Super Mario Galaxy = God

rock_nog, you can be lazy on any platform. You can write inefficant code for anything. Newer hardware often is pushed very hard by well coded software and it isn't going to waste. Also, very few developers will put much effort into getting every last drop of performance from the Wii. There are few developers like that. Rare, Factor 5, um... well that's about all I could think of and both aren't likely to work on the Wii.

It's good to get the most out of the hardware but actually wanting to have less power at your disposal makes no sense to me. 😛

I was just making a commentary on the state of computing. Seems like with each generation of hardware/software, we need more and more power to do the same damn thing. I mean things like web browsing, word processing, etc. Those things should boot up and run instantly on a modern system, and yet they don't.

And yes, you can be lazy on any platform, but different platforms put different limits on how much laziness you can get away with before the program just doesn't run. I mean, say, for example, I'm designing a word processor on a low-end system vs. a high-end system. There's a much lower threshold before feature-creep chokes the program on the low-end system. Oh sure, it's nice to have that extra power, especially if you're just writing the application for yourself, but personally, I think it's better when the application can run on a larger variety of systems.

Besides, half the point in getting a new system is not just so you can do more things, but so that you can do the things you already do faster.

Quick question. Anyone else having this problem?

[spoiler]You know how Peach sends the letter through the toad and you get five 1-ups in the very beginning of the game? Well, for some reason, after I collect a star and save and quit, when I start playing again, I have all of my stars and star bits, but my lives are greatly diminished and the toad gives me the letter as though it is new. Anybody else know anything about that?[/spoiler]

That's completely normal. The number of lives you have resets to the default every time you load the game. The letter acts as a sort of permanent increase to the number of lives you start with after you load, once you start getting it.

Annoying. I kind of figured it was something like that. Thanks.

anybody else beat the game yet? I'm almost at 120 stars. It'll be interesting playing the game as Luigi.

Breaker wrote:anybody else beat the game yet? I'm almost at 120 stars. It'll be interesting playing the game as Luigi.

I just beat the game with 60 stars. I really breezed through it though, so I'm glad there are 60 left to get. I'll be working to get the rest slowly over the next few weeks.

Completely off-topic:
Vegeta, I see you are currently playing through Zack and Wiki. What do you think? I was thinking about picking it up, and your impressions are usually pretty reliable.

I love Super Mario Galaxy. It is amazing.

If this post makes no sense, it is because I am drunk.

On Wednesday night. Happy Thanksgiving.

ctrl-alt-delete wrote:Completely off-topic:
Vegeta, I see you are currently playing through Zack and Wiki. What do you think? I was thinking about picking it up, and your impressions are usually pretty reliable.

http://www.armageddongames.net/forums//thread/99977/ 😉

I'm up to 95 stars right now. Anyone who says this game is easy obviously hasn't tried to get all the stars. Most of the comet levels in particular can be a bitch (1HP boss battles are fun 😃) and if you get get the three green stars, those new levels you unlock are crazy challenging (except the bubble one, I thought that was decently easy)

Warlock wrote:I'm up to 95 stars right now. Anyone who says this game is easy obviously hasn't tried to get all the stars. Most of the comet levels in particular can be a bitch (1HP boss battles are fun 😃) and if you get get the three green stars, those new levels you unlock are crazy challenging (except the bubble one, I thought that was decently easy)

This is oh so true.
I see people moaning and whining everywhere how this game is way too easy. Well those people obviously haven't tried to get all 120 stars. 😉

I think it's actually good what Nintendo did - they didn't make the game rediculously hard, so the casual crowd can still beat it without a huge amount of trouble. But then they have optional difficult levels for the more hardcore crowd so the game is not a joke either.

I think one thing also that I've liked about it is that each star really feels like its own level. There are some cases where you revisit the same parts of the level, but it seems like in most cases each star takes you to a completely different area. So honestly, it makes it feel fresh. I mean, look at the first world in Mario 64 for example. All the stars were in that same exact area. It was really boring trudging through that 6 different times. Sunshine was sort of the same way as well, but they sort of "blocked off" the other areas of the level in some cases.

I'd even say some of the comet challenges which resemble some of the more tedious stars in previous games (purple coins = red coins, cosmic mario chase = shadow mario chase) are done way better. All the purple coin stages are really varied - some timed, some not - and very, very challenging (except for a handful.. Good Egg Galaxy's is rediculously easy). The Cosmic Mario chase is usually at least a somewhat different path through the level. I think one of my favorites was when I had to do an ice-skating race against him across several icy block platforms. That was cool 😊 I also like that most levels have a hidden star... some of them are easy to find (i.e. hungry luma) but others require some thought and a little venturing off the beaten path which is cool.

I will say though, the camera has really pissed me off at times. IGN is full of crap if they think it's better than Sunshine's. If anything, it's worse. There have been so many situations where the camera is not pointing at a good location it's not even funny. Particularly there are some points where you can go underneath platforms and the camera will not follow you. Which basically leaves you completely blind as to where you are going. Other times I've had blocks and trees and crap blocking my view. And the camera is REDICULOUSLY stubbern about when you can center your view, and when you can't. I mean, it doesn't even make sense. The 2d-ish parts, yes, I get that. But you should be able to center your view any other time. But it's really picky about when you can do that. And the free-look is worthless due to the short radius you can turn (seriously, why can't I turn 360 degrees? You're telling me Mario can't turn around while he's looking up? He has to first look down, turn around, then look up again?)

But the camera gripes are only minor I guess. The game is still pretty great 😊

Yeah, the camera controls really aggravated me. The vast majority of the time, you have no control of the camera at all. It's retarded, and there's no reason for it.

I was thinking about how they could've made the camera controls better, and I think the best way to handle it on the Wii would be to make it so holding down C you can use the analog stick to control the camera. Sure you have to stop to do this, but you have to stop to move your thumb up to the DPad anyway. It's not an optimal solution (which would be to have a second analog stick like on the GCN controller), but it would certainly be a whole lot better than what they put in there.

If they allowed you to re-center the camera anytime (except during the 2d parts, I understand that), and if the freelook was 360 degrees, that alone would help a ton.

Edit: Up to 111 stars! Almost there! I just have to do the Garden - I have everything else 100% complete. Yay 😃

I wonder if there is a pattern to getting the comets to show up though. I'd hate to complete all the normal stars only to need the comets and not have them show. But then again, maybe if all you need is comets it will give you comets.

Oh yeah, and Toy Time purple coin level can GO TO HELL. Ugg. I'm glad I beat that. It only took maybe.. I dunno, 5 or 6 tries, but still.. yuck.

BTW, regarding sales:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164524

At least in the US, it's the fastest selling Mario game. So screw Japan :P

The thing about Japan is... it's Japan. They're crazy over there. Japan is the country that invented game shows involving being hit in the junk.

Warlock wrote:Oh yeah, and Toy Time purple coin level can GO TO HELL. Ugg. I'm glad I beat that. It only took maybe.. I dunno, 5 or 6 tries, but still.. yuck.

You mean this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECfQmBbzvcc

Makes you sick, doesn't it? I still haven't beaten that level yet - I'll get it though. I'm up to like 92 stars right now. The levels are getting harder, like you said, but still not as hard as the FLUDD-less levels in Super Mario Sunshine. Those levels were tough.

Why on earth would that guy bother getting every purple coin in that level? :P

vegeta1215 wrote:...but still not as hard as the FLUDD-less levels in Super Mario Sunshine. Those levels were tough.

On a related note, FUCK that godforsaken pachinko level.

On a related note, FUCK that godforsaken pachinko level.

See, that's exactly it. Sunshine's were harder, only because they were friggin' rediculous and cheap (and hampered by the bad camera). There are a couple levels like that in this (some of the purple coin ones for example - like the ones where you have to ride the moving platform and if you miss just one coin you lose), but they are not nearly as bad. Overall, I think the spin-jump really saves this game in terms of controls. It gives just the right amount of percision for landing on small platforms and the like - something the Hover Nozzle did, but obviously you had to have that stupid gimmick and when it was taken away, you lost that (and I swear jumping was broken in that game.. it was missing jumps from M64 like the Z-backflip I think).

Anyways, yay 120 stars! Luigi is kind of fun to play. I only did the first level with him but I think he moves faster (but he is slippery) and he does jump a bit higher which is nice.

I heard someone say though in the level where you have to rescue Luigi, you still rescue Luigi.. hahahaha.. so there are two Luigis 😃 I will have to check that out.

Hah, Luigi hasn't changed a bit he still has bad traction... can he walk on water for a bit like in SM64DS? And can you change to Mario anytime you want?

This post contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Hmm. It's hard to say this game sucked because it didn't, but it is far from
perfect, and it is slightly overrated (but not nearly to the extent of TP). I got this game hoping it would be awesome, and I even got one of those coins for pre-ordering it. The game is good, and it feels Mario-esque, but it lacks the same magic and true Mario feeling that SMB3 and SM64 had. The whole space thing isn't even all that great. They advertised that gimmick to hell, and in reality, only maybe 5-10 of the games 40+ galaxies use it extensively. This is probably a good thing though. It almost feels like they are running out of gimmicks so they pulled this space motif out of their asses because they are afraid to go backwards and make the same thing twice, even if it was awesome. I wanted a true Mario 64 sequel and this is close, but far from perfect, similar to SMS.

Onto the subject of planetoid walking, am I the only one who thought it felt awkward and hard to control? Especially considering the camera is automatic, and flips around a lot, especially in the first galaxy. When you walked to the underside of a planet, the controls would sometimes invert, and it felt awkward and not very smooth as I found myself walking in tight circles while trying to get the direction right.

The game does have some redeeming factors though. It does offer a fair share of "massive" galaxies to explore. All of them follow classic Mario set up too. You have you dessert land, grass land (sort of), lava land (personal favorite), ghost land, and some others. There are even a few tropical areas. Even though these areas are nice, the objectives feel short and easy. Even up through the end. In particular the last area, and final battle are pretty anti-climactic. You only need half of the game's stars to complete it, and it is not too terribly difficult to get them all. SMS was difficult in a challenging way. This game seems very easy in an almost boring way. I have 72 right now. There is also very little room for exploration. Most of the stages are pretty linear. At least in SMS (which was great) you could explore the large stages and find the shine at your own leisure. This time around you're stuck on a path. Occasionally though, you can feed a certain character a certain number of plot related items and find a secret planetoid and get a secret star. I still miss the sense of freedom and exploration SM64 and SMS had. SM64 was still the best in this aspect since you could get stars out of order.

Oh, and one more thing: I am so fucking sick of Luigi being made into this reluctant panzy sissy character. No. What ever happened to the old days where Luigi was just as competent as Mario? I can't stand his new character.

So, that's pretty mush it. It is pretty awesome, but it has some flaws. But what game doesn't?

Luigi was originally a palette swap of Mario. Then in SMB2 (japan) they made him jump higher but slippy I believe. Then in SMB3 he was back to a clone but with his own graphics. Same with SMB4 (World). But I mean come on, they have to make him different really. Do you really just want to play Mario but with Luigi's face/green colors? The whole point is for him to be different, atleast in single player games. Maybe if you are playing 2 player you want it the same to be fair.

Which makes me remember, after SMB4, they completely dumped 2 player from Mario. That's kinda gay.

I agree, I hate how Luigi is always made out to be a bumbling buffoon. They're the Super Mario Bros., not Super Mario and Loser Luigi.

rock_nog wrote:I agree, I hate how Luigi is always made out to be a bumbling buffoon. They're the Super Mario Bros., not Super Mario and Loser Luigi.

Me too! I like luigi!

But I find that there is one game where he can clean the floor with mario. Mairo hoops 3 on 3. His special is the easiest one to pull off. Instead of trying to tap out an M, an awkward, B, or a triangle, it's a nice simple L, turning his back to the enemy, making him harder to steal from. ^_^

Anywaaay...just tried this out at a friend's. Oh my gosh...It's incredible. It just feels surreal, that's how awesome it is. I am getting it when I pick up my Wii, that's for sure.

Got all 120 stars, and I'll likely slowly get through it again as Luigi over the next couple weeks. One thing I have to say is that I really, really like the purple coin stages. Some have you ride on rails without missing a coin, some are tests of speed, others have you explore every nook and cranny of a stage, but all of them are a blast. For the first time ever in a platformer, I wish there were even more stages devoted these type of collection levels.

MottZilla wrote:Luigi was originally a palette swap of Mario. Then in SMB2 (japan) they made him jump higher but slippy I believe. Then in SMB3 he was back to a clone but with his own graphics. Same with SMB4 (World). But I mean come on, they have to make him different really. Do you really just want to play Mario but with Luigi's face/green colors? The whole point is for him to be different, atleast in single player games. Maybe if you are playing 2 player you want it the same to be fair.

Which makes me remember, after SMB4, they completely dumped 2 player from Mario. That's kinda gay.

He was a palette swap in both SMB3 and SMW... unless you are playing the GBA versions of those games (or the All-Stars version of SMB3) where they gave him the All-Stars graphics

DarkDragoonX wrote:I wish there were even more stages devoted these type of collection levels.

They're not collection based levels, they're objective based.

:P

This game rocks! My friend and I beat in on multi, I basicly beat bowser myself on his second part, I was player two and I was bouncing him everywheres and it was funny. It is possible to destroy Bowsers fireballs as second player.