Nintendo are re-releasing some of the Wii’s best games on the Wii U eShop, but five years later does Super Mario Galaxy 2 still deserve to be called a classic?
Please note: We’ll be looking again at some of the other new Wii re-releases over the coming weeks, but in many cases they’re exactly the same as the original version. The only difference now is that you can play them straight from the Wii U main menu, instead of having to enter Wii mode. Some will have new control options, but not Super Mario Galaxy 2 – so we’ve left the original review exactly as it was back in 2010. Because, yes: it does still deserve to be called a classic.
The initial buzz on this game couldn’t have been less encouraging. Nintendo don’t usually do direct sequels and traditionally there’s only one mainline Super Mario game per home console. But of greatest concern was that this game was initially envisioned as a sort of remix of the first title, reusing the existing levels and graphics and churning out a new game in little more than a year.
Despite all their attempts to create a cynical cash-in, though, Nintendo have failed utterly. It’s easy to see why too, since you can barely move an inch or press a button without a unique new spectacle appearing to delight and amaze.
Everything might be wrapped up in the primary coloured dazzle of Nintendo’s most familiar icons, but nothing beyond the one sentence plotline is predictable. (Princess Peach has been kidnapped again, although there are no storybook elements like the first game – which some may find a mild disappointment).
The structure of the game is essentially the same as always but the large 3D level hub has been reduced down to a small spaceship shaped liked Mario’s head, which you use to navigate some retro styled 2D maps. These look very much like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, whose influence is obvious throughout – especially via the increased number of 2D sections and the playable intro.
However, the most important tradition this continues from the very earliest Mario titles is simply that each level is a self-contained playground. Relatively small (you’ll complete most in around 15 minutes) but managing a perfect compromise between rewarding exploration and obvious goals.
Mario has exactly the same moves that he’s always had, almost all of them merely variations on pressing the ‘A’ button to jump. Such simplicity isn’t just about accessibility, but about focus. The game is fundamentally a celebration of movement. It’s the simple joy of running and jumping and exploring the game world, where the mechanics of control aren’t a means to an end but the central appeal of the whole experience.
The game does it’s very best to make you forget this though as you zip from galaxy to galaxy. There are six levels (galaxies) in each stage (world – astronomical taxonomy isn’t the game’s strongpoint) plus a final boss level. You start off jumping between the tiny planetoids that have become the game’s most iconic image; but other worlds include platforms that flip every time you do a spin attack, one where giant buzzsaws cut away the scenery before your eyes, or another where panels appear and disappear in time with the music.
To reveal any more would be to spoil the game’s greatest attraction, but the new suits add even more unpredictability. From the drill that tests your spatial understanding of each platform, to the rock suit that enables Super Monkey Ball style race courses, and the cloud suit that allows for some clever non-linear exploration of each level.
The old suits are still there but used very infrequently. As surprisingly is Yoshi, who only pops up in around a third of the levels at most. He’s a delight to use though, as you target enemies with the remote for him to gulp down instantly or use as missiles. He also has his own power-ups, including a chilli pepper-powered turbo boost and the ability to inflate like a balloon.
And yet despite these specific object-related features the game’s cleverest trick throughout is the way it plays with gravity and 3D space. You’ll often be controlling Mario as he moves upside down on a platform, or running around spherical planetoids and switching the direction of gravity to access new areas. Where the last game only toyed with such concepts this sequel embraces and transcends them.
The game’s most outrageous success though is that many of these ideas are only used once and then largely abandoned, as if the designers had a phobia of presenting the same experience twice. Many levels only have one or two different goals (albeit often modified by a time attack or other alternative way of playing them), where some clearly could have been the basis for an entire game.
The original was already so close to perfection there were no real faults to address, but those who complained it was too easy may well regret their words in the final special stages. Graphically the game is so far ahead of any other Wii title that if it weren’t for the limitations of resolution you’d swear it was on the 360 or PS3. Although in terms of art design and atmosphere it already surpasses almost every other game this generation. The glorious orchestral soundtrack unquestionably so.
Many sequels deflect the accusation of the being ‘more of the same’ simply by offering incremental improvements to an already successful formula. That is the case here but what really marks it out as a timeless classic is not just its desire to better its predecessor but also, level by level, stage by stage, itself.
In Short: Nintendo beat their previous best yet again with a masterclass in imagination, game design and sheer interactive entertainment.
Pros: Impossibly varied and endlessly creative level design. Perfect controls and difficulty curve. Exceptional graphics and music.
Cons: The suits, and even Yoshi, still seem a trifle underused (although that’s obviously better than overexploited).
Score: 10/10
Formats: Wii U
Price: £17.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Release Date:14th January 2015
Age Rating: 3
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