Super Mario Galaxy Review: Out of This World or Out of Its Mind?

Mario, the short little plumber who has brought joy to millions of gamers for years. Is Galaxy worth the Mario title, or is it a way to make a quick buck? Well, compared to the other two 3D Mario games, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine this is the best, by far. Super Mario 64 was quite possibly the best game of its time, with a simple story and friendly atmosphere. Sunshine was fun but didn't feel like a Mario game with the absence of any real recognizable characters and Mario relying on an oversized watering hose instead of his own moves. Still it was one of the best on the Gamecube. Galaxy on the other hand, takes all of your original ideas about Mario and throws them out the window.

For the majority of the game, you are on some distant galaxies flying, jumping and swinging your way to a star, just like good old times. But instead of being on a solid earth like in the previous games, there are situations where you will be floating through space to reach planets, blasting around planets and doing some very interesting and new things that have not been seen in any other videogame before.

Super Mario begins with our favorite hero heading for a festival in the beautifully redesigned Mushroom Kingdom,when all of a sudden, Bowser, the long time nemesis of Mario, barges in and steals Peach's castle with Mario hanging on. Mario falls back to earth after hanging on for a while. Eventually, Mario reaches the "main menu" of the game, a giant spaceship. This is equivalent to Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64 and Delfino Plaza for Super Mario Sunshine. Its where you can choose which star you want to go for and interact with your friendlies. Once you jump into one of the 40+ galaxies you are immediately in outer space.