Super Mario Galaxy

**Cowutopia** · 02 Jan 2008, 01:23 PM

PLAY MORE NOOB.

**MechDeus** · 02 Jan 2008, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

I bet overhype has something to do with it.

I doubt it. I was really pumped for Assassin's Creed, Galaxy and Mass Effect and ignored almost all pre-release info for all three and bought them all release day. Galaxy was the only one I just didn't care about while playing, I kept going waiting for something to click and it just never did. Really, it was the most polished and well designed of all three, but I'm willing to bet "Been there, done that," had a much bigger effect on me regarding it than anything else.

**Cowutopia** · 02 Jan 2008, 02:06 PM

I only have one gripe about Galaxy and that is you can't dive anymore. It seriously takes so much fun away.

**mollipen** · 02 Jan 2008, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by MechDeus

I like how all of us that don't like the game really aren't sure why.

I was the exact same way with Super Mario 64. Hated it, but couldn't exactly explain why.

**Finch** · 02 Jan 2008, 02:30 PM

PLAY MORE NOOB.

For rilly. Then you can complain.

Excellently crafted:
* Overall polish

The overall polish is a negative. From the levels, you have a nice game, but when you look at it as a whole, it's a big sloppy mess. It feels like the levels were made and everything else was thrown in there because it's just not a post-2000 game without a lot of unnecessary bullshit. The worst thing is that all of it felt like a conscious decision by some dumb ass who thought it really needed it. If the hub is going to be there for no reason besides being a boring hub, why can't we just go level leading into the next level or Mario 3 map screen? If the power ups are either going to be temporary or just really really awful, why do we need them? Why do we need star princess? Why are we not allowed to scroll through text? Why can't swimming be improved over a game that came out 10 years ago? Does a Mario game really need voices? Do we need some stupid character telling us how to play the game?
New Super Mario Bros. was better than this. Sunshine was better than this. I don't think Galaxy needed that much more development time, since the levels were good through the end, it just needed someone to say, "No, that's a bad idea, leave it out."

I was the exact same way with Super Mario 64. Hated it, but couldn't exactly explain why.

That's because Mario 64 sucks.

**Cowutopia** · 02 Jan 2008, 02:39 PM

The hub is there so you don't have to progress as linearly as Mario 3. Despite being very oldschool in the feel, it still gives you a fair amount of freedom, after the first quest hub, to pursue whichever galaxy tickles your fancy, and that is a plus to me. It also makes sense within the universe.

You can speed up text, I don't see how that's an issue.

The powerups are positioned in places where they are useful or fun, just like the 2d games.

Swimming is a legit complaint.

Voices are UNDERdone, more voice acting, less shitty quality in my opinion.

Tutorials are fairly minimal and almost totally optional, apart from the brief star bit tutorial. Toads and billboards are scattered around in good places to give helpful hints and gameplay advice to those who might need it, and since I've shown this game to MANY people who are not serious gamers like most of us, I've seen firsthand that these tips and hints are perfectly placed and very often needed.

I've also been showing people Portal a lot. I've listened to the developer commentary on that one and they explain all of their design decisions, many of which were implemented after testing levels when they saw where players were struggling. Unfortunately, even knowing how their design was supposed to help, a lot of people were still very confused (especially those struggling with the fps controls.) However, in Galaxy, the toad hints minimalized their frustrations. All the hints and tips are concise and direct, and they're all in spots where players have real trouble, without feeling like they're providing an answer, and they're totally skippable! The thing that surprised me the most is how rarely the non-gamers needed to stop and look for hints. The early levels are stimulating without being too frustrating, the comets and bonus galaxies provide a real challenge for gamers of serious skill, and the open-endedness assures that players of almost any skill level can reach the end with 60 stars. + points to that. It's really exquisitely done.

So, apart from the AWFUL hub design, (which is actually pretty fun after you can fly, and isn't so bad when you use a lot of creative jumping, I'd say the overall polish is still a plus.