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SwordFish's Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
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| [January 26, 2008 12:10:40 AM]
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[ entry #2 ]
GAMEPLAY
In my second game session, I invited a friend to play. I wasn’t really sure what the second player would be able to do. To my surprise he was able to make me jump, which was exploited for a short moment, as I fell to my death. He was also able to stun enemies, making it easier for me to defeat them, as well as collecting star bits and launching them at enemies. It allowed me to focus on getting through the level without worrying about collecting helpful but unnecessary items.
I found that I played much faster with help from a friend and I think it would be nice to trade off playing if one player gets tired of it. We had bystanders watching us play and they gave suggestions on what to do when it seemed that we were stuck. If I didn’t have homework to do that day I probably would have played non-stop because of the addictive gameplay.
DESIGN
Super Mario Galaxy definitely improves upon past Mario games with updated graphics that make the world seem more alive. The objects in the game world have sharper textures and a shiny glow at the edges. Although the player experiences a more vivid world, the core gameplay is pretty much unchanged with the new control scheme. A push of a button combined with a shake of the wiimote causes Mario to jump and spin, allowing him to reach higher places. The spin attack is also an easy way to defeat most weak enemies, but others require ground-pounding.
When walking around a spherical land mass, the camera caused some frustration. One moment I’m walking straight and after the camera turns I’m walking another way, possibly into an enemy or hazardous area. While it may seem annoying, I believe that it is just a small challenge that can be overcome with time. The level design is very innovative in the way that Mario can move around a land mass, always attracted to the gravitational center. Sometimes the player is able to jump away from the land and float in space. There is a limit to how far he can go, and it is never too far away from a source of gravity to move toward.
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| [January 25, 2008 10:36:42 PM]
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[ entry #1 ]
SUMMARY
Super Mario Galaxy builds on the classic platformer gameplay with Mario’s debut on the Wii. Once again Mario must save Princess Peach from Bowser’s grasp. To do this, he must restore power to the comet observatory by collecting power stars from galaxies. This will allow Mario to travel to the center of the universe to confront Bowser.
GAMEPLAY
When I started playing the game I was wondering why I wasn’t in space. I had seen screenshots of the game, but they were all in a space setting. As the introductory sequence progressed, it revealed how Mario got there. Princess Peach’s castle was lifted into space by cables connected to flying pirate ships. This story element was fresh and unexpected. The characters were familiar to me because I have played some Mario games. There are two new characters that are central to the story. The Lumas are star-like creatures led by Rosalina, who all live on the spaceship called the comet observatory. From the observatory I was able to visit galaxies, the main stages of the game.
The game was fun to play because of how the game world affected my movement. When I fell off an edge, I found myself floating to the underside of the ground I was on earlier. Although the early levels were simple, the way I moved around them is what made the game fun. The background music gave me a feeling of nostalgia because it was a pleasant mix of updated Mario tracks. The ease of getting used to the controls and moving around the game world contributed to the flow of the game. I didn’t have replay many areas in each galaxy, as I did my best to avoid falling into the black holes and running into enemies.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 25th, 2008 at 22:37:56.
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SwordFish's Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 25 January, 2008
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