Ah freak, and now Target apparently isn't getting their shipment in until noonish. It's like some vast conspiracy to force me to preorder games in the future if I want a copy on the day they're actually released. I mean, I can understand Gamestop's role in the plot, but WTF is up with Target?
Damnit I want that game!
Get it at Best Buy :P Or really anywhere besides Target or Gamestop :P
Target sucks too. They once advertised Final Fantasy IV Advance as coming on a Wednesday (even though every other ad said Tuesday). Theirs was the cheapest price so I waited. Wed. comes, no FF4A. On top of that, Sin City which also came out that day was completely sold out there. Took the ad to Best Buy and got both (of which there were MANY copies).
Reserving games is just their way to make sure you keep coming back to shop there. Although, I don't see how thats relevant. If I like the store, I'll come back regardless of a pre-order. Its a corperation. They all have their scams, even Best Buy. Personally, I say learn the quirks and deal with it because we'll have to buy if from somewhere regardless of where.
What I like so far is that each star is like a level instead of some random task you have to do within a larger area. Like Warlock said, no red coin bullshit.
And man, running around on those planetoids is trippy. Unlike anything I've played in a game before.
Few more comments:
The camera can sometimes be wonky but is otherwise ok I guess. People are saying it's "amazing" but it seems like typical 3d Mario camera to me. Maybe not as bad as Sunshine's, but it can get annoying at times. In particular, it loves to hide 1ups so I have to basically get them on a tiny ledge next to a pit, but I can't see where the ledge ends or where I am jumping, and it's really picky about when you can re-center the camera. Also, free look (Up on D-pad) is like 150-160 degrees left/right only, which is annoying as hell and makes me wonder why they included it at all.
My only other real complaint was that the intro where Bowser kidnaps Peach was pre-rendered On my 50" Plasma HDTV it was PAINFULLY obvious because it was compressed and looked shitty compared to the rest of the game
But one other thing I like - the fact that you do not have to stop and press "A" to talk to everyone. Only the people with important and/or long-winded stuff require you to stop. The rest just say stuff when you get close. Not only is this really nice (as I generally like to talk to everyone in case they say something important) but it's a great way of filtering out who has something important to say, and who is going to say something like "Hi Mario!"
Edit: I also enjoyed the Manta Ray level. That was a cool change of pace. It was a little difficult, but I only died once 😊 It actually made me really want to see a Wave Race game on Wii now 😃
I love this game! For one thing, its soundtrack is beautiful. It's chock-full of orchestrated goodness and really gives the game an "I'm really happy to be playing this right now" feel. And I love that it's more of a challenge, what with only having three life points (unless you get a power-up). I really love how when you first fly up to a galaxy, on your way there you can try to collect any star bits you see even before you land. I'm really looking forward to playing this game with a second player helping me out.
So...I got it at Fred Meyer on its release date. I have to give a huge endorsement to Freddy's because they've had almost every game I've wanted on its release date instead of the day after like GameStop/EB. Plus, I think they're not really viewed as a "game store," so they tend not to sell out right away--I think I was the first person to buy a copy from my local Fred Meyer, and I know I was the first person to buy a copy of Phantom Hourglass from there.
What's on your list today?™
I'm now 35 stars in and this game keeps getting better. The plot actually isn't bad, plus it seems optional, another feature I like. There are tons of secrets and stuff that I keep finding that make it ever more exciting. I feel like theres stiil so much more to do and I'm already around 10 hours in. This game has plenty of gameplay. I don't understand the people who said it had 15-20 hours of gameplay. Its got twice that, easy.
Some of the music will leave you smiling with nostalgic joy. I realize after playing this how few truly AAA titles there have been in the last 5-10 years.
Go... play..... now ...........!
I'm at 60 stars and about 7-10 hours in. There are a lot of secret stars throughout the levels, including the special Comet levels. I'm willing to bet to play as Luigi you have to beat Bowser with the daredevil comet w/ only 1 heart.
Wait, the game is out?
I need to come out of Internet exile.
I personally love the franticness of buying these big games as soon as possible. Going around to store after store after store in disappointment... I love it! Except when it happened to me with Twilight Princess.
Well, my ordeal is finally over. The thing was, Target and Gamestop are the only places nearby (though a Best Buy is coming soon - but I won't shop at Best Buy, not after I bought a defective graphics card and they tried to convince me it was fine). Anyway, I ended up having to go across town to Toys'R Us. Didn't turn out too bad, though, because not only was I able to get the game, but I got a $25 gift card, which I was really not expecting at all.
Anyway, OH MY FREAKING GOD THIS GAME IS SWEET! There are two things that pissed me off about Mario 64 - the camera controls and the fact that guessing what you're supposed to be doing was apparently half the challenge. Thankfully, Mario Galaxy has fixed both of those problems. My only real complaint so far is the Manta Ray level. That pissed me off so much - it was like a one-level flashback to the worst of Mario Sunshine. Only took a couple of tries to beat it, but still... Other than that, the game has basically been flawless.
I got the game yesterday and played it all the way through. If anything, it's Mario 64 with linear worlds and cheesy gimmicks.
Not to mention that movement feels extremely lose and strange. Am I the only person who hates running with Mario upside down for half the game?
Game's also extremely easy. Aside from the "Not my fault" deaths like falling into a bottomless pit that the camera won't let you see, or annoyingly falling off the edge over and over again in the Ray Surfing game and that ball-spinning one, I think I died like, twice. Bosses don't take much effort to defeat at all. They usually die after 3-4 button presses, even later in the game.
Didn't live up to the hype, but then again, what does? At least it wasn't as awful as Twilight Princess.
Did you play the game all the way through, or just get 64 stars and kill bowser? =/
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935396.html?categoryid=1269&cs=1
What a loser. Is that a review for SMG or Ratchet and Clank? Because it sure as hell reads like the later.
Even if he didn't like the game, this has got to be one of the worst reviews I've read in a long while. Most of it just spends time bitching about the Wii's hardware and how it's not as good as PS3.
Warlock wrote:http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935396.html?categoryid=1269&cs=1What a loser. Is that a review for SMG or Ratchet and Clank? Because it sure as hell reads like the later.
Even if he didn't like the game, this has got to be one of the worst reviews I've read in a long while. Most of it just spends time bitching about the Wii's hardware and how it's not as good as PS3.
Yeah, what an asshole.
Even though SMG's graphics aren't the best technically, I'd say it is one of the most gorgeous looking games of this generation so far.
I thought Bowser was a turtle, Yoshi the dragon. Maybe I'm mistaken....
Also, it irritates me when people bitch about the motion sensing not being used to its potential. No one wants to play a game like that. It would be terrible if you had to move mario around by flicking your wrist everywhere.
Dechipher wrote:I thought Bowser was a turtle, Yoshi the dragon. Maybe I'm mistaken....
No, you're not.. he's just an idiot.
Warlock wrote:http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935396.html?categoryid=1269&cs=1What a loser. Is that a review for SMG or Ratchet and Clank? Because it sure as hell reads like the later.
Even if he didn't like the game, this has got to be one of the worst reviews I've read in a long while. Most of it just spends time bitching about the Wii's hardware and how it's not as good as PS3.
That review is sponsored by Sony... it says it on the top right of the review.
Revfan9: Are we even talking about the same game? Seriously, I respect your opinion, but your comments don't make any sense. The controls are spot-on! The game itself is not very linear, while the levels might be a little, I found myself picking up hidden stars etc when I was going for the listed star. Easy? I guess your more hardcore than I am, because I have died many, many times already on various levels, bosses etc. The game gives you plenty of 1-ups but the gameplay itself isn't easy.
Yeah, its similar to SM64, but wasn't SMB3 and SMW similar to SMB1? This game is to SM64 what SMB3 was to SMB1, a continuation of a great formula, with diversity in level design, more of a fleshed out story, and innovative controls and power-ups.
Just got to Ray surfing. Controls certainly take some getting used to, and I'm finding myself less than satisfied with the camera at least thrice a level, generally more, but if nothing else I'm impressed by the sheer insanity involved in just walking around on some gravity-bending planetoids. Stage design certainly seems to have picked up quickly as well. I'm enjoying it so far.
[QUOTE=GameFAQ's]The Mario games have been around for over twenty years, and as such have developed quite a legacy, as well as a standard to live up to. The first 3d entry in the series, Super Mario 64, threw conventionality out the window and completely shocked and awed the video game industry with its innovation and style. The second 3d installment, Super Mario Sunshine, took Mario 64 to the next level, introducing a more cohesive environment, even better controls, and a completely innovative new game play mechanic which made the game really feel like something different. Super Mario Galaxy had quite a lot of hype to live up to, indeed. Yet it turns out that Mario Galaxy completely ignores the series' progress achieved with Super Mario Sunshine, and instead harkens back to 1996 gaming.
Mario 64 was one of the first games to utilize the "central hub" concept. Sunshine built upon the castle in 64 by presenting an entire beautiful tropical island to explore. Mario Galaxy simply copies the castle from 64, and puts it into outer space in the form of a space station, while making it much smaller . From this space station, you access different worlds to collect stars, which open up new worlds. After a certain amount of stars collected, you can fight the final boss. Sound familiar? There is one difference here though; fun side missions, such as collecting blue and red coins, are either greatly reduced or gone. These missions in SMS provided different ways to experience familiar levels, and the blue coins added a strong sense of exploration. The lack of this mission variety is a surprising step backward for the series.
The story is nonsense. The premise is that there is a 100 year festival to celebrate a star, but during this festival Bowser interrupts and literally rips the Princess's castle into space. In a completely random stroke of luck (read; amateurish plot device) Mario is transported into space and begins his quest. After the original and excellent story of Mario Sunshine, this story, filled with video game cliches and amateur story telling, is very disappointing. The story isn't all important in a Mario game, but that's still excuse for Nintendo to take the easy way out in regards to plot in 2007, when we expect our games to have better, more epic, stories.
The entire game takes place in outer space. While this had the potential to result in a cohesive environment laced with immersion that makes the player feel like part of the game, what we have with Super Mario Galaxy is a disjointed mish-mash of different themes. It seems as if the development crew simply tried to come up with as weird themes as possible, without giving much effort to immersion or cohesion. You'll find lots of variety, but that's not always a good thing. Sunshine proved that a Mario game could have a common theme and make you fall in love with the world, but Mario Galaxy is truly out-of-this-world in this regard; you cannot fall in love with these environments, because they are so random. Another step back from Sunshine.
The controls offer another way for the game to kill any sense of immersion. One of Mario's power ups is ridiculously hard to control, and certain missions, like the Sting Ray ride and the Ball, are equally as wonky. This is more due to the Wii's primitive motion controls than the game itself, but the problems still can't be ignored. The game also includes pointer functionality. You can use the IR on the Wiimote to collect power ups around Mario and interact with the environment. Interacting with the environment is a great idea, but ultimately remains undeveloped. Making power up collecting easier by pointing is a gimmicky idea that is done better in certain games without motion control. Thus, the controls are another step back from the perfect ones of Sunshine.
The game takes place on a multitude of spherical worlds, as well as some larger planets with a more traditional playing field. However, due to the lack of buttons on the Wii controllers, camera control has been taken away from the player. Instead, an automatic camera tracks player movement through the game. This works fine, even great, on the small spherical worlds. But on larger terrain, it feels archaic not to be able to move the camera with something akin to the C-Stick on the Gamecube controller, because it felt so great there. The camera is another surprising step back from Sunshine.
The gravity concept is fun at first, and is used in some interesting ways in the middle of the game, but towards the end it loses its appeal and becomes a gimmick. It seems like there was a lot of potential here, but cleverly designed puzzles and environments are almost non existent. The game makes you feel, the whole time, like you are about to uncover some truly great game play moments, but never delivers.
The visuals are pretty good for a Wii game, but the environments are usually very tiny and bland, and the game is displayed in a disappointing standard resolution. The framerate is rock solid 60 fps, but the sacrifice to make it SD aren't worth it and make the game look worse because of it. The game is easily outclassed by games on competing systems; in fact, it doesn't even come close. The music is great, but the lack of quality voice acting really hurts this 2007 game. The core game play is solid, but the vast majority of it has already been done in Super Mario 64.
In Super Mario Galaxy, an otherwise decent effort is ruined by some poor design choices, unintuitive controls, a poor camera system, and a total lack of game play innovation. The best way to describe Galaxy is that it is a complete step backwards from Sunshine, back to Mario 64. What worked well in 1996 is stale now, and the progress made in regards to control and camera were thrown out the window. The game does have its fun moments, despite its problems, and is quite playable, so the final score is a 5/10.[/QUOTE]
haha someone actually spent the effort to type this out holy shit
I found Galaxy to be a pretty fun game and had very little trouble with the camera angles. I've beaten it with 106 stars, but I'm still playing to unlock and replay as Luigi. As far as it not living up to Super Mario Sunshine..? I'm glad it's nothing like it.
AlexMax wrote:haha someone actually spent the effort to type this out holy shit
When he hyped up Sunshine as "next level", that's when I knew he was full of crap 😃
P.S. - I agree with mattwdr, Revfan9's post seemed really off.
In response to the ray surfing comments: It definitely takes some getting used to. I know I overturned on some of the corners more than once. But then again, it wasn't THAT hard. Really you shouldn't expect to go into a new type of area and be able to beat it on your first life. The fact that I died 3-4 times before getting it right is a good sign. It means there was actually some challenge to it.
As for the main game, I do find myself missing the camera controls at times. But then again, I probably used the camera controls more than most people. Like on Wind Waker, I would frequently use the camera controls to do my turning instead of pressing left or right on the movement stick. But the lack of proper camera controls certainly isn't a deal breaker.
Honestly, I did the manta ray level on my second try and beat the timer (which I hear you don't technically need to do). It wasn't really hard at all (the first time I almost beat it, I just overshot one of the turns near the end). You just need to realize you can't hold down the gas (A) the whole time. You need to let off it on some turns (but not excessively).
There are two manta ray levels. The second is quite a bit of fun when you get the hang of the controls. You need to grab the green stars to get to it.
Breaker wrote:There are two manta ray levels. The second is quite a bit of fun when you get the hang of the controls. You need to grab the green stars to get to it.
Ah ok, I am not that far yet. I've been sort of busy w/ WoW 2.3 😊 But I have all next week off so I'll be able to beat it then 😃
But yeah, the first thing I thought playing that manta ray level - damn I want to see a Wave Race on Wii... The water physics were very similar to that game and it was actually a lot of fun. I mean, baring "falling off the stage" which wouldn't really be in Wave Race, that could be awesome.
Wave Race and Pilot Wings would be awesome.
Oddly enough, one of the more brilliant uses for the motion controls for me was the throwing shells/fireballs mechanic. Yeah, it was unnecessary, it could've been handled by a button press, yeah, it was just shaking the remote, but something about it just felt damn satisfying.
rock_nog wrote:Oddly enough, one of the more brilliant uses for the motion controls for me was the throwing shells/fireballs mechanic. Yeah, it was unnecessary, it could've been handled by a button press, yeah, it was just shaking the remote, but something about it just felt damn satisfying.
Yeah, I agree. I have the opinion that this game has some of the greatest controls to ever grace a videogame.
Also, that Gamefaqs review is just ridiculous. The reviewer obviously has some sort of sick fantasy about getting stuck on an island with the Delfino people. Super Mario Sushine is in no way comparable to this game.
I feel bad now. I've already used quite a bit of my 50� monthly allowance, and next month is... err, what? December? Arrgh! Der stinkee rismach spoiling mi gaming fun! Have to buy some gifts for my family, and I'm already getting some sort of a gift card to a store to get a computer.
So I guess Galaxy has to wait for me... and I have to wait for it. Damn. I've watched the beginning of the game, then I closed the computer, hit myself to my head with a mallet, had some sleep, watched more of the video, got crazy and started shouting "I NEED THIS GAME!"