Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 05:45 PM PST [
General]
The newest installment of the Super Mario Galaxy series has been getting astonishing reviews since even before its release on Sunday. With a Metascore of 98, it is currently the highest rated game of all-time with even hard-nosed reviewers like IGN giving it a perfect 10. With this much hype I was getting very excited to return to the Galaxy universe, but now having beaten the game there are some things that I need to set straight for the record. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an amazing game, that part is true, but it's not THIS good.
Before I dive right in, I need you all to understand where I am coming from. I love this game. It's creative, endlessly fun, and improves on the first in many aspects. Hell, I am willing to ignore the 7 months that are left and slap a game of the year sticker on the title right now. But would I give the game 10 out of 10? Absolutely not. There are some things in this game that I am ashamed to see Nintendo do, and even more ashamed to see veteran reviewers overlook.
All the Copy-Paste
My main complaint with the game is that although Nintendo added additional power-ups, Yoshi, and many other new gameplay mechanics, they seemed to have said to themselves, "Well, we added all this new content, so I guess we can just borrow some stuff from the first game!" Did they think I wouldn't notice that half the bosses are direct Copy/Paste clones from Super Mario Galaxy? I mean come on, some of them you even fight in the same exact setting.
This Copy/Paste mentality is seen with more than just the bosses, too. The plot, although nobody really plays Mario games for the plot, uses even the same key words: While waiting for you at the Centennial Star festival your Special One is kidnapped by Bowser, who then promptly takes her to The Center of the Universe. It is odd talking to NPC's and thinking I have read all of the exact same dialog before.
Not cutting stuff that wastes my time
Why are some games still made with a lives system? I don't flippin' understand the relevance of it in any game that you aren't spending quarters to play. It's fat like this that could have been trimmed to make a lean, mean, game, because even if a 1-up is so "Classic Mario" it's also the thing I usually die trying to get, so how's that for irony. Or the "Mail-Toad," who has two jobs which I will address one by one because they are both equally pointless:
- 1) To give you letters when a character in a previous level has a new challenge for me. I have been collecting these stars as fuel for intergalactic travel, yet somehow a monkey with a pair of shades manages to get mail to me. Also, why do I need to talk to this dumb postman to know there's a new star? Can't you just show me a new challenge is available on the map like you've been doing with all the other stars?
- 2) To hand you five utterly useless lives every time you start the game back up. Hey game, this is just a thought, so feel free to shoot me down, but why don't I just start with 9 lives instead of having me start with 4, have a conversation with a toad, and then get 5 more? Or, an even better idea, why don't you just let me keep the 63 lives I had when I quit the game yesterday?!?
Cutting stuff that should not have been cut!!!
Truth be told, Nintendo did try to trim a lot of unnecessary fat off of Galaxy 1, and succeeded in streamlining it somewhat, but they also made a few choices of what to nix that boggle my mind. In the first game, comets would fly by levels changing them in some wacky way, distinguishing the change by the color of the comet. Galaxy 2 brings back comets, and even the exact same wacky effects they had, but this time you can't tell which effect it will be until you select the world, then that galaxy, then highlight the comet star, and then you can finally guess by what the level's name is...seriously.
The worst slice Nintendo made with its streamline scalpel is how you choose a level. Since Super Mario 64, You have had to explore an open world to find the level you want to jump into. Super Mario Galaxy followed suit, although it made the open world much smaller, and Galaxy 2 has decided to finish the job by switching to the same level select system as New Super Mario Bros, namely little circles connected by lines. Gee, what a blast! Should I float along this line? Or maybe that line which inevitably gets me to the exact same circle! Such a tough choice.
Nintendo has truly made a game that is pure, incorruptible fun, but some of the things they did are unacceptable to me as a Nintendo fan, and insulting when they ask me for 50 dollars, just so I can fight bosses I have already beaten. And to all the reviewers out there, really guys? A perfect 10? Everybody in the 9s range, I'm saddling up with you.
Here is the link
http://www.thekartel.com/zylvin/blog/2010/05/26/why_super_mario_galaxy_2_doesnt_deserve_10s
