Thumbs Up: The Many Faces of Mario

Mario's a man who's not afraid to look like a bit of a goose. Not literally, mind you - although we wouldn't be surprised if Goose Mario turns up at some stage in the future – we're talking about the number of guises he dons in his adventures. I mean, what grown man dresses up like a bee? That's something that cats do. Regardless, Mario's propensity to play dress-up makes for some great gameplay. We've already donned the bee outfit in the original Galaxy, of course, so what's new this time around?

Cloud Mario: We love this new suit. Not only does Mario look like he had a fight with a soft serve machine, but the cloud form really opens up gameplay possibilities. The basic way it works is that after running over the icon, Mario becomes swathed in rubbery cloud and three baby clouds trail behind him. Simply jump and shake the Wiimote and one of the clouds forms a cloud platform beneath Mario. Keep jumping and shaking and you can create a second and a third cloud platform, before having to recharge at the nearest cloud icon. It's a great mechanic that can be used in a variety of ways: for puzzles that require all three to be placed strategically to progress, for secret areas that can only be reached by cloud, or to beat enemies. In Puzzle Plank Galaxy the cloud ability is used to create a platform above a crazy-eyed pincer-wielding insectoid enemy from which to butt stomp it. Death from above – our favourite kind.

Sadly, Mario can't ride the clouds, Monkey Magic style, but you can't have everything.


Drill Mario: You've all seen this power-up by now as it was one of the first ones unveiled, and basically sees Mario using a giant drill to burrow through to the opposite side of planetoids. It's a great way to get to the soft, vulnerable underbelly of giant boss creatures, and to put a fresh spin on the planetoid-based level design.

Rock Mario: Mario's no stranger to eating random mushrooms he finds lying around, and the newest shroom he can chow down on is the Rock Mushroom, which transforms him into Rock Mario. With a shake of the Wiimote Rock Mario curls up into a ball and rolls about at speed, smashing through enemies and knocking down pins (no, really). Not only does it make Mario a whole lot tougher, but it can help Mario cross treacherous terrain. One area in the Boulder Bowl Galaxy had a massive Chomp following a sludgy path around a planetoid. Try and walk across it and Mario gets bogged down and hit by the Chomp, but as rock Mario you can just speed over it.



Thumbs Up: 2D Is the New 3D

We were huge fans of the side-on levels in Super Mario Galaxy, and they've returned for the sequel. One level we played, in the Honeybloom Galaxy (the star challenge we chose was called 'Bumble Beginnings' – see where this is going?), had Mario once again donning his bee suit for a number of sections. What we really liked was the fact that it felt like there was a lot to discover, with hidden areas tucked away that required deft platforming and wall jumping to get to. Turning corners saw the perspective shift by 90 degrees, while there were a few sections with vines for Mario to slide and loop-the-loop along, with flowers opening up in his wake, spewing out Star Bits, as well as paths framed by bouncy balls, which shifted up the challenge as you tried to use the bounce to propel yourself forward.

As with the original, the great thing about Galaxy is it embraces all the aspects of Mario past then significantly evolves them. The 2D areas obviously hark back to the Mario most of us grew up with, but there's more verticality and complexity – it's a richer style of design. Similarly, there are areas that feel very much like classic 3D Mario, but then the whole planetoid concept takes that to a new space, partly because each planetoid represents a standalone challenge, so Nintendo's designers can keep things fresh and inventive, and partly because being able to run all the way around a tiny planet's surface – and now burrow through it – shifts up the platforming/puzzle possibilities of the game space.



Thumbs Down: Luigi

So we played as Luigi during our playtest, but honestly, is it really that big a deal that he's in the game? Sure, his animations are pretty adorable, but it's not like playing as Luigi shifts up the gameplay much. If it was Waluigi – our favourite Nintendo character, simply because he's so disposable and has "Waaaa" as a catchphrase – and his abilities were quite different, we might care more. As it stands, we don't see much reason for Luigi to be in the game. There is one caveat to this Thumbs Down, however. We'll happily retract it if Luigi plays a meaningful comedic role in the game. We'd love to see a few Paper Mario-style exchanges between the brothers – Luigi, after all, is best used as comic relief. Fingers crossed.

You can see Luigi in action here.

Thumbs Up: The Haunted Houses!

It's great to see the return of the Haunted House levels in Super Mario Galaxy 2. They pick up where some of the more inventive level design in the original left off, with the return of Ghost Mario and more Boos. It's win win! In Haunty Halls, the level we played, there were a number of cool design elements. Yoshi popped up, for instance, in a section where the floor is invisible, and the only way to create solid ground is by eating Glimmer Bulb Berries. Eat one and an area of visibility appears around the player, which quite rapidly shrinks, so you've got to be constantly on the move, trying to get to the next Berry.

In fact, the Haunted Houses play with the theme of 'visible versus invisible' a lot, with enemies that chomp through the floor, leaving empty space in their wake, and a section where you have to traverse a corridor where the path only briefly pops into existence as it slides from right to left in front of you. It's great stuff, demanding tight platforming skills.


Haunty Halls also played host to one of the more contentious inclusions in the game, which gets its own Thumbs Down...


Thumbs Down: Wait, It Plays Itself?

Yes, it was in Haunty Halls that we came across the 'Cosmic Guide' – a ghostly blue figure who can be recruited to *ahem* play the game for you. Enlisting the Cosmic Guide's services sees her resolve into a ball which then enters and controls Mario, guiding him to the star. At any point the player can resume control, but the star won't be gold – it will be bronze, indicating that the player didn't get there completely on their own. The Guide is obviously there to help people who may be unsure of what to do or find the platforming too tricky, but isn't this why there are multiple stars per world? So that players aren't forced to get them all? Part of the fundamental design of the 3D Mario games is having tricky stars that players may have to come back to later.

We understand why the Cosmic Guide is included – to help out players who may only have ever played 2D Mario games, but we also think it's unnecessary, even for the most casual players.



Thumbs Up: Mario's Ego-Powered Starship

There's no explanation of why Mario travels about in a spaceship that's shaped like his own head in this game, so we're going to have to assume he got it custom-made. That's a pretty big ego he's got there. "So, I'm after a spaceship. I want it to look cool... and sexy... better shape it like my head, eh?" Hell, he even called it 'Starship Mario'. This is a side of Mario we'd like to see more of – he is a superstar, after all, so it would make sense for him to be bitch-slapping paparazzi and throwing hissy fits when his mini-bar isn't stocked with Yoo-hoos.

Why is this a Thumb Up? Because a) Travelling between planets in a ship shaped like your own head is pretty cool, so if you can do it, why not? and b) Space is the one place where such an idea is feasible. I mean, if you wanted to make a plane shaped like Mario's head on Earth, it wouldn't be at all aerodynamic because of the atmosphere, but in the vacuum of space, anything goes! Nice one Mario!



Thumbs Down: The Revolutionary Story!

Clearly that's a joke. Once again Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser - in this case a towering Bowser who sweeps her up in one hand like King Kong, before stomping all over her castle. He then jets off into the sky with the classic parting words "have fun with your stupid mushrooms" (which, frankly, were almost enough to turn this into a Thumbs Up). We weren't really paying attention, having tuned out about twenty seconds in, but once again it's all about Star Sprites or something like that, and Mario has the Master Luma under his cap, which is the source of some of his powers.

Don't get us wrong, we know the story really is largely irrelevant, but this is taking phoning it in to new levels. I mean, how many times can Nintendo re-use the same non-story? What's that? It's easy to criticise? True, so instead I'll do something constructive and give Nintendo an A grade plotline that they can use – free of charge – for Super Mario Galaxy 3.

The set-up: Mario is down on his luck. Depressed after rescuing Princess Peach for the umpteenth time, he's been drowning his sorrows in Mushroom Kingdom Moonshine and forgetting his troubles by betting on Goomba races. Sadly, Mario's a little naive in the ways of the world and after being convinced to back a 'dead cert' he's lost all the Star Bits he collected on his last adventure, and then some. With an insane debt collector on his tail (Waluigi), Mario figures he'll go to the only person he knows is an expert on money for advice, Wario. What ensues is a buddy comedy action-platform romp across the galaxy.


The gameplay: Mario needs to stay on the move, always heading for a new planetoid or world because Waluigi is in pursuit and is going to break his legs. The co-op gameplay would see Mario and Wario with different objectives – the former would be setting traps for Waluigi to buy him time, while the latter will be pillaging as much loot as possible to help pay off Mario's debts (then presumably absconding with the cash). Can the rag-tag team get the cash money while also staying ahead of Waluigi?

Bonus element: Up until now Waluigi has been criminally underused. That kid has star quality, and this is the vehicle that's going to shoot him to the top. To the top I say!


Thumbs Up: ZOMG So Pretty

As anyone who played the original would expect, Galaxy 2's visuals are stunning. Once again Nintendo's stylised approach to visual design for the series comes shining through – it really is a game that can go toe to toe with pretty much anything else out there. Stunning.



All told there really isn't much holding Galaxy 2 back from being another incredible title, and we can't wait to sink our teeth into the full game.