There is an increasingly rare type of video game, a type of game that can be called nothing short of a masterpiece. A game that is pure enjoyment from start to finish. A game that personifies everything a video game should be. Super Mario Galaxy is that game, it is the definitive  Wii game, one of the greatest of Mario games, and one of the best games ever. Period. Now, one year to the day of its original release, I give you my thoughts on this truly remarkable game.

The story isn’t anything new, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, and Mario has to rescue her. The difference , however, is that things are brought up to a more epic scale. The opening cinematic even shows a slightly more dramatic version of this classic tale, as Bowser’s invading forces barrage the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom with canon fire and falling meteors, The Koopa King has Peach’s castle ripped from it’s foundations and taken up to outer space, and just as Mario makes his way to save the princess, he is hurled to an unknown satellite by a magical blast (courtesy of a Magikoopa…Probably Kamek). Mario then awakens and finds himself in the presence of a trio of Lumas, an adorable species of star people that live in the Comet Observatory with the enigmatic Princess Rosalina that teach Mario the basics of outer space gameplay. It turns out Bowser stole the magic power stars from Rosalina’s space traveling observatory, thus rendering it motionless. So Mario must set out to the various reaches of the universe to recover the power stars in order for Rosalina to take him to rescue Peach.

But of course, story isn’t the reason you’d be playing a Mario game. Mario Galaxy’s greatest strength is in the gameplay, just as it is with every other truly great game in history. You still run around collecting stars, you still jump on the heads of Goombas, but now you also have new forms of gameplay thanks to the magical powers of the Wii remote. A quick shake of the Wiimote will activate Mario’s all-purpose spin attack. You can collect star bits and shoot them at enemies (somewhat reminiscent of the egg shooting of Yoshi’s Island) using the Wii’s motion controls. Various mini-games are also performed using the Wii remote’s many functions. But the best part is, unlike some Wii games that abuse the motion sensing Wiimote to the point that it becomes nothing more than a gimmick, Super Mario Galaxy uses the remote to its advantage and never once over uses it. The Wiimote’s functions compliment Mario’s actions (which are controlled through the nun-chuck) in a way that almost feels like controlling two games at once, but two games that blend together perfectly.

Another one of Super Mario Galaxy’s innovations are its various gravity effects. Some (more Mario 64-esque) levels have Mario running around freely, while others will have Mario jumping from one satellite to another in a low gravity environment that is simply fun just to mess around with. Many levels will even have Mario going upside down.  Other stages will even have Mario going back to his side-scrolling roots.

Super Mario Galaxy’s second biggest strength (after the gameplay) would have to be its musical score, which is brilliantly composed by Mahito Yokota and the famed Koji Kondo. All of the main themes of the game are fully orchestrated, and I have to say, hearing the airship theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 performed by an orchestra is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. Super Mario Galaxy has one of, if not THE best soundtrack I have heard in a video game. The music is so good that Noubu Uematsu would be green with envy. Yes, the classical catchy music that Mario is famous for is still present, but when you also include such beautifully orchestrated music, it creates something truly epic. Some tunes will be familiar ( like the overworld them from Super Mario Bros. 3 or the theme from the Bowser levels of Super Mario 64, which really give you a warm sense of nostalgia), but they are joined by many fantastic new pieces like the epic themes of the Gusty Garden Galaxy and the Bayou Base Galaxy or the villainous music that accompanies the different battles with Bowser, which sounds more like something you would expect to hear as a theme for Count Dracula than King Koopa. Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo set out to create a musical score that could express the grandness of Mario’s universe, and to that I have two words: mission accomplished.

There is also something about Super Mario Galaxy that really makes it feel like a space opera. The Mario RPGs may have shown some deeper sides to a lot of the Mario characters, but Super Mario Galaxy probably better defines their roles more than any Mario game before. Mario is the definitive silent hero, Peach the damsel in distress, and Bowser is a more definitive villain, who doesn’t just want to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, now he wants to rule the entire universe under a galactic empire (yes, Bowser really uses the words “galactic empire” which makes it just that much cooler). Rosalina plays the role of the enigmatic sage type  with a melancholy back-story. Even Luigi makes a triumphant return!

As you would expect, Super Mario Galaxy has plenty of nostalgic moments of Mario’s past, Fire Mario is back (for the first time in 3D!), or new super suits (like Bee Mario, Boo Mario and Spring Mario) which are reminiscent of the suits of Super Mario Bros. 3 fame, and familiar foes like Goombas and Thwomps return after being absent from Super Mario Sunshine. But Mario Galaxy doesn’t rely of nostalgia to be the great game that it is, it just merely makes it better.

The level design in Mario Galaxy is second to none. The game is completely bursting with imagination, some levels you will be traveling  across the cosmos, then you’ll be walking across the back of a giant worm from one space apple to another (yes, space apples), and then you’ll be surfing on a manta ray through a river in the sky! The levels all vary in atmosphere, just because it’s called Super Mario Galaxy doesn’t mean it’s all in space (whereas pretty much every environment had a tropical setting in Super Mario Sunshine). They even thought to make a fire/ice hybrid stage which is somewhat akin to the Hailfire Peaks stage in Banjo-Tooie.

Super Mario Galaxy really is the spiritual sequel to Super Mario 64. Super Mario Sunshine attempted to achieve this honor, and while I still feel that Sunshine was a fantastic game, many people found that it didn’t quite live up to Mario’s exceedingly high standards and felt somewhat alienated by the game’s different pace and setting. No one should have this problem with Mario Galaxy, however, as it is every bit a classic as you would expect from the plumber.

Super Mario Galaxy is more than a game you play, it’s a game you experience, much in the same manner as Mario 64 was, and it will go down in history as one of the greatest games of all time. It is sure to have its spot among the likes of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World as a Mario fan favorite. It’s the type of game that holds true to its traditions, but at the same time is something completely fresh and original. It’s a blast to play the whole way through, and once you get all 120 power stars you’ll unlock a special secret character to play through the game again, and once your done with that, you’ll want to play again.

I know I sound like I’m gushing about this game, but it’s hard not to gush about a game like Super Mario Galaxy, it’s a prime example of a perfect game, and a more than worthy addition to the Super Mario name. Super Mario Galaxy is a gaming masterpiece.

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(1 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10, rated)

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