Pros: Mario, gameplay, graphics, music
Cons: none
The bottom line: Its the best Mario game ever!
Ever since playing and watching my family play Super Mario 64 I have liked Mario. I preferred to watch more than play though because I was never good at the game. When me and my brothers first heard about Super Mario Galaxy coming out for the Nintento Wii we were excited. I was actually planning on trying to game instead of just watching the game. We ended up getting Super Mario Galaxy this past Christmas. After trying the game I found out that it was easier for me to play then Super Mario 64 but I was still not that good, so I just watch my brothers play the game. This is best Mario game I have seen in my life the only. To find out why Super Mario Galaxy is so great and to learn more about the game continue reading my review

Story

The story starts with Mario getting a letter from Princess Peach inviting him to go to her castle for the Star Festival and she told him she had something to give him. Mario ends up going to the castle and just as he gets to the castle bowser shows up and ruins the festival. He ends up taking the castle with Princess Peach in it and flying it up into space.It is up to Mario to make it to the center of the universe to destroy bowser and save Princess Peach.

Gameplay

There are a couple of important characters you will meet in the beginning of the game and they are:

Rosalina - She is the keeper of the Comet Observatory which floats through the cosmos. Rosalina's past although is shrouded in mystery.

Polari - He is a elderly Luma and is Rosalina's most trusted advisor on the Comet Observatory. He has all the knowledge of the Comet Observatory. When you speak to him he will show you a map.

The whole Comet Observatory is inhabited by many different Luma's. The Luma's actually live throughout the cosmos not just on the Comet Observatory. They love Star Bits which are scattered all throughout the whole universe

Just like in Super Mario 64 you have to collect Power Stars but this time you have to search through the many galaxies in the universe to find these Power Stars. The Comet Observatory is kind of like the castle in Super Mario 64 because the Comet Observatory is where you start and where you can reach the different areas you need to go to collect the Power Stars. There are many domes on the Comet Observatory and these domes are actually galaxy observatories. At the beginning of the game you can only go to one dome. You have to go into the dome before you can travel to a galaxy to find the power stars. Once you earn the Grand Star in the final galaxy a new dome will open in the Comet Observatory. Once you enter the dome you have to grab the pull star at the top of the dome. Once you do that you are taken to the Galaxy selection screen where you select the galaxy you want to go to. Galaxies with a number on them are ones you can't go to yet because you haven't collected enough Power Stars yet. Whatever the number is on the galaxy is how many power stars you need to get before you can go to that galaxy. Once you select the galaxy you want to go to the Mission Selection Screen where you select the mission you want to take on. While on the Comet Observatory at the bottom of the screen will be the total of Star bits you have at the time. You will find star bits throughout your journeys through the galaxies.

Once you select the galaxy you want to go to and you travel to that galaxy it switches over to the galaxy screen. The total number of stars you have collected so far is displayed in the top left corner. Your life meter is displayed in the top right corner which of course goes down every time you touch an enemy or hazard. The number of lives you have is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen. The number of coins and star bits you have collected in the galaxy are displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. To pause the game while in a galaxy just press and hold either the - or + button. While on the pause screen you check how much coins you have collected so far and the galaxy you are currently in.

Mario has many moves and most of them are the same moves from Super Mario 64 but are controlled a little bit different. To move Mario you have to use the control stick on the Nunchuk. To make Mario spin you have to shake the Wiimote or the Nunchuk, and to make Mario do a spin jump you have to shake the Wiimote while Mario is in midair. Mario can jump in many different ways just depending on the combinations of the controls.To regular jump all you have to do is press the A button and of course like in Super Mario 64 you can make him double jump and triple jump by pressing the A button multiple times. To do a backwards somersault just hold down the Z button and press the A button. To make Mario do a wall jump just face a wall and press the A button. In order to make Mario do a Side Somersault you have to tilt the control stick in the opposite direction while running and press the A button. Another famous move from Super Mario 64 the long jump can be used by pressing the Z button and then press the A button while Mario is running. To make Mario do a Ground Pound just press the Z button while in midair. To make Mario speak to your read what something has to say just press the A button while he in front of the object or person. When you want Mario to grab a pole just press the A button and jump near a pole to grab on. If you want to make Mario crouch just press the Z button on the Nunchuk. When you want to catch or pick up something just shake the Wiimote and shake it again to throw it. To swim all you have to do is press the A button and to change the direction you want to go just move the control stick. Just press the Z button to make mario dive under the water. To have Mario skate on the ice shake the Wiimote from the side to side while you are standing on the ice.

Remember in Super Mario 64 Mario was able to turn into Metal Mario and even turn invisible, Mario may not be able to do those things in Super Mario Galaxy, but he can transform into different things. Mario can turn into Bee Mario by grabbing a Bee Mushroom and when he is Bee Mario he can hover in the air by pressing the A button. While you are flying a flying meter will show up and the longer you fly the meter will go down when the meter reaches zero he will begin to fall. If Mario touches an enemy, takes damage, or touches water he will turn back to regular Mario. If you grab a Rainbow Star Mario will turn into Rainbow Mario and as Rainbow Mario he is invincible and he can instantly defeat any enemies he touches. The Rainbow Star will wear off after a while though and then he returns to regular Mario. He will turn in.to Boo Mario if you grab a Boo Mushroom. While as Boo Mario you can shake the Wiimote to turn transparent. He can also float if you repeatedly press the A button. He will turn back to regular Mario if he touches an enemy, takes damage, or if he touches light. Mario can turn into Ice Mario if he grabs a Ice Flower. While he is Ice Mario he can freeze any water he walks on and creates tiles of ice. The ice flower will wear off after a while and then he will turn back to regular Mario. Mario can also turn into Fire Mario by grabbing a Fire Flower. As Fire Mario he can throw fire balls and all you have to do is shake the Wiimote. Just like the Rainbow Star and the Ice Flower the Fire Flower will wear off after a while and then he will go back to regular Mario. The last thing Mario can turn into is Spring Mario. To turn him into Spring Mario you have to grab a Spring Mushroom. While as Spring Mario he can just bounce all over the place with his springy body. If you press the A button with good timing when you hit the ground to bounce real high. In order to turn back into regular Mario you have to either touch an enemy, take damage, touch water, or touch a Launch Star.

Throughout the many different galaxies you will run into many different objects. You will usually find Launch Stars on most of the galaxies you visit. Launch Stars will catapult you on a path through the sky to another planet in the galaxy. To activate the Launch Star just shake the Wiimote while near a Launch Star and you will be catapulted to another planet. There will sometimes be cases where you will have to find yellow star chips in order to repair a broken Launch Star before you can use it. You will also find Pull Stars in some of the galaxies.You usually use pull stars to get to another planet when there are no Launch Stars. Sometimes you will have to collect blue star chips to repair broken Pull stars. You will also come across Pipes while traveling through the galaxies. A pipe lets you enter it and warp you to another area. Sometimes you will find Sprouted Vine and to swing up the vine just shake the Wiimote when you are near a vine. You have to continue shaking the Wiimote before you have jumped off the vine. You will also find Cannons while searching the galaxies. Do you remember the Cannons from Super Mario 64, well they are back and you use them the same way you did before. Just jump in the cannon and then point at the target and then press the A button to shoot out of the cannon. In some galaxies you will find bubble cannons that shoot out bubbles that you can enter to float around in. To move the bubble in the direction you want it to go just point at the bubble from the other side of the direction you want to go and press the A button to blow air on the bubble to cause it to move. To leave the bubble just press the Z button but it will burst if you run into a hazzard. There will be some challenges where you have to roll on a ball. To roll the ball in the direction you want it to go tilt the Wiimote in the direction you want to move. To jump while on the ball just press the A button. In some missions you have to go ray surfing. Sometimes you have to ride on a ray and go ray surfing to move forward you have to press the A button. To move left or right just tilt the Wiimote slightly to the direction you want to go in. You will also find many items that will help you right away in your missions. The most common items you find are coins which of course are always in mario games. You will also find Green Shells and Red Shells which you can throw to break open treasure chests or you can throw them at enemies to hurt or kill them. Another popular item is the 1- Up Mushroom which just like the coins are in most mario games. New to this game is the Life Mushroom which temporarily increases your max health to six instead of three. Another thing you end up collecting throughout the game are Star bits.

Most of the enemies in the early going are pretty easy to kill but as you travel to farther galaxies the enemies get harder. The bosses at the end of each mission are usually a lot harder to beat then the regular enemies. I am not quiet sure exactly how much harder the enemies get because I haven't got that far at all and I am stuck on the game right now.

Controls

First I will talk about the different things you can do with the Wiimote. The pointer lets you grab star bits, and move the star pointer to point at a Pull Star. The control pad lets you change the camera view. The B button is used to shoot star bits and to cancel commands. The A button of course makes Mario jump, lets mario speak or read what a person or object says, makes mario swim, and makes mario grab a pull star. The Home button of course displays the Home Menu and the + and - buttons are used to display the pause menu. Now the Nunchuk has some controls in this game too. The Control Stick moves mario around and the C button is used to reset the camera. The Z button is used to make Mario crouch.

Graphics

The graphics in Super Mario Galaxy are a lot better than Super Mario 64 but that is expected. The graphics are also better than Super Mario Sunshine for the gamecube. There is a lot more detail and color to the game. Mario is a a lot more colorful than he was in Super Mario 64. but only a little more detailed. The planets are very colorful and detailed and so are the enemies.

Sound

The music of course is the same old music that has always been in Mario games. I have always liked the music in the Mario games. The sound and music is basically just enhanced because it has never change much. The music is still the same and most of the sound effects are still the same just enhanced. Just like in most mario games there is no voice over other than at the beginning when it the letter from peach is being said. There really is no problem with not having voice overs in Mario games because they are fine without them.

Overall this is a real great game to watch and play. I recommend this game to any family who has a Wii and any mario fans out there. You don't even have to be a Mario fan to have fun with this game.