Fresh Fish Served Daily

So we finished Mario Galaxy over the Thanksgiving weekend. That’s right, all 120 stars. The short review would be “it’s awesome, go get it”. But obviously you already knew that, what with about five billion good reviews out there. Here’s my slightly less brief rundown:

The second-player stuff is really cool. Collecting star bits lets player one focus on gameplay. Player two can also shoot star bits at enemies, freeze certain enemies, and make Mario jump. Making Mario jump is nearly useless, and I’m convinced it’s only there to annoy player one. Shooting and freezing enemies, however, is awesome, and makes certain areas of the game about ten times easier. (Think any area with Bullet Bills or cannons.)

The worlds are really cool. I love the way the galaxies look, especially Gold Leaf.

The new power-ups are awesome. Boo Mario is up there with the Tanooki suit. However, the fact that the fire and ice power-ups were timed got old really fast.

Swimming controls still suck, but at least they suck a little less than previous games.

Overall, I’d say it’s my favorite Mario platformer since the NES.