I’ve just finished the main story from Galaxy 2 and I have to say it’s the
first 3D Mario where I’ve enjoyed the game without exception through
the main story.
I think the changes that they’ve made, which go back to Mario’s roots, have
made all the difference.
First off, the world map makes a lot more sense. I never enjoyed going
through paintings/doors/etc. etc. to find my way around. Everything
is much more streamlined in that respect. Also, they’ve learned some
things from NSMBWii by making the main story playable by everyone
and having new worlds unlocked for the serious players afterwards.
The level design, IMHO, is much better as well. Gone are the huge
landscapes where you feel more like you’re playing an adventure game.
These levels are pure platforming heaven IMHO.
I think Nintendo did a good job looking at what was wrong with
3D Mario and fixing it. I wasn’t looking forward to Galaxy 2 nearly
as much as NSMBWii, but I must say I’m pleasantly surprised.
Having said that, we had some guests over last night and they saw
the kids playing the game. They are old school gamers like us, and what
they asked is so great… “Is this game any fun?” What a simple question,
but one that cool hardcore gamers never ask these days.
I mentioned NSMBWii to them… which they hadn’t heard of… when I
described it they were like “You mean the OLD Mario!!!” and their eyes
lit up. I told them to get NSMBWii first. :)
Anyway, the point of my message is that if Nintendo really succeeds with
3D Mario, and I think they have, then they are an even more formidable
opponent. No one else has really succeeded in the 3D platformer, so
they will be unstopable with their two main franchises.
The reaction to Mario 5 is an explanation as to why it keeps staying in the top seller’s list. One thing many people don’t know is that there were many gamers, when Mario Galaxy 1 came out, asked, “Is it a 2d Mario? If it isn’t, I’m not buying the Wii.” Seeing how I bought the DS for NSMB, bought the SNES for SMW, bought the NES for Super Mario Brothers, I think there is a clear pattern. For many people, the Nintendo experience is the 2d Mario experience.
I still wish I knew the hardware sales estimates Nintendo had for December 2009 for the Wii. I think they had no idea so much hardware would move. They wouldn’t have cut the price if they didn’t think they had a problem moving hardware. One thing is clear, 2d Mario will make people buy Nintendo hardware. Since Nintendo sees the software is responsible for driving the installed base of the hardware, 2d Mario had to have jumped into the upper constellation of Nintendo software to be used to drive hardware momentum. I like Iwata telling Miyamoto, “Oh, you are so going to make more of these…” hahaha. I’ve noticed everyone loves 2d Mario except Nintendo developers and game journalists.
Anyway, I’ve played Galaxy 2, and I really don’t like it. Galaxy 1 at least had the freshness of the gravity and the ‘epic music’. I hate that big purple ****. Why do I have to talk to these stupid characters? And why is there a map screen but it keeps putting me on my spaceship hub? I don’t want to go to spaceship hub everytime I beat a level. And I certainly don’t want to talk to that big fat purple ****.
If you want a more substantial criticism, let me point out one of the major differences between Mario games and faux Mario games (the 3d Marios). In Mario games, it is all about platforming. And there are multiple ways to get to the end. For example, in Super Mario Brothers 3 I can fly over the level. I can also go through a pipe in the original Super Mario Brothers and bypass some of the evil goombas lurking about in 1-1. I can even use a warp zone and bypass entire worlds! You don’t have any of that freedom or replayability in Galaxy 2. But that is not my ‘substantial complaint’.
Super Mario Brothers games has Mario start as Mario. He doesn’t HAVE to get a mushroom or a fire flower or a star to get through a level. You can beat any Super Mario Brothers game with just small Mario if you want.
But the faux Mario games are a different story altogether. You HAVE to get the ‘power up’ in order to complete the level. You MUST be rock Mario. You MUST be cloud Mario. You MUST do all these things. I feel like the developers are in my living room, shaking their pointed fingers at me saying, “No! You MUST do it THIS WAY!” It is not fun. And I do not feel like master of my destiny. I feel like I am a laboratory rat going through a chain of experiments. “In this experiment, you are sliding down a Tree Trunk. In this experiment, you are on a rolling ball.”
In a Super Mario Brothers game, two people can complete a stage and have a totally different story to tell about how they did it. But in Faux Mario games, everyone’s story is pretty much exactly the same. Everyone had to use the same powerup to get through a certain part.
I think it is wrong to even describe the word ‘power-ups’ to the items in Faux Mario. A better term for them should be ‘tools’. If you lose the tool, doesn’t matter, another is around. It feels like a modern Zelda game in many ways (and I don’t like those either). I despise puzzle based gameplay.
I think the power-up issue is one of the big reasons why Faux Mario never jived with me. Consider how perplexed I was the first time I played Faux Mario when I was looking for a mushroom to turn my Mario into Big Mario. But there are no mushrooms in that manner. And the only power-ups are for generally required to get through a part. This is why I reject faux Mario even for the term platformer. It isn’t a platformer. It is more like an arena game where you use tools and stuff to get through.
I would like to see a true 3d Super Mario Brothers game. Mario Galaxy 2 isn’t anywhere close to getting back to the roots of the series.
I’m also playing with a new theory as to why the hardcore are so much in love with 3d Mario and other type of hardcore games. It also explains why hardcore love hype (where I hate hype and think it distorts the true value of the game. You must wait weeks once a hyped game is out to say any criticism or people will maul you.)
The hardcore are romantics. It is not the meat of the steak they like, it is the sizzle and the atmosphere of the steakhouse. If you listen to how hardcore talk, they use romantic language to describe their game playing.
To contrast, in a Zelda game I would care about how much I can explore, how big the overworld is, how repayable the game is, and so on. The hardcore, rather, would care more about the introduction of the game, how grandma calls Link in from sheep herding, how litlte Link needs to find the missing neighbor’s cat, and they would soak in the music, the graphics, and all as if they were soaking in a digital hot tub.
The ‘romantic’ elements of modern gaming are things that drive me away. I don’t need to watch the same exact freaking cutscene of the star twirling around Mario before he squeals at the screen each time I beat a level. And I don’t need the ‘signature theme’ being played over and over and over and over and over again when you get that star. And I most certainly do not need to be back on that spaceship talking to that big fat purple piece of ****!
I have changed my mind. I think Nintendo should make a Super Mario Galaxy 3. It should use Motion Plus with boxing gameplay. The gameplay will be nothing more than beating the hell out of the big fat purple Lubba. It would be more fun than either Galaxy game and would likely sell better too.
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