5/5 ★ – MasterCreate97's review of Super Mario Galaxy.

For Many People, Super Mario 64 or even Super Mario Sunshine was their first experience with playing a Mario 3D platformer. For me, my first experience with a 3D Mario Platformer was Super Mario Galaxy which was released for the Nintendo Wii in 2007. I remember playing it for the first time in middle school and being blown away by its jaw-dropping visuals, creative gameplay, and an amazing music score, unlike anything I’ve ever heard in a video game before. I’m happy to say that most of these opinions have not changed that much as I still find this one of the best 3D platformers I’ve ever played. It is the night of the star festival in the mushroom kingdom and everyone is preparing for the big celebration. Suddenly, Bowser barges in and he once again kidnaps Princess Peach but this time he uses his ufo saucers to lift peach’s castle into the air. Mario follows in pursuit as the castle leaves the world of the mushroom kingdom and flies directly into space. One of Bowser’s minions throws Mario off course and he lands on a strange planet where he is greeted by floating stars called Lumas and their mother/leader Queen Rosalina. Rosalina takes Mario into her starship which is in the middle of space and explains that Bowser and his minions stole their power stars and grand stars that are needed to power the ship. So it’s up to Mario to recover all the stolen power stars and grand stars by flying to every galaxy marked on the map and retrieving them so that they can use Rosalina’s ship to fly to the center of the universe and confront Bowsers and save Peach. There is a surprisingly good amount of story to this game both in its main premise and even when it comes to the back story of how Queen Rosalina came to be. Sure, it does have the typical Bowser kidnaps Peach like plot, but it is done in a way that still feels fresh and interesting as there are many twists and turns in the overall narrative but nothing too out of left field. Throughout the game, you’ll come across many different characters both familiar and unfamiliar whether they are enemies or regular creatures of a particular galaxy. The interactions between the innocent characters are downright adorable and sometimes funny and the more threatening characters are just so good at playing the antagonist regardless if they talk or not. To have a Mario game set in space is new territory and the game plays itself like a 3d platformer in the same vein as Super Mario Sunshine or Super Mario 64. The level designs take this game to a whole new level as they play around with the concept of gravity and how it works on certain planets or floating objects. One of the most satisfying things to do is to get in a launch star and blast off flying into space and landing on the next planet. Each galaxy you visit is very unique with different challenges that have a power star or a grand star as a reward when completed. Get used to doing this because you’ll need to collect many stars to open up new parts of the ship that feature more levels as well as being one step closer to confronting Bowser at the center of the universe. The game does put up a good challenge but it’s not ultra-difficult to complete which is a good thing because a lot of the levels are designed with great precision and even the ones that aren’t still had a lot of thought and creativity put in. It may be a Wii game but I still stand by that it’s still one of the best-looking Mario games ever made. The colors are vibrant and the lighting is amazing. Even at 480p, the graphics are still as amazing now as they were back then. Let’s not forget to mention how amazingly crafted the music is for this game. It’s the first time there is an actual orchestrated soundtrack to a Mario game and on its own, I can still be blown away by just how epic-sounding each music piece is. When it’s not being epic it can also be just plain relaxing or bouncy which fits in well with the rest of the soundtrack. I still consider Super Mario Galaxy to be one of if not the best thing Nintendo has ever created. Even the problems I have with it are minor nitpicks because this is still an amazing 3D platformer, unlike anything you’ll ever play. It has a great story, lovable characters both good and bad, top notice graphics and gameplay, and a music score that is both epic and lovely. It quite possibly the most cinematic of all the Mario games from a narrative and visual point of view and I’m all the more grateful for it. (Final Grade: A)