G l i t c h y G o b l i n !

First of all, I must begin by saying that Platformers are my specialty.  My very first video game 18 years ago, Super Mario Bros. 3, was a Platformer, and I have ever since loved the genre.  Nintendo is perhaps the greatest Platformer creator, and their flagship franchise remains strong in Super Mario Galaxy 2.  I won’t spoil the second half of the game, except for two specific instances (the final PRO and final CON, so skip those if you don’t want spoilers), but the rest will discuss at least what you can find in the instruction book and trailers for the game.

PROS:

As stated earlier, this is Platforming at its finest. The Super Mario Galaxy series’ use of gravity creates ways to Platform never before seen.  It’s crazy some of the things this game makes you do.

There’s a lot to do. With more than 120 stars to get (I won’t tell you exactly how much; that’s a surprise), there’s enough experiences in this title to last well over 20 hours.

As with most Mario games, there are more power ups and more suits to wear. The Rock Mushroom and Cloud Flower are welcome additions to the reused Bee, Boo, and Spring Mushrooms.  There are also a few interesting powerups for Yoshi, which keeps multiple uses of him fresh.  There are even more powerups than these.

The music is excellent. Nintendo always has a penchant for having great soundtracks for their games, and this is no exception.  You’ll hear new songs, as well as songs from the first Galaxy iteration, Super Mario 64, Super Mario World, and more.

The second half of the game is a treat. ***SPOILERS*** After getting all 120 stars the game doesn’t make you do the entire game a second time, a la Super Mario Galaxy.  That was mildly annoying, anyway.  Instead, 120 Green Stars appear.  Some galaxies will have 3, some 2.  These stars challenge the player’s Platforming prowess by putting the stars in sometimes ridiculously crafty places.  ***MAJOR SPOILERS*** After getting these 120 stars, the final galaxy appears, which tests all of your abilities in one level.  ***END OF ALL SPOILERS HERE***

CONS:

It’s the same old story. Bowser kidnaps the Princess.  Woohoo.  I know Shigeru Miyamoto said that he never wanted Mario to have any story, but it isn’t difficult to change it in some way.  They could like have it be Bowser Jr. instead and then put Bowser in a bathtub full of hot water.  Oh wait.

Some powerups aren’t used enough, or are otherwise temporary.  The Boo and Spring Mushrooms are only used in one level each.  The Fire Flower wears off after a certain amount of time.  Why couldn’t it be infinite?  I mean, there are plenty of enemies to hit or water to step into, so it would be difficult anyway to keep the power forever.

Beating ghosts don’t unlock anything. If you beat a level using Luigi, the ghost of a developer playing is unlocked for that level.  Nothing happens if you then beat that ghost, or all ghosts, so who cares?  That would’ve been a pretty neat thing to incorporate into the game.

It needs more rolling ball levels. The ones where Mario balances on top of a ball, and you hold the Wiimote vertical.  You tilt it to make him move.  I love those.

The second half does get tedious, however.  ***SPOILERS AGAIN*** Every time you get a Green star, the camera spins around while Mario does a pose, the screen zooms out, fades; Mario lands on the spaceship, gets a star count increase, star bit increase, and coin increase; it saves the game and tells you about how it just did so; you run to the wheel, the galaxy map comes up, you click on the galaxy again, you click to fly there, Mario zooms down toward the galaxy sprite, the star list (now with 4 stars or more) comes up, the Prankster Comet Approaching screen appears, then you select the Green star, then it shows an unskippable cutscene of a galaxy, then Mario flying through.  Now you can go find the star.  Oh, that’s the second Green star, so now go through that all again to the next one in the same galaxy.  It would’ve been so much easier to make it where every time you acquired a Green star a menu popped up asking if you want to leave the galaxy or continue to get the rest.  It’s not like it’s just the Green star that you clicked that’s available to get.  Sometimes all three are visible at the same time.  It gets tedious about 20-30 Green stars in.

Once again, Nintendo has crafted a wonderful platformer.  You will do some things you never thought you would.  If you love your Wii, like Mario games, or like platformers, get this game.  If none of those things are true, then instead get one of the other 5 excellent games that just came out.