Super Mario Galaxy 2

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The first Mario Galaxy lacked challenge and a free roaming sensation. Besides the main orchestral music, most of it wasn't very good.

I really hope they fix this. I found Sunshine more truer to 64 than Galaxy.

Call me indifferent, but I don't fully agree.

I'd be a fool to say that Sunshine wasn't like 64, because it had a lot of space and the ability to free roam, but for some reason that game lacked the kind of depth and versatility that 64 had. However, Galaxy being more linear had a lot of the depth I felt Sunshine lacked, while still falling behind 64.

The hubworld could've been more interactive than it was. I liked the ability to fly when you gain the ability, but other than that it's just a shortcut way to reach other sections of the ship than something you could really fool around with.

I think it was the absence of the melee abilities that make me think Galaxy and Sunshine fall behind. They added so much enjoyment in 64. Here's hoping they're in this game.

[Patticus]

I like the fact that Mario traverses the universe on the back of a planet shaped like his head. Fucking genius idea. Oh and that spin-thing mechanic is great too. Not as good as riding around on the back of your own head though.

[SuperStingray]

Super Mario 64 was my first game ever, so a lot of my opinions in 3D Mario titles is probably nostalgia guided, but I think Mario's best with a quasi-sandbox style. By that I mean, a very open level structure, but still guided to different ends and through different paths end rather than a pure sandbox. Levels like Tick Tock Clock and the Bowser levels for instance are a bit too linear where levels like Lethal Lava Land and Wet Dry World feel a bit too open. Not to say I dislike any of them, but in levels like Rainbow Ride and Tall, Tall Mountain, there's a tendency for you to aim to the furthest ends of the level of the level while still being open to exploration and different goals. That's one of the reasons I liked Galaxy; there are many different planets with many different paths, creating an open level structure, yet you still tried to go toward "the end of the level" if that makes any sense.

[bolt7]

Just thought this may be of interest to you guys if you didn't see already. =P

Loved the first to pieces, can't wait for the second! Defiantly one of my most wanted games for this year.

[Thirsty Pocket]

All I ask of this game is more new Doom ship levels with the same Doom ship music, and Luigi ( or someone better, like Wario ) as an Unlockable again. The rest, just go wild, developers. ...........oh! And more remastered tracks like toy time galaxy, sweet sweet galaxy, and the doom ship, pleeease?

[SuperStingray]

All I ask of this game is more new Doom ship levels with the same Doom ship music, and Luigi ( or someone better, like Wario ) as an Unlockable again.

I didn't really see the point of Luigi. He just seemed to be a poor excuse to play through the game a second time.

[Solid SOAP]

Luigi's the fuckin' man, don't hate.

I'd like a different unlockable this time, however. I love Luigi, but it'd be redunant to unlock him again, someone new please.

[Thirsty Pocket]

Luigi had subtle differences. Slippery shoes and a higher jump. That may not sound like much, but it really did feel like a somewhat new way to play. ( Not as new as Tails or Knuckles in Sonic 3 but I could still take some shortcuts Mario couldn't. ) ...that said, I really would prefer a character with an ability Mario doesn't have.

[SuperStingray]

Luigi's the fuckin' man, don't hate.

I'd like a different unlockable this time, however. I love Luigi, but it'd be redunant to unlock him again, someone new please.

I don't hate Luigi, he's a great character. I just don't think it's worth playing through the game again just to experience it with more slippery controls and higher jumping. Maybe they should just make him an interchangable character, that you can just choose to play as at any time.

[SuperLink]

Playable Luigi is one of the reasons Galaxy will be treated like a classic for all time. After completing everything to unlock another character to play as who plays slightly differently? Now that's the kind of thing I love almost above all else in games.

Characters characters characters, you can never have enough to play as. I don't care if they're in the story or not. I want to play as Wario, Peach and Rosalina this time, OK?

[Serperior]

Luigi had subtle differences. Slippery shoes and a higher jump. That may not sound like much, but it really did feel like a somewhat new way to play. ( Not as new as Tails or Knuckles in Sonic 3 but I could still take some shortcuts Mario couldn't. ) ...that said, I really would prefer a character with an ability Mario doesn't have.

Luigi could have abilities that Mario couldn't have. For a start he could use the Poltergust 3000 as a way of attacking. I'm unsure of how it would work but it's still a way to make him unique. He also could have the green missile move from smash bros as an ability as well.

[speedfreak]

As far as plot goes I'm happy as long as we get a fancy opening and ending. I'm sure we'll get at least that. It's not as if they could just stick Mario in space right from the start with zero explaination.

[lounge]

It looks beautiful. Challenge is my only worry on this one. I'm also hoping Koji Kondo will be a little more involved, compared to the four tracks he did for the first one. It'd also be nice if they tweaked the physics so mario's movement and jumps would feel more expressive, like in 64.

[Solid SOAP]

As far as plot goes I'm happy as long as we get a fancy opening and ending. I'm sure we'll get at least that. It's not as if they could just stick Mario in space right from the start with zero explaination.

Yes, Galaxy had the best opening in a Mario game yet, and the ending was spectacular.

[Random Rhyme]

I would love to see them expand on Luigi and probably (hopefully) make him available from the beginning. Give him his own yet familiar move set.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Shade737

[Diogenes]

Yes, Galaxy had the best opening in a Mario game yet,

I dunno, I think I liked Sunshine's better. A little long and maybe a bit wordy, but having Mario be framed by a paint-spewing impostor and forced to clean the island as a lead-in to the rest of the game was...quite enjoyable.

Then again I'm not the sort of guy who creams his pants at the sight of the airships returning (or the koopa kids, for that matter).

Galaxy did have the better ending, tho'...

[Jay H]

I am so psyched for Super Mario Galaxy 2, it looks epic! I highly enjoyed the first one (it was like Super Mario 64 in space), and this looks to continue that fun. The addition of Yoshi is also a huge plus for me. Definitely picking it up on release!

[SuperLink]

I loved Sunshine's ending, I mean other than FLUDD "dying", which was incredibly pointless, but I loved Bowser's dialogue, it was all pretty hilarious.

Galaxy's ending was kinda purdy, but "WELCOME, WELCOME NEW GALAXY" sounded kinda silly.

[DarkOverord]

Playable Luigi is one of the reasons Galaxy will be treated like a classic for all time. After completing everything to unlock another character to play as who plays slightly differently? Now that's the kind of thing I love almost above all else in games.

That and the Blue comets were harder with Luigi. Cosmic Luigi is a bastard. :V

[SuperLink]

That and the Blue comets were harder with Luigi. Cosmic Luigi is a bastard. :V

Imagine how hard they'd be in the supposedly much harder Galaxy 2....

Always up for a challenge, especially if it's in something as awesome as 3D Mario <3

[Toby]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=22647

It’s been a while since Mario has seen multiple releases of his core titles on the same platform. But the genius of Super Mario Galaxy just couldn’t be contained in a single game, so now we have Super Mario Galaxy 2. I’m not sure what the story is, or even if there is a coherent story, but again, the basic goal is to rescue Princess Peach. The Lumas are back, but it’s not clear whether Rosalina will make an appearance. The Media Summit demo had seven galaxies and two Bowser Jr. battle stages available for play chosen off of a menu, so there was no hub area on display.

Sky Station Galaxy was a simple level designed to introduce players to the game. First, Mario visits Yoshi’s house, but he’s not home (big surprise). The level ends with a Petey Piranha battle. The basics of the game are the same as its predecessor, including the collection of stars to complete the level. If the levels shown here are any indication, the game is much more focused on creating clever and challenging level designs.

Spin-Dig Galaxy introduces the drill item. With the drill, Mario tunnels straight down through the level and comes out the other side (there is no interaction inside of the planet). If he hits an obstacle, he rebounds back. A puzzle component is added here as certain areas are only accessible by drilling. Players must keep a 3-D spatial map in mind in order to read the other side properly. One example of this was a planet with several tall pillars, pillars too tall to jump to. But by running to the other side of the planet and drilling, Mario could make his way to the top. The stage ended in a boss battle. Digga-Leg, cousin of Mega-Leg from the first game, must be defeated in a manner reminiscent of the Raphael Raven battle in Yoshi’s Island. As the enemy chases Mario around a 2D circular planet, you must time your drills through the planet to impact the bottom of the boss while he has his glass surface exposed, and not when he has his drill exposed.

One thing that struck me is that Nintendo may be playing around more with changing our conception of what makes a level itself. With the drill, players are no longer bound simply to the surface. And while it wasn’t in any of the levels I played, the latest trailer showed certain enemies dynamically dissolving parts of levels, something that was played with in the first game.

Hightail Falls Galaxy introduces Mario’s dino pal, Yoshi. While you ride him around like in Super Mario Sunshine, the tongue mechanic has a separate and natural targeting mechanism: the Wii Remote pointer. By pointing and pressing B, Yoshi will lash out his tongue in the direction marked by a red cursor. Yoshi’s elastic tongue can be blocked by obstacles, however. In a nod to Yoshi’s story, Yoshi has his own set of power-ups, each a type of fruit. In this galaxy, the spicy Dash Pepper makes Yoshi do his best mad Wiggler impression, giving him extra speed necessary to scale walls, but at the expense of control. And of course, you’ll have to navigate winding paths in this energized state, where a mistake means tumbling to your doom.

Tall Trunk Galaxy also features Yoshi. Here, Yoshi must eat Blimp Fruits. Doing so turns Yoshi blue, and fills him up with something like helium, allowing him to float until all of the gas leaks out. The level has players making their way up a tree, then around a 2D level wrapped around a cylinder (so you can fall around it forever), another 2D level cut out of a disc, and final area full of spiked enemies waiting to pop Yoshi. Players must time their use of the fruit carefully, floating from one fruit to the next, or grabbing fruit out of the air with Yoshi’s tongue before they fall. Get knocked off Yoshi, and expect to have to chase him around for long distances or until he gets killed after which he’ll respawn from an egg.

Upside Dizzy Galaxy brought back 2D areas with gravity zones that debuted in the first game, zones where the arrow and color indicates the direction of gravitational pull. These were some of my favorite areas in the original, and the level uses them to create a puzzle of sorts.

After a bit of platforming over lava, Bowser Jr's Fiery Flotilla introduces a flying dragon enemy named Gobblegut, which is reminiscent of Fracktail from Super Paper Mario. The boss tunnels through the planet targeting Mario. It seems all that gobbling has given the serpent-like boss some health problems as it has several bright red engorged areas that must be spin-attacked. As the dragon tunnels through the ground, it gets stuck for a short time at each red area, giving Mario some time to attack. This boss was the only problem I found with the game that I hope they fix. The boss didn’t have self-hit detection, so it could cut right through itself to kill Mario. Cheap.

Supermassive Galaxy is homage to Giant World of Super Mario Bros. 3, but the enemies are even bigger. After climbing a few stories, I tried to jump on a Goobma, and all I got was damaged. Blocks are too big to break, and even coins are too big to collect – instead they’re an integral part of the environment. For instance, I had to use a coin to wall-jump off of, timing it properly against its characteristic spin. The jumps were long, and getting hit by a super Thwomp would result in instant death. Since you can’t attack enemies directly, the drill is critical here.

Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet ends in another boss battle, but this time Yoshi comes along. Yoshi can eat Bullet Bills and spit them back out at other targets. Players must use this technique to take out Bowser Jr., who is piloting a giant mech.

Flip-Swap Galaxy, the final level available in the demo is one of the bonus stages that can be unlocked by collecting Comet Metals [sic], though specifics on unlocking haven’t been finalized. While the overall game seems to be focusing more on platforming, the real platforming challenges will be found in these types of stages. If you liked Luigi’s Purple Coins in the first game, this level is right up your alley. In Flip-Swap galaxy, platforms are flip between two positions every time the Remote is shaken. These platforms are sparsely spaced so that careful jumping is necessary. But you can’t use your spin to help you with the jump since that will flip the platform to the wrong position! On top of this, you have to collect 100 purple coins within four minutes. On top of that, you’ll have to time your jumps properly to avoid moving fences of electricity.

While we only got a glimpse at the dozens of galaxies, it’s clear that Super Mario Galaxy 2 takes the original’s impeccable gameplay and manages to refine it even more. While it looks and plays much like its predecessor, more of that greatness is welcome. With more focus on using items to create interesting platforming situations, the game may very well set the new bar for 3D platforming.

[DarkOverord]

First, Mario visits Yoshi’s house, but he’s not home (big surprise).

This is brilliant <3 All we need is the Yoshi signature with a pawprint!

[speedfreak]

Man I'm happy this is coming out in less then three months. I don't think I could wait much longer.

[Solly]

First, Mario visits Yoshi’s house, but he’s not home (big surprise

So does this confirm the use of the non-generic green Yoshi we're used to seeing, or could it be anyone?

Either way, nice preview.

[speedfreak]

Unlocking Luigi was great surprise in the first Galaxy and I hope he's in it again. That being said he's hopefully a given now and it is kinda predictable that we'll likely be able to do a game as him again. I hope they add yet another surprise character to shake things up. I'm comfortable enough with my masculinity to admit I'd like Peach to be playable. I actually rather enjoyed her game, Super Princess Peach, on the DS. Though I don't see anything like that actually happening. Mario and Luigi are about the same size/shape while Peach is completely different. They would have to design a Bee Peach, Fire Peach, have Peach riding Yoshi without looking awkward, etc. Oh well, Super Luigi Galaxy 2 should still be a pretty awesome reward.