Joystiq impressions: Super Mario Galaxy

by Kyle Orland { Jul 12th 2007 at 2:35PM }

In addition to a brief mention of a release date at their press conference yesterday, Nintendo is showing off a brand new four-level demo of Super Mario Galaxy at this year's E3. A quick recap of the levels and new stuff available this time around. Warning: Potential spoilers ahead.

Stage 1: The basic training level shows you how to jump around some small grass- and dirt-covered planets. Falling into a pit doesn't necessarily kill you -- sometimes you just fall to the other side of the planet. Be careful of black holes, though -- fall into ones of those and it's "too bad" and a restart from the same point.

The boss of the first demo level actually takes place on the inner edge of a giant sphere. Mario has to avoid moving electrical conduits and jump on panels to shut down a giant generator. A nice, simple introduction.

Stage 2: A little tougher than the first stage -- there are more enemies this time around. Luckily, there are also plenty of stars to collect with the pointer. Once you have some stars, a quick point and a flick of the B button can fire them to stun or knock over enemies. A second player can even pick up another remote and help with the shooting.

One interesting section in this level has a sort of elastic green ball that Mario can knock into oncoming boulders with a spin. The boss starts off as a cracked egg that walks around a smallish planet. When you bonk it's tail it becomes a giant, rampaging Pirhana Plant. Run around his back and hit the tail a few more times and get a star.

Stage 3: The Bumble Bee Suit level! Lots of honeycomb-inspired planets to jump between, complete with a lot of bees to guide you around. Watch out for the small blue blobs that latch on like headcrabs and slow Mario down -- a quick spin will dispatch them.

Mario is so cute in his yellow and black suit. Flying reduces a small "fly meter" as you hold down the jump button and ascend ever higher. You can also hover a bit with the suit. The boss is more of a puzzle than an enemy -- a giant queen bee that has an itch on her back. Get a bee suit and climb on her fuzzy backside to find five star pieces and finish the level.

Stage 4: A stark level that's dominated by the void of space. The games plays with gravity a bit in this demo, with Mario running on all sides of some complex polygonal planets. The highlight of this level isn't a boss, but a maze of gem-blocks that fly in from the void as you progress.

Overall the new demo wasn't too different from the one showed a year ago, but showed off enough new features and polish to get us excited for the game all over again. Nov. 12 can't get here fast enough.

Also see: Nintendo Wii Fanboy's impressions

Tags: e307, impressions, joystiqfeatures, Mario, Nintendo, Super Mario Galaxy, SuperMarioGalaxy, Wii

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Joshua @ Jul 12th 2007 2:43PM

This + Brawl = Wii good!

baby sea tuna @ Jul 13th 2007 8:49AM

This + Brawl= Wii-was-not-a-TOTAL-waste-of-money.

I think "good" is pushing it.

Joshua @ Jul 13th 2007 1:18PM

I'm saying it equals "good for Wii", more or less, and therefore, "good for me". :)

Daniel @ Jul 12th 2007 2:43PM

Not only do the graphics look very nice, the game looks ridiculously fun.
A+ Stuff.

Konny @ Jul 12th 2007 2:46PM

I remember them demoing this before the launch of GC in 2000.. it was called Mario128 (literally 128 Marios running around a sphere).

Glad to see its not vaporware.

JodyAnthony @ Jul 12th 2007 2:50PM

I also think it looks incredible. Day one purchase for me. then I get married 5 days later. Life shall be good.

JodyAnthony @ Jul 12th 2007 2:50PM

dont know how this became a comment to your post, but oh well!

Almack64 @ Jul 12th 2007 2:55PM

@ Jody

congrats on the wedding. I got married last year the day before the wii came out. My wedding gift from my wife was a Wii in the form of a $250 Best Buy gift card. She knows me so well. Little did she (or myself) know that i wouldn't be able to get a Wii until Feb. It was a sick wait, I had already sold my GC for an extra wiimote (lol) and I had purchased Zelda...

Anyway like I said congrats.

JodyAnthony @ Jul 12th 2007 3:15PM

Thanks, Almack!

RUSKULL @ Jul 16th 2007 9:48AM

Actually, Miyamoto confessed that Mario 128 ended up being Pikmin.

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2006/07/07/mystery-of-super-mario-128-disappearance-solved-by-shigeru-miyamoto.htm

samfish @ Jul 12th 2007 2:48PM

It's great to hear this game is shaping up to be heaps of awesome, considering that Sunshine was a bit of a letdown to a lot of people.

I just wish it had an actual 2 player mode with Luigi instead of having someone jump in and flick star bits for you.

Aaaand cue the Nintendtrolls in 3...2...1...

dpad @ Jul 12th 2007 2:49PM

This game looks amazing.

Karen @ Jul 12th 2007 2:50PM

I can't believe how playful the environment is.

ROCK en ROLL @ Jul 12th 2007 2:51PM

Game does look fantastic.

Instant buy for me.

Vidikron @ Jul 12th 2007 2:53PM

This game is starting to grow on me. When I first saw Mario jumping through space I was skeptical, but the more I hear about the game the more I get the itch to try it out.

hvnlysoldr @ Jul 12th 2007 2:55PM

Cool. I wonder if they got Kuribo's Shoe, Tanooki Suit, and my favorite Sledgehammer Suit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpMBg67ltas

faceless coward @ Jul 12th 2007 3:00PM

Next gen Tanooki Suit has built-in giant testicles, just like a real tanuki.

Almack64 @ Jul 12th 2007 3:02PM

The Mario 3 powerups were certainly the best. Maybe I could get a little "Pwing" action too.

Rubang B @ Jul 12th 2007 8:03PM

Why is everybody voting down faceless coward here? It was a good joke. Tanukis really have giant testicles, they really turn into statues, and they really turn leaves into fake money to play tricks on people. Hence, Tom Nook is a tanuki in Animal Crossing, and everything turns to leaves when you drop it on the ground.

ELUNO @ Nov 5th 2007 4:48PM

Anyone notice the two pointers at around 4/5s into the video?
Multiplayer?

BPM @ Jul 12th 2007 3:01PM

Yeah, that's the "multiplayer" of the game. Player 2 can shoot enemies out of Mario's way, or collect items for him.

It's kinda like the Tingle Tuner from The Wind Waker...

In other words, Player 2 will be bored.

JodyAnthony @ Jul 12th 2007 3:03PM

"In other words, Player 2 will be bored."

LOL, a plus for you!

patlee @ Jul 12th 2007 2:59PM

WOW! this looks better than MArio 64! Well this mario looks awsome in every way and the game looks like the nicest nintendo game ever made. I don't know about the framerate because the video looked kind slow but maybe thats just the player... anyways i think that this holiday will be the best holiday launch for nintendo... on my list i have......guitar hero 3...Mario Galaxy......Metroid......just like everyone else basically.

JonnyBoy2U @ Jul 12th 2007 2:57PM

I think I'm gonna cry when I first turn this game on...

Fatass of Kickassness @ Jul 18th 2007 2:41AM

I think I'm gonna cry when I have to turn this game off.

JonnyBoy2U @ Jul 12th 2007 2:57PM

I think I'm gonna cry when I first turn this game on...

Fernando Rocker @ Jul 12th 2007 3:03PM

This is Nintendo. They know how to work. Shame on third party developers who say the Wii cand handle this kind of graphics.

You should put impression of Metroid Prime 3. Heres the developers walktrough http://www.n4g.com/News-51420.aspx

Why the third party doesnt try compite with Nintendo? They should put some effort and try do some game with Nintendo first party quality level.

Shagittarius @ Jul 12th 2007 3:27PM

The art direction is fine but the low polygon counts and low rez textures aint doing it any favors.

required @ Jul 12th 2007 3:07PM

looks fun too bad it's mario

megaStryke @ Jul 12th 2007 3:12PM

Yeah, 'tis a shame. Looks like it could have been a blast. I would have loved to play it. But I can't. Because it's Mario. If only it wasn't Mario. Then it would be the greatest game ever. But it won't. Because it's Mario. Damn you, Mario.

Crono @ Jul 12th 2007 3:15PM

Too bad you're too stupid not to let your anti-mario bias keep you from playing a fun game.

Whats the point of Video Games again? To have fun? No way. Its to look cool!

required @ Jul 12th 2007 3:27PM

geez you kids be hugging on mario a bit too tightly. I think it would be good if nintendo tried something other than mario for a change as he is beyond tired. give it a rest, let him hibernate.

JodyAnthony @ Jul 12th 2007 3:29PM

The last real mario platformer was super mario sunshine.

that came out 5 years ago.

You'd almost think mario was nintendos mascot or something.

billychaos @ Jul 12th 2007 3:10PM

I'm glad to see developers actually using the wii's graphical power. Yes it's not HD, cell processor or tera-this or that, but it's still a decent graphics card. I dont think my Geforce 7600 can produce that quality of graphics, even with it's 512mb ram!

This shows there is no excuse for developers slapping crappy graphics on the wii.

Shagittarius @ Jul 12th 2007 3:39PM

You would be mistaken.

bm @ Jul 13th 2007 12:45AM

Actually it most likely could, very easily, it's just that PC developers don't actually do "art direction" or "optimization". All they do is cram a load of shaders in there and hope all the standard graphic effects and procedural generation techniques will make up for the lack of polish and visual "soul". And if you own anything but the latest hardware it's not going to run at 60 fps either.

Jake @ Jul 12th 2007 3:17PM

Looking forward to Galaxy. My only fear is they will make it too easy or accessible or whatever they call it now. Everything else about it is sure to be good. Just make sure there are some ridiculously hard levels, or at least secret levels, in the game. That is all I ask.

God I still love Mario platformers. I was just playing World the other day. Gonna have to break out M64 some time.

BPM @ Jul 12th 2007 3:18PM

Boo Mario. Awesome.

Now, here's a copy pasta for all you Nintendo haters out there!

Wow, that looks horrible. 480p and jaggies FTL. Mario's getting so fat and old, how is he still able to do this crap? God, I wish Nintendo would let him die already! And it probably won't have online, either. And even if it did, you'd have lame (un)Friend(ly) Codes to pass out! Controls look terrible, too. Waggle FTL!

(Have I missed anything?)

megaStryke @ Jul 12th 2007 3:21PM

No, no, I think you hit the nail on the head.

bm @ Jul 13th 2007 12:49AM

Dude. You forgot to fit "kiddie" in there somewhere.

BPM @ Jul 13th 2007 12:59AM

Dammit! You're right!

Okay, how's this:

Wow, that looks horrible. 480p and jaggies FTL. Mario's getting so fat and old, how is he still able to do this crap? God, I wish Nintendo would let him die already! And it probably won't have online, either. And even if it did, you'd have lame (un)Friend(ly) Codes to pass out! Controls look terrible, too. Waggle FTL! Kiddie Wee FTL!

Almack64 @ Jul 13th 2007 12:46PM

Thanks man you made this post so much easier.

/Copy and Paste

Wow, that looks horrible. 480p and jaggies FTL. Mario's getting so fat and old, how is he still able to do this crap? God, I wish Nintendo would let him die already! And it probably won't have online, either. And even if it did, you'd have lame (un)Friend(ly) Codes to pass out! Controls look terrible, too. Waggle FTL! Kiddie Wee FTL!