Of course, "galaxies" doesn't refer to the gravitationally bound system of millions of stars, but to a concept more akin to a toddler's imagination. They are clusters of tiny planets, more like a grouping of small islands, only instead of water they are separated with the vacuum of space; often, they are also close enough to jump from one to the other.

There are also plenty of "bonus" galaxies that consist of just one or two planetoids and only contain a single Star. These often are the Stars that require the most skill to get, but that's not to say they are a bother! Far from it, because controlling Mario is a blast and getting the most out of his powers logically maximizes it.

So, with the controls not being something really new, despite being aptly adapted for use with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, most of the uniqueness in "Galaxy" lies in the phrase that could easily be the subject of a thesis: "the galactic setting and the interesting gravitational implications of having multiple planets in close proximity". It really is something else: Jump a little too high in one planet, you might yourself suddenly pulled to another one. Punt a coconut out of orbit, who knows where it will land? It allows for some innovative puzzles and clever platforming, not to mention how genuinely cool it is, to be skating on an icy planet in one moment and then outrunning lava in a volcano-ridden planetoid in the next.

Also, getting every Star in major galaxies, requires the use of "Prankster Comets", comets that don't open a brand new way to a Star, but slightly alter the variables of a course you've already played, resulting in a quasi-fresh experience. Thankfully this isn't milked in a way to triple the total star count, haphazardly throwing any type of Comet at galaxies. Rather, select galaxies get appropriate Prankster Comets. If you have a boss fight in one mini-arc, you'll likely get a Daredevil Comet, that has you losing a life and starting the level over if you get hit just once. If you notice the last leg of a planet looking suspiciously like a track, you'll probably get a Cosmic Comet that has you racing a shadow of yourself to the star. If there are a lot of enemies and moving obstacles, a Fast-Foe Comet might appear, doubling the speed of everything but you.

In any case, these were the only Stars I didn't fully enjoy getting and I can see only few others being controversial. Let's say that half a dozen stars out of 121 not being a joyous affair is a pretty okay deal! A complaint of more substance can come from "hardcore" gamers and avid Mario handlers, in regards to the overall difficulty. While I personally think that the Boss Fights are brilliant both in design and execution, I find that the difficulty of the rest of the game could handle being a little more challenging.

Pictures of Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Isn't that just the most adorable thing?

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"Galaxy" covers Power-Ups exceptionally, with the inclusion of a score of them, both new and old. Also called Suits, they change the way Mario looks, moves and interacts and they are all a childish pleasure to try out. You can turn into Bee Mario, who can hover and stick to honey; Boo Mario, a ghost form that can pass through walls; Fire Mario of old that shoots fireballs, and quite a few more. They do seem to be a tad underplayed and I'd have certainly loved too see even more puzzles making use of them.

As a whole, the Multiplayer in Galaxy can make the game easier and definitely more interesting when two people are involved. It's a neat feature for those of us who do play single player games with friends and family, taking turns between actually playing and watching the action: Some sort of "Spectator Mode Plus", as you are still mostly watching the game, but you can keep yourself a bit occupied, helping out with, confessedly trivial, stuff. It's also a nice way to ease children in the Super Mario Galaxy experience, or supervise them without actually appearing to do so.

The Presentation

The bizarre white outline that pretty much everything has, really wierded me out at first but, overall, I was very impressed with how charming it is, seeing Mario fly throughout all these spectacular galaxies; that was all that mattered in the end. I can barely imagine how amazing "Galaxy" must look to a child.

History has proven that the "Mario adventure" formula is virtually guaranteed to win any first-timer over; satisfying those that have been down that road before, however, is tricky business. In that too, Super Mario Galaxy succeeds. Despite not being very different, the gameplay feels very polished and quite spiced up with the gravity stunts of the multiple tiny planets and the interesting applications of Suits; it really is impressive enough to make saving the princess and/or the world a blast once more. It might not have the story of Bioshock, the epic boss battles of Metroid, or the critical choices of Mass Effect, but "Galaxy" sure unearths pure bliss as few titles can. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Super Mario Galaxy to the bone and I really look forward going through it again; this time as my nephew's wingman.