.
I'm sorry if you don't agree with me, because some of those levels are the most fun I got out of the game.
EAD Tokyo developers are god, so they managed to make motion controls work almost perfectly.
Also, I always loved how Galaxy uses the Wii pointer.

I hate motion controls on handhelds, though.
 

Mike M

Nick N
Rindain said:
I just encountered my first green star that I don't know how to get...Bowser's Gravity Gauntlet 2. I've watched the youtube video which shows mario backflipping and spinning from the top of the ? box, but I just can't get high enough. I've tried doing that dozens of times.

I've also tried triple jumping off the wall and spinning, and I can't get close.

I know it would be easy with Luigi, but I'm determined to do it with Mario.

Any tips, please?

?

You... back flip from the block and spin jump at the apex of your jump... Can't imagine why you can't do it with Mario, it's the only way to grab the star.
 

bridegur

Member
I now have just over 120 stars, and I think I'm more qualified than ever to say that no other game this year comes close. It's amazing.
 

Koodo

Banned
I don't know if this has been mentioned here before, but according to Gamefaqs, that little number that appears on your file on the top right corner after completely finishing the game is the number of times you've died.

So basically, I've died almost 400 times. :lol
 
Koodo said:
I don't know if this has been mentioned here before, but according to Gamefaqs, that little number that appears on your file on the top right corner after completely finishing the game is the number of times you've died.

So basically, I've died almost 400 times. :lol

Loser:lol

I probably died 4000.
 

Rindain

Banned
Mike M said:
?

You... back flip from the block and spin jump at the apex of your jump... Can't imagine why you can't do it with Mario, it's the only way to grab the star.

I'll keep trying...maybe I'm not aligned correctly.

At 196 stars now and loving it. Game of the Year?
 

Davey Cakes

Member
Amir0x said:
This is Mario. "adequate", "serviceable" is not the standard for which this series is known. We should not allow gimmickry to blind us to the ideal
FUN is a standard for which the series is known, however. As Wizpig already noted.

And guess what? Alternative control styles, even though they have a slight learning curve, actually make the game more FUN and interesting. If you don't think so, that's fine, but I'm damn sure there are just as many people saying that the motion controls should be scrapped as there are people saying that the motion controls should be kept.

It was refreshing when the first Galaxy had the player use tilt for the manta rays and the ball rolling, and that's the case with SMG2. There are just a few galaxies dedicated to motion controls, but that's the best part. Nintendo didn't bog the game down with too much of this alternative control style. They threw in just a few stars worth in order for the player to experience something different for a little bit of time before moving back to the more traditional control scheme.
 

Alex Dee

Neo Member
Just finished the game (yet to get 120 stars though) and I must say that while brilliant, I still prefer Galaxy 1. Seemed to have a sense of grandeur that 2 is missing. Still my GOTY though, by a long way.
 

zallaaa

Member
Ok, I've got the 241th star and I'm waiting for the latest prankster star to appear. Just, it seems as if it doesn't want me to finish the game since it DOESN'T WANT TO APPEAR!!! Any advice?
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
i still say that wii MONKEY BALL would be much better if it controlled more like the SMG levels. moving the environment is disorienting and doesn't let me appreciate any semblance of level design.
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
zallaaa said:
Ok, I've got the 241th star and I'm waiting for the latest prankster star to appear. Just, it seems as if it doesn't want me to finish the game since it DOESN'T WANT TO APPEAR!!! Any advice?

Get 9999 Star Bits and keep them in the Bank Toad?

Also: sorry for contributing to unspoilertagged spoilerish details earlier. :(

EDIT EDIT: So if that other number on the filescreen shows the number of times I died, then I've died 394 times during the game. Not bad. I reckon about 60 of those were for
The Perfect Run
though. :eek:
 

Davey Cakes

Member
I am finally a Master of Galaxies. Cheers!

My file ends at 242 stars, 5000 coins, 9999 star bits in the bank with 500 extra, and 407 deaths. It all took me a little over 32 hours as well.

Time to put this one away for awhile. Thanks for the great times, Mario. :D
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I can't believe people are arguing over Galaxy ball levels. As one guy said, it's supposed to play like you're standing on a ball trying to roll it with your feet. It's not about whether it's Super Monkey Ball or not.

It's like coming in to an arcade racer thread and turning your nose up because the physics aren't "precise" like Forza. That would be an utterly ludicrous thing to do, and bitching that Mario's ball stages are lacking compared to Monkey Ball is also ludicrous. Despite superficial appearances (there's a ball, it's rolling around) the purposes of the game mechanic and how it is /supposed/ to feel are different.
 

Shiggy

Member
Nice game, but I'm not really overwhelmed (probably because I played SMG1 till death). There were next to no challenges (except for the last comet, that galaxy without the comet was pretty easy) and I also didn't really feel the creativity that was seen in part 1.
What I liked were the ball levels everyone seems to criticise right now. But again, these were not challenging at all.

All in all, I definitely won't play this game again and again as I did with SMG1. My expectations just were too high for the successor of the GOTC. I hope EAD Tokyo can work on a completely new and innovative title next time.

What shall I play now? A Boy and his Blob or Little King's Story? :/
 

Arthrus

Member
Rash said:
The
Flip-Swap
part is indeed the hardest at first but if you save two clouds from the previous part, it becomes easy with a bit of strategy in using the clouds.

A real man has all 3 clouds when they get to that part. And they don't use a single one as they long-jump through it without stopping.
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
Shiggy said:
What shall I play now? A Boy and his Blob or Little King's Story? :/

A Boy And His Blob is good. I didn't think it was brilliant - it has a lot of love but not as much care. It's an enjoyable game altogether.

Little King's Story was fantastic though, so I would go with that.
 
Arthrus said:
A real man has all 3 clouds when they get to that part.

Yeah, there's a trick to reach the warp star in the electric fence segment with three clouds. Grab the last cloud power-up, create a couple of clouds under it, grab it again, and then jump to the warp star. The flip-block part is really easy when you have three clouds.
 
I just came in here to say this is the best Mario game ever. Nintendo misstepped with Galaxy 1 in so many ways. But this is like a different game completely. Endless variety, wonderful level design and a simplified hub that is functional and endearing. What solidified it with me?
The Return of the Thwomp King level
.
 

Shiggy

Member
evilromero said:
I just came in here to say this is the best Mario game ever. Nintendo misstepped with Galaxy 1 in so many ways. But this is like a different game completely. Endless variety, wonderful level design and a simplified hub that is functional and endearing. What solidified it with me?
The Return of the Thwomp King level
.

I thought it was pretty boring as there was nothing to do in that level except for walking to the top without any obstacles. A Mario game meant having to master the level design and its obstacles, at least it does in the 2D titles and SMG. SMG2 should have had more of them.

(With obstacles I do not mean a bad camera design like in the Clockworks Ruin Galaxy, in which you didn't really see where to jump for the
green
star. Walking in 3D space with a 2D perspective and without any objects for orientation sucks.)
 
Shiggy said:
I thought it was pretty boring as there was nothing to do in that level except for walking to the top without any obstacles. A Mario game meant having to master the level design and its obstacles, at least it does in the 2D titles and SMG. SMG2 should have had more of them.

(With obstacles I do not mean a bad camera design like in the Clockworks Ruin Galaxy, in which you didn't really see where to jump for the
green
star. Walking in 3D space with a 2D perspective and without any objects for orientation sucks.)
Not sure how I had so much fun then. To me Mario 64's levels are masterfully crafted and retreading them in Galaxy 2 with Mario's new control felt like a whole new experience. But I guess you have to reach for some criticism in my enthusiastic post. It is gaf after all. ;) Keep reaching.
 

Shiggy

Member
evilromero said:
Not sure how I had so much fun then. To me Mario 64's levels are masterfully crafted and retreading them in Galaxy 2 with Mario's new control felt like a whole new experience. But I guess you have to reach for some criticism in my enthusiastic post. It is gaf after all. ;) Keep reaching.

Don't worry, those are your feelings and I don't want to change them ;)
Though I didn't like SM64 at all (only played the DS version, might've resulted from the awful camera and controls as well as the outdated 3D graphics).
Both SMG titles were miles better than SM64, and even I would give SMG2 a high 80% rating despite the issues I have with this title (SMG2 would get something around 95% from me).
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
Holy Order Sol said:
The fuck does that even mean. :/

It's made with the love of a Disney adventure in the presentation - cute graphics, simple but effectively immersive storytelling, great music and on the whole its heart is in the right place, where the jellybean powers are varied and provide for some interesting stage designs, certainly. However, more care could have been taken with the general design and technical aspects of the game. Some of the later stages have genius level designs but they're buried behind lots and lots of cookie cutter stages which quickly become tiresome and not remotely challenging. The bonus stages have a stupid difficulty curve where insanely difficult ones can be followed by pathetically easy stages. More than once I found myself wishing the game would end sooner than it did because, for all the variety they did manage out of the jellybean powers, too much of it grew tiring too soon.

On top of that I also found the bosses to be rather pathetic in difficulty, and more than once I had troubles getting the Blob to eat a jelly bean I settled down somewhere. Once the Blob refused to appear even after whistling, so I had no choice but to restart the stage.

So yeah, that's what my statement means. Its heart is in the right place certainly, and it's a good game having all said and done, but it's lacking on a lot of areas that could've been solved had someone managed the game development better. It could've been fantastic... But on the plus side it kicks seven shades of crap out of the NES original!
 
Shiggy said:
Don't worry, those are your feelings and I don't want to change them ;)
Though I didn't like SM64 at all (only played the DS version, might've resulted from the awful camera and controls as well as the outdated 3D graphics).
Both SMG titles were miles better than SM64, and even I would give SMG2 a high 80% rating despite the issues I have with this title (SMG2 would get something around 95% from me).
So you never played it on the N64? There's your problem.
 
Maron said:
Finally got
242 stars and completed The Perfect Run!
My hat's off to you, man (Can Mario even do that in this game?). I'm stuck there and will probably be for a while unless I give the game a break.

Does anybody else feel like I do that with Galaxy 2, Nintendo's taken this Galaxy formula as far as they can? I can't think of anything they could have in a hypothetical Galaxy 3, and I hope they're done with Mario for this console as far as 3D-navigation platforming is concerned.
 

Why For?

Banned
Picked this game up Thursday, wanted to post earlier but was banned.

I'm loving how they streamlined the whle thing. Using the map style of NSMBW but still allowing you to 'zoom in' on your little Mario ship and traverese Galaxy 1 style was genius.

Enjoying the game so far.

The levels to this very early stage for me (just completed the Flip Switch Galaxy) have been good. Short sharp and to the point.

Haven't yet encountered a level I'd dread going back to.

I played heaps of those in the first game. The Yoshi mechanics are fucking spot on. Love it.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
ShinoguTakeruKoeru said:
Does anybody else feel like I do that with Galaxy 2, Nintendo's taken this Galaxy formula as far as they can? I can't think of anything they could have in a hypothetical Galaxy 3, and I hope they're done with Mario for this console as far as 3D-navigation platforming is concerned.

Yeah, I think they're done with 3D Mario for this gen. If we see another core Mario adventure it will be NSMBW2 I think.

That being said, I would love them to make a Yoshi's Island for the Wii using very similar mechanics to the ones in Galaxy 2. Expand the fruit eating abilities, add in egg throwing, and wrap it in crayon filter/shader and you've got me there day 1.
 

rhino4evr

Member
Some of the green stars are challenges are some of my favorite it in the game. Nothing more awesome then tripple jumping to a wall jump to a spin jump. Seriously the green stars are awesome.
 

MYE

Member
Saw the credits with 70 stars!!! FUUUUUUUUUUUUU

This game is so :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Its mindblowing that there is still so much to do! GOTY for sure


EDIT: Shit, its 3 in the morning and i have work tomorrow :lol
 
rhino4evr said:
Some of the green stars are challenges are some of my favorite it in the game. Nothing more awesome then tripple jumping to a wall jump to a spin jump. Seriously the green stars are awesome.

Good example, I thought I'd never figure out how to get that one.

I tried all these kind of ways you'd laugh at and then one time it just dawned on me to do what you posted and it was really cool and satisfying.

Oh wait, maybe that's not the one you meant but I mean the star in that "Bowling Ball" Galaxy(the initial one).
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
holy shit.

my brother got this running on a Wii Emulator and it looks absolutely gorgeous.

I'd always scoff at the idea of a HD Wii, but man, this game looks just as good as some of the competition in many respect when it's simply output at a higher res. It is jaw-dropping. I couldn't believe how amazing it and Wind Waker looked in motion at almost 1680x1050 (obviously letterboxed).
 
Finally getting around to the
green stars
and I think giving it a break was perfect! My family loves to play this also, which is rare beyond wii sports etc. :)
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Started it recently. About 65 stars deep. I really love it so far, but it hasn't left the same mark Galaxy did a few years ago. The last galaxy I beat, Melty Monster, was my favorite one so far though. Some levels do feel a bit like rehashes from Galaxy 1, like the bee levels. Also, I'm a bit disappointed by the soundtrack. So far I haven't heard a track that comes even close to Gusty Garden or Buoy Base.
So yeah, not really fawning over it yet like I did with Galaxy, but maybe I still have yet to see the more impressive stuff. In world 6 now.
 

delume

Member
63 stars in and near the end of World 4. So much love for this game. Getting a fly-through of a new galaxy before Mario jets in is the closest thing to childish joy in gaming these days. Bliss!
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
bridegur said:
Does anyone know how sales have been for this?

SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA May-10 563.9K
It's first month but it's been awhile since that data was recorded. Like a whole month and more. Not bad, though, you know it's gonna keep going for long time.
 

Shiggy

Member
Could someone point me to the galaxy in which is a planet on which you need to run around so that flowers appear? Just forgot where it was.
 

Peff

Member
Shiggy said:
Could someone point me to the galaxy in which is a planet on which you need to run around so that flowers appear? Just forgot where it was.

Supermassive Galaxy, World 4-1
 
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