Mario has come a long way

I HAVE a soft spot for Mario games after first playing the plumber in the original Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The moustached Italian has come a long way since the 1980s, with his best adventure widely acknowledged as being Super Mario 64 in 1996.
It was Mario’s first 3D adventure and it was so good that not even Nintendo’s Gamecube sequel, Super Mario Sunshine, could live up to the expectations that the first title created. Flash forward about 11 years to the current day, and Super Mario Galaxy has stolen the 3D platforming crown from its older brother in what is one of the most amazing video game experiences you’ll have. As is the premise for most Mario adventures, Bowser has kidnapped Peach and you are the only one who can save her. Except this time she is swept away by Bowser in an intergalactic fleet of pirate ships, and Mario must traverse his way through various galaxies to find and rescue her.
This means that instead of flat, confined worlds that players experienced in Sunshine and 64, Galaxy places Mario on small, spherical worlds that are linked by special jump pads, or sometimes crossing through zero-gravity.
This opens up a new dimension of gameplay to gamers who will be challenged to think outside the square in order to solve puzzles.
One of the ‘wow’ factors that will forever stay with me is how Mario seemed to fall off what appeared to be the edge of a planet, only to be then pulled to its underside – which was a whole new world – by the gravitational pull in that planet’s own atmosphere. Some of the spherical worlds are small meteorites and at times gamers will control Mario as he walks upside down on the screen. The game’s controls are simple and any 3D Mario gamer recognise the variety of jumps and abilities, which have remained relatively unchanged.
But new to Galaxy is the ability to use the Wii remote as a pointing device to collect Star Bits that can be used to unlock pathways to new galaxies.
Gamers will also shake the remote to perform Mario’s powerful spin move. The visuals are colourful and vibrant and run at a silky smooth 60 frames per second. The audio is somewhat of an ode to Mario gamers, who will instantly recognise the classic tunes used in the game.
Except this time they have been performed by a real life orchestra and that adds a new level of drama and emotion to the Mario experience.
Like previous 3D Mario games, the aim is to collect stars that then unlock new worlds and eventually lead to boss battles and the ultimate finale, a showdown with Bowser.
But there’s always a chemistry between the gamer and Super Mario Galaxy that prevents it from becoming a mundane task, even if it is the umpteenth time the stolen-princess storyline has appeared in a Mario game.
Super Mario Galaxy is easy to play, regardless of your gaming skill, and is yet another reason why families and casual gamers – not just hardcore gamers – should own a Wii.
Super Mario Galaxy, Nintendo Wii. Rating: 5/5