I'm actually more stuck on the 9 1Up gave it tbh. Still reading the review but my impression right now is that its better than a 9.

I finished reading their review... and was somewhat confused.  They didn't seem to really have anything negative to say.  The only complaints I could find were that you have to scan a lot of you want to unlock the achievement style things, and the Wiimote isn't really set up perfectly for the control scheme, but even they said that was a very minor complaint.  If I had read that review before seeing the score I would have guessed they were giving the game a 9.5 plus.

Anyone see the video review? It's impeccable you diverse the environments are. FAR FAR FAR more than the first two Primes. Man I cannot wait to play it!

 I just started it.  I'll post my impressions when I'm finished.

Keep in mind this post is just my opinion folks:

After reading the 1UP review I actually came away thinking they pretty much had all of the complaints the IGN guys had only they seemed to whine about them a bit more and in general they thought they were a bigger deal than the IGN guys. Just from the written reviews it seems like the score for the IGN would be a 9.6-9.7 to me and the 1Up based on their written review I would of guessed they had given it a 9, so their review justifies their score more but I still don't agree with it...at all.

So I am fine with the 9.5 from IGN, I personally would of rated it higher based soley on what their review said. But 1UP giving it a 9 sort of strikes me as off. Then again just about every game has a few reviews that are statistical outliers and not everyone is going to (or needs to) love the game.

If a 9 is the worst review it gets (and that seems very possible) then the game is doing just fine. I am psyched to get it and play it, I feel bad for Rol having to hear about all this coverage when the game is still 2 months out ><

PS - I plan on doing an in-depth review once I have completed the game so, for those who might be interested in a fan's perspective it will be coming shortly. Unfortunately I start classes on Tuesday so it might take a bit longer than I like. Luckily I only have classes on Tue/Thur and I have one of the best jobs in the world so work is a non-issue

I just finished the video review from IGN. Some of their thoughts:

- They both agree it's the best game in the Prime series. They weren't comfortable rating it as high as the first because it wasn't as revolutionary though.

- The Wii version of the achievement system for the game is very rewarding, and adds some great replay value to the game.

- The controls are the best controls for a shooter on a console. They do not surpass mouse and keyboard, but they surpass any dual analog setup.

- The graphics and environments are gorgeous. They said it had perhaps an even more epic feel than the first, with some amazingly creative environments that are like nothing you will ever see elsewhere. Because of the fact that there are multiple planets and other locations they are much more diverse than the other Prime games (or any game for that matter).

- The boss fights are incredible, and some of the most epic boss battles of all time. The last boss they felt was a little bit too easy compared to some of the other bosses, but they commented that it was still very cinematic and epic.

- The voice acting is very high quality, and the addition really helps with the pacing of the game. Overall they say the pacing is much better, but the Prime staples of exploration and backtracking are NOT gone, just streamlined. For example, you can backtrack much easier by flying your ship around to different areas.

- They had one major complaint. Apparently there is a fetch quest near the end of the game that kind of kills the pacing. I get the feeling if this hadn't been there the score would have gone up .1 or .2.

Overall they say it's the best game on the Wii yet, and it does prove that the Wii can truly revolutionize shooters. They insist that everyone who likes shooters OR adventure games buy the game.

^^ Exactly. The environments are soooooooooooooooooo diverse I cannot believe it. I mean they evoke such an epic feel - and this is just from viewing the video review!!

Check out the Gametrailers review [click the link in my signature] and you'll be even more amazed!

lol nice summary there naznatips.

One thing that pissed me off is in the written review they wrote weak reasons to justify the 0.5 point chomp. They didnt like some the doors taking to long to open and it scored like that cause it is a sequel. There is nothing wrong with a 9.5, it doesn't require small things like this to be used as a reason for making it a 9.5.

I too am sure they intentinally did it because mario galaxy is gonna be a better game and more revolutionary so a a higher score so they left movement for it of 0.5 points.

What will be interesting about mario galaxy is if they will give it a perfect 10, since I have not ever seen a review by matt with that score, and all you ever hear is praise from matt and bozon about the game.

I'm sort of glad its a 9.5.

As good as the game is, it doesn't sound "perfect" - and that leaves room for improvement. I'm betting that both Galaxy & Brawl - being quite different games though - end up "better" games, and deserve a better score.

It will still fall into the "best 20 games ever" category - which isn't a bad start. Its still the first year on the Wii, and we now have two pretty awesome games - Metroid & Zelda - with 2 more to come. All in the first 12 months.

I predict a 9.5......................................................