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

I just got around to playing this game after I bought it more than a year ago. I wasn't really impressed early in the game but as it progresses it gets better and better. The level design is very ingenius in the latter levels.

My only issue were some of the stages were bland and the game for the most part wasn't challenging.

SPOILERS BELOW


If all the stages were as fun and challenging as the stages in Star World this game would be perfect. The stages are pure fun. Still a good game though.
 

ghibli99

Member
I just got around to playing this game after I bought it more than a year ago. I wasn't really impressed early in the game but as it progresses it gets better and better. The level design is very ingenius in the latter levels.
Did you do the Luigi green stars and Grandmaster Galaxy yet? Worth it if you haven't!
 

Chaplain

Member
Just started playing. Nintendo cannot be touched when it comes to 3D platformers. The only problem with the game is the 480p graphics. After playing Rayman in 1080p, it is extremely difficult to look at outdated graphics on outdated tech.

Besides that, the game has the Nintendo magic that makes it hard to stop playing because of how polished the game is. WiiU 3D tablet Mario cannot come soon enough.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Give it a spin on Dolphin if your PC is capable enough. Mario Galaxy definitely benefits from running in higher resolutions due to it's art style.

BqvS8.jpg
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
What type of hardware do you need to have the game look like the pic you posted?

Not totally sure myself. I think you just need a good modern 3GHz+ CPU (i5/i7 CPUs), higher the better of course. But there are audio issues without LLE if I'm not mistaken, so that will probably require something pretty fast, like a overclocked 2500k/2600k.

GPU requirements are fairly low. A GTX260 or anything better should be good enough for 1080p with some AA on just about every game.

Dolphin thread to keep this from going off topic.
 

clemenx

Banned
I'm pretty adamant in having Super Metroid and Metroid Prime as 1-2 in any personal Nintendo list but I can't really argue with either Mario Galaxy, any of the 3D console Zeldas (except Twilight Princess) any of the 2D Zeldas and any of the classic 2D Marios in those positions.

Man Nintendo is so great.

But yeah, that list is pretty dumb. I lol'd at Okami.
 

braves01

Banned
skyward sword is basically the zelda version of galaxy 1.

Take back those words! Galaxy 1 is soo much better than SS. The only place where SMG arguably stoops to SS level is a somewhat boring hub, but it's such a minor part of the game unlike Skytown or whatever it was called.
 

AniHawk

Member
Take back those words! Galaxy 1 is soo much better than SS. The only place where SMG arguably stoops to SS level is a somewhat boring hub, but it's such a minor part of the game unlike Skytown or whatever it was called.

don't forget the emphasis on story, and the way the game uses simple level design to hold the player's hand for the first half of the game.
 

braves01

Banned
don't forget the emphasis on story, and the way the game uses simple level design to hold the player's hand for the first half of the game.

The optional Rosalina story? The one that takes ten minutes tops if you choose to watch it all?

The level design and difficulty for the most part is on par with SMG2, especially since people weren't accustomed to navigating Mario around spherical objects initially. And simple level design =/= hand holding.
 

AniHawk

Member
The optional Rosalina story? The one that takes ten minutes tops if you choose to watch it all?

The level design and difficulty for the most part is on par with SMG2, especially since people weren't accustomed to navigating Mario around spherical objects initially. And simple level design =/= hand holding.

well no, that's the point. nintendo dumbed down the level design so people wouldn't be freaked out by the spherical worlds. things don't get complicated until a lot later. skyward sword is similarly simple to let people grow used to the motion controls, and doesn't get more complicated later on.

also, in addition to the long, slow start (for any platformer), smg also interrupted with little bits of dialogue after beating one of the levels.

smg2 is everything smg is but more streamlined and with better level design.
 

WillyFive

Member
SMG2 was a great game, but definitely not above SMG1 by any means (except music, I suppose). I can see how it's simpler nature appealed to old-school Mario fans, however.
 

ghibli99

Member
SMG2 was a great game, but definitely not above SMG1 by any means (except music, I suppose). I can see how it's simpler nature appealed to old-school Mario fans, however.
I feel the exact opposite: SMG2 was the better game, but SMG1 had the better music.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
It's hard to say which was better. I think if SMG2 came first, everyone would say it's superior. But being a direct sequel hurt it somewhat, since the first Galaxy was a really fresh take on Mario platforming and served as quite a surprising revolution for the franchise.

That said, SMG1 was still amazing in its own right. I just think that overall it was a bit too easy and was dragged down by a really unnecessary hub world. However, I appreciate its story more than SMG2's. Some people can't stand stories in platformers, so SMG2 is like a godsend, but I think SMG1 handled it right by making most of the story optional, but still making it cute and heartwarming for those who looked into it.

Both games have fantastic soundtracks, with highs and lows.

It takes some serious thought to try and put one game above the other when both games were evenly matched in most regards while also being top-tier in terms of 3D platforming level design. Something makes me want to give the crown to the sequel, however, just because of stage-select streamlining, the addition of Yoshi (even though he was underutilized in many ways), the superior post-game content (even though it ironically suffered streamlining issues), the better balance of 2.5D/3D sections, and the improved difficulty curve for experienced players.
 

ghibli99

Member
Really? Why?

SMG1 had one of the best soundtracks of the generation, but SMG2 improved upon it in grand scale.
I think SMG1 had the more memorable arrangements. Gusty Garden, Buoy Base, Battlerock, Melty Molten, the Library, etc. I couldn't really single out specific themes in SMG2's soundtrack, although a few of the hub tracks are pretty amazing. I still think SMG2 is my GOTG, but when taking each game's soundtrack into account, I have to give it go SMG1. Grandmaster Galaxy's music was epic, but that one was based on SMG1's main theme.

That being said, even if one is better than the other, both games are so far ahead of most games this gen that one ranking below the other isn't a bad thing whatsoever.
 

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
I think SMG1 had the more memorable arrangements. Gusty Garden, Buoy Base, Battlerock, Melty Molten, the Library, etc. I couldn't really single out specific themes in SMG2's soundtrack, although a few of the hub tracks are pretty amazing. I still think SMG2 is my GOTG, but when taking each game's soundtrack into account, I have to give it go SMG1. Grandmaster Galaxy's music was epic, but that one was based on SMG1's main theme.

That being said, even if one is better than the other, both games are so far ahead of most games this gen that one ranking below the other isn't a bad thing whatsoever.

Agreed.

I really do like SMG2's music of course, but at least to me, it felt like the soundtrack (many of the tracks at least), were created by someone trying to do a parody of SMG's sountrack.

I don't mean that as insulting as it may sound, but yeah I feel the arrangements in the first one felt far more...natural, I guess?
 

zigg

Member
SMG's music was sometimes overdramatic for the area it was paired with. GG is a great example. Good tune, bad place to put it.

Can't think of a time when this was a problem for SMG2.
 

NeonZ

Member
SMG's music was sometimes overdramatic for the area it was paired with. GG is a great example. Good tune, bad place to put it.

Can't think of a time when this was a problem for SMG2.

SMG2's problem was exactly the opposite though, fairly bland tracks even in stages that could have used some more bombastic ones. They seemed to keep the "grander" tracks exclusively for the Bowser stages. I don't think that was a very good choice.

Also, I'd say that generall SMG1 looked better than SMG2. 2 had a bit of tech evolution in a few aspects, but the level design in SMG1 was generally more consistent and elements seemed to be integrated better. There are very few places in SMG2 that don't come off as fairly random obstacle courses from a visual standpoint.
 

$200

Banned
I feel galaxy 1 has the better presentation overall (better story, music, art direction) while galaxy 2 has much better gameplay especially with the post 120 stars contents. It's hard to put one over another.
 

WillyFive

Member
Interesting. I don't agree with any of that.

I found SMG2's score to be even more bombastic than SMG1's, and SMG2's tracks were a great improvement over SMG1's equivalent: Melty Monster Galaxy > Melty Molten Galaxy; Honeybloom Galaxy > Honeyhive Galaxy; SMG2's Bowser boss battle music was better than the ones from SMG1; the returning N64 tracks got a full orchestral treatment; and of course, this song.

I've listened to SMG2's CD far more than the one for SMG1, as epic as SMG1's score made the game feel, SMG2's music is more enjoyable, both in the game and the soundtrack itself.
 

zigg

Member
SMG2's problem was exactly the opposite though, fairly bland tracks even in stages that could have used some more bombastic ones. They seemed to keep the "grander" tracks exclusively for the Bowser stages. I don't think that was a very good choice.
I agree they did this, just not with your characterization of what they did—I think it was more appropriate. But I know my opinion isn't too popular, just look around at the Gusty Garden fan club... ;-) Again, I really like the tune, just think its arrangement was way too much for floating around on dandelions.

Also, I'd say that generall SMG1 looked better than SMG2. 2 had a bit of tech evolution in a few aspects, but the level design in SMG1 was generally more consistent and elements seemed to be integrated better. There are very few places in SMG2 that don't come off as fairly random obstacle courses from a visual standpoint.
Mmm, again, I see where you're coming from, but I think it's also important for art to serve the gameplay by giving those obstacle courses visual immediacy, and I also don't believe that the level design should be subservient to art... at least, not much. I'm painfully aware of how this can go the wrong way when my friends and I are trying to figure out what the hell is going on in Rayman Origins. (Fun game, but yeah.)
 

ghibli99

Member
I really do like SMG2's music of course, but at least to me, it felt like the soundtrack (many of the tracks at least), were created by someone trying to do a parody of SMG's sountrack.
Yeah, SMG1's OST was a tough act to follow, and I'm guessing the direction was to capture the feel and familiarity of the first game, while putting fresh, new twists on it for the second. In that sense, I think they succeeded for the most part, but in doing so, they ended up with something a little too derivative of the first one.

There were a number of songs where I thought, "Hmm, that sounds like [fill-in-the-blank] from SMG1." Again, not a bad thing, but it lost some of the impact that it could have had if they'd set themselves apart a little more. I did like the updates to the old songs, but again, those are arrangements we're all familiar with already.

This isn't just memory talking, either... I"m listening to the SMG2 OST right now. :)
 

WillyFive

Member
Again, I really like the tune, just think its arrangement was way too much for floating around on dandelions.

Honestly, I think that's the perfect place to put it. A grandiose orchestral score is perfect for something simple like that, since the simplicity of the world empowers the score; and the score gives the simple world a lot of life without being distracting or 'too much'.
 

CassSept

Member
I remember carrying over clouds to that part of the level so that I could basically cloud-jump my way through it and avoid all the obstacles.

Yeah that's what I've been doing but I keep on dying on like, one of the two tricky parts of that level. I'm not doing that bad because I've gotten to the last platform within 20 deaths (some of which were just cheap ones like stupidly ramming into mines with Yoshi) but got hit by a stray boomerang after disposing of the first Boomerang Bro.
But damn, that last laser robot. I basically just skip over the first two ones, smoothly walk past the third one but the fourth one gets me almost all the time, either due to misstep or falling into one of so many possible hazards. To be fair, that part is the only really tricky part of The Perfect Run besides the final platform, everything else is very easy.
 

ghibli99

Member
The Hammer Bros have become the new problem in The Perfect Run for me. Those agile motherfuckers... FUCK.
Haha... yeah, on one of my runs, I was on the very last platform, and I got struck by a hammer from off-screen. I was *so* close! It took me about 5 more tries after that one to finally get to the end, and both my wife and I cheered when we finally did it. :) One of the best moments of gaming for me from the past few years, for sure.
 

entremet

Member
Finally got all green stars after two years. I stopped playing halfway through the green star quest 2 years ago, but I was bored and got the rest. GrandMaster doesn't seem as hard as SMB3DL's S8-Crown.
 
Finally got all green stars after two years. I stopped playing halfway through the green star quest 2 years ago, but I was bored and got the rest. GrandMaster doesn't seem as hard as SMB3DL's S8-Crown.
Grandmaster Galaxy feels like a hard-as-nails yet satisfying test of your skills.

S8-Crown feels like an unfair romhack.
 

ghibli99

Member
Really? I loved s8-Crown. I do love these ultra hard final stages. Hope they keep it up.

I finally beat perfect run. Woo!
Congrats on beating The Perfect Run... the feeling after getting to the end is unbeatable. S8-Crown was tough, but never felt unfair, especially after you figure out its most nefarious 'trick'... and I'm not talking about the one at the end.
 

Gambit

Member
Sorry for the bump, but this has more recent posts than the Lttp thread.

Anyway, I started the game today. Finally!

Played the first world and, my God, it is almost too good. The amount of creativity put into this game, together with the tight controls and the colourful graphics almost makes me hyperventilate.

Obviously I haven't seen much yet, but this is the kind of game that forces me to always buy the latest Nintendo console. No complaints about them whoring out Mario if they keep up the quality of this, NSMBW and Mario 3D land.
 

ghibli99

Member
Played the first world and, my God, it is almost too good. The amount of creativity put into this game, together with the tight controls and the colourful graphics almost makes me hyperventilate.
Those feelings won't go away until you get all 242 stars, either. :) It's one of *the* most perfect games this generation.
 
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