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Of all the titles demonstrated for
Nintendo’s Wii, none could have been more anticipated then the next
entrance in the Super Mario series. Super Mario Galaxy
was on show in full-force, with a small demonstration area which
seems to have been built purely for the E3 Preview Code, as
 each
planet was confined by tracing only to the next in-sight. The small
section will no doubt end-up being part of the larger play-scape
come release, but purely as a test-drive, it did the title justice.
Control is clearly an essential part
of what will undoubtedly become one of Wii’s biggest names and in
this respect Super Mario Galaxy doesn’t disappoint. Movement
is controlled with the Analogue Stick whilst jumping is performed
with the A Button on the Remote. The usual array of moves returns
including the Triple Jump and Butt Slam, but also a remodelled
Spin-Attack is performed by aiming the Remote at Mario and shaking
it.
Progression through the planets is
less of a daunting affair than most would predict. Star Jumps are
controlled by running Mario into the Star and wiggling the Remote
over it to charge the launch. As Mario travels through space, items
and power-ups can be collected, but were strictly limited in the
Preview Code as so not to spoil any surprises. Each planet contained
its own element of play whether it be chatting to the friendly local
Toads or getting Bullet-Bills to chase you into destructible cages.
Two Boss fights were available and both stunned on-lookers with
their presentation
 and screen-dominating girth. The first, a
lava-based Octopus, chucked flaming balls-of-fire at our hero as he
tried to return them in an unfriendly fashion, and the second was a
giant mechanical monstrosity which Mario had to ascend.
Many elements in the game world could
be interacted with by aiming and shaking the Wii Remote – bells
would drop Musical Notes and bushes would bring forth Coins – and
Mario’s progress could be continued while the player explored
certain parts of the on-screen local. The title’s graphical
presentation is hard to knock. The special effects when travelling
through space are simply astonishing and, in the usual Nintendo
tradition, no bugging or Draw-Distance errors occurred in the
seamless “galaxy” through which the player travelled. Basic
Character Models were easily superior to that of Super Mario
Sunshine and the environments were packed with detail.
Super Mario Galaxy was
undoubtedly one of the most precisely engineered titles on show for
Wii and had clearly been finished for some time – a testament to
Nintendo’s love of using the character to showcase hardware to
Third-Party developers. As a fully-realised game there’s no doubt
that Super Mario Galaxy will push through countless hardware
sales, and many journalist discussions resulted in more favourable
comparisons to
Super Mario64 as opposed to the under-whelming Super
Mario Sunshine. |
